Australian comedian Chris Lilley has many personalities. There’s the bratty private-school teenage girl, Ja’mie (“so quiche”); the drama teacher, Mr. G; the one-hit wonder rapper, S.mouse, and many more.
They’re all characters of the accomplished 39-year-old cult hero, who has created four different stand-alone mockumentary series to great acclaim both in his homeland and in the States, where they’ve aired on HBO.
Friday night, he returns on HBO as Jonah Takalua in “Jonah From Tonga” at 10 p.m.
Lilley originated the character — a crass, troubled 14-year-old immigrant — in the 2007 series “Summer Heights High.”
“I missed writing him and playing him,” says Lilley of bringing back the character. “I usually just do what I like rather than what people tell me to do. So I was game to expand his story and find out what happened after ‘Summer Heights High.’ ”
The return of Jonah, though, means renewed controversy. In the series, Jonah hails from Tonga, a small country of islands in Polynesia. To play him, Lilley, who is white, applies brown makeup to his skin, just as he did for the African-American character S.mouse in the series “Angry Boys.” Critics have called this “blackface” and “racist.”
“I think anyone that watches this show and then comes out with that interpretation clearly hasn’t paid any attention,” says Lilley. “It’s so clearly a really well-thought-out, carefully written character, and it’s coming from a really good place.”
The debate is nothing new for Lilley. His boundary-pushing comedy has brought him both praise and backlash for years. It goes all the way back to when he was starting out on a sketch show and they wouldn’t allow him to play a female role.
“I was so angry that day,” he recalls. “And then I went to another network. I just pitched the idea of my first series, which is where I played all different ages, genders, sexuality, race, everything . . . So yeah, I’m just continuing on from that — to limit myself . . . is really stupid.”
That also means he’s pretty tired of this discussion.
“Usually I just don’t explain it. I’m not sure why I’m trying to explain it now,” he says. “It is really frustrating because I just think you’re missing so much.”
And plenty of people agree. For every think piece that’s derided him, there’s another that’s applauded his sharp commentary on issues in modern society. Beneath the comedy of every episode, there is surprising emotional impact, always with a message. “Jonah From Tonga,” in particular, smartly tackles issues like tolerance, race relations and how school systems deal with socioeconomics and “problem kids.”
“I just always have people that love it and people that don’t love it,” says Lilley. “[But] it’s probably more of an issue in Australia, particularly as I go along because the shows have become big in America — well, big in my world — the media is always looking for things to break me down. It’s become an issue because they’re searching for something.”
Seek, and ye shall find?