The Australian actor and writer stopped by BuzzFeed to talk bras, blazers, shooting with real high schoolers, and the other characters he wants to revisit.
Justine Zwiebel / BuzzFeed
Chris Lilley has played 14 characters across his four cult series We Can Be Heroes, Summer Heights High, and Angry Boys. Now, one fan favorite, high school queen bee Ja'mie King, is the focus of his new HBO series Ja'mie: Private School Girl (premiering Sunday, Nov. 24 at 10:30 p.m.). Chris stopped by BuzzFeed to screen the new series and to talk about what to can expect from the return of everyone's favorite bitch, his plans for her future, and the big question: Where is her blazer now?
How have you seen the character of Ja'mie evolve from We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High to Ja'mie: Private School Girl?
Chris Lilley: She got bigger boobs in this series! I don't know. She was in year 10 in We Can Be Heroes, and Summer Heights High [she was in] year 11 at a public school. This one, she's back in her private school where she's school captain and boss of the whole place. She's tougher and bitchier than ever before. She's out of control this season ... It plots her demise and downfall from queen bee. Bad stuff happens.
Where did the inspiration for this beautifully complex character come from?
CL: I guess I've just met Ja'mies and seen them around. They're everywhere! They're in every workplace and every school. I went to a private boys school and we had girls in the last two years. A lot of the girls were similar to that.
Ja'mie has now been a part of three of your four series. Are there other characters you'd potentially like to revisit?
CL: Yeah, all of them! I love them all. That's the thing: I decided to do this one character show and I'm setting myself up to now have to revisit them all and give them all a series. It's a lot of work. I really like certain characters a lot like Daniel and Nathan from Angry Boys and I really love Jonah from Summer Heights High. There are certainly some I would revisit sooner than others.
courtesy of HBO