Christopher "Chris" Lilley (born 10 November 1974,Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian comedian, television producer, actor and writer. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of several characters in the mockumentary television series We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High.
Lilley was born in Sydney, and attended Pymble Public School. He later studied at Barker College, and obtained a degree at Macquarie University. He began his career performing stand-up comedy.
In 2003, Lilley made his debut in Big Bite, a Seven Network comedy program, in which he gained acclaim for his portrayal of the extreme sports enthusiast Extreme Darren and the high-school drama teacher Mr. G, characters which he continued in Hamish & Andy. Big Bite was nominated for Best Television Comedy Series at the 2003 Australian Film Institute Awards, marking the first time a comedy program from a commercial television network had ever been nominated at the Australian Film Institute Awards. The producers co-credited Lilley and his co-star, Andrew O'Keefe. Despite high ratings and critical acclaim, the show lasted only one series before being spun off into the comedy/variety programme, The Hamish and Andy Show. Lilley was a recurring guest on the programme, but it was cancelled after only a few episodes. He is known for playing a variety of different characters in each of his shows.
Lilley has been nominated for and won numerous awards, and has been acknowledged for "[his] awareness and expression of controversial issues and not exploiting them for laughs."
We Can Be Heroes
After the cancellation of Big Bite, Lilley created Finding The Australian of the Year, a six-part series on ABC Television, in which he portrayed various characters nominated for the Australian of the Year Award.
Lilley portrayed several characters in the series—a self-obsessed police officer, a Chinese Australian Physics student from Melbourne, a 47-year-old housewife with a dream to roll on her side from Perth to Uluru, a teenager who donates his eardrum to his deaf twin brother, and Ja'mie King, an arrogant Sydney private high school girl who went on to feature in Summer Heights High.
Lilley was nominated for Best Comedy Series, Best Lead Actor in Television and Best Comedy Series at the 2006 Australian Film Institute Awards, and won the Best New Talent and Most Outstanding Comedy Program awards at the Logie Awards of 2006. He also received a Rose d'Or award in Switzerland for Best Male Comedy Performance. Following the series' success, it was sold to other countries under the new name, The Nominees.
Summer Heights High
Lilley achieved overwhelming success for his second mockumentary series, Summer Heights High, which aired on ABC TV in 2007.
In the series, Lilley played the series' three main characters at a public school (depicted in the series as inferior to private schools). In March 2008, Lilley released a single, Naughty Girl, based on the series and performed in character as the Summer Heights High drama teacher, Mr G.
At the 2008 Logie Awards he was nominated for four awards including Most Outstanding Actor and Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Television, and won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor and the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program.
The series was sold to the United States and the United Kingdom. Lilley embarked on a promotional tour of the United States in October 2008 to promote the US broadcast of the series, which began to air on HBO on November 9, 2008. The BBC began showing the programme on BBC Three in June 2008.
When asked about whether there would be a second series, Lilley stated, "I never thought about it in the beginning because it was always a one-off thing. I'm not into just cashing in and rolling off into a second series that is not as good. I really enjoyed making the show, so the thought of writing and going back there again is really fun and exciting, but I haven't made a decision on what to do next."
Angry Boys
In 2008, The Daily Telegraph revealed that Lilley was working on a new series for ABC TV, for which he indicated interest in reviving the characters Phil Olivetti and Ja'mie King.
The series, Angry Boys, was officially announced in October 2009. Continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series, the show examines being a male in the 21st century. The series is co-produced by ABC TV, HBO, and the BBC.
Other projects
Lilley appeared in the film satire, Ned based on Ned Kelly. He appeared as the "MSN Butterfly" in a series of television advertisements and Cinema for MSN. He has also appeared on the Hamish & Andy radio show.
