Lilley offers Tongan feast
C *hris Lilley *fans will get to see a "puckload" of his new mockumentary series Jonah From Tonga next month when the ABC makes all six episodes available on its popular iView internet service before it is broadcast on ABC1.
In what will be an Australian first, Jonah From Tonga will be available on iView from 4pm, on Friday, May 2 until 4pm, on Sunday May 4, allowing viewers to binge-watch the entire series before it premieres on Wednesday, May 7 at 9pm on ABC1.
Troublesome Tongan schoolboy Jonah Takalua was a character in Lilley's cult 2007 series Summer Heights High and returns for new misadventures and mischief-making, first in Tonga, then at a new school where there's plenty of fighting, breakdancing and Jonah's trademark graffiti.
Lilley is the only male performer nominated in both the most outstanding and most popular actor categories at the TV Week Logie Awards - ironically for playing a female character in Ja'mie: Private School Girl - but will miss the ceremony on April 27. He's due to leave for the UK today to promote Jonah ahead of its launch on BBC3.
UK viewers will also get a Jonah binge weekend on the BBC iPlayer.
"It is truly cool because they left me out last time," Lilley said of his dual nominations for Ja'mie and 2012 Logies snub for Angry Boys.
"I was surprised by the outstanding one because I never thought those judges thought I was a real actor, which I'm not really.
"It's really nice, especially the fan-voted one. I don't read any press or anything, so you can lose touch with how relevant you really are, so when something like the Logies comes along, it's like 'Ah OK, so people are really connecting with this'."
People are still connecting with Ja'mie thanks to the word "quiche", Ja'mie's term for hotter than hot, entering pop culture vernacular after appearing on clothing and being used by celebrities including Lindsay Lohan.
"It went from being a reference on the show to just becoming its own word; there are ranges of clothing," Lilley said.
"I have lost control of it; it has morphed into becoming a word. I think Lindsay Lohan has really helped with that. It is such a ridiculous word, it is so insane."
SUE YEAP
'I was surprised
by the outstanding one because I never thought those judges thought I was a real actor, which I'm not really.'
