Summer Heights High star Chris Lilley reveals surprise career change

Australian comedian Chris Lilley has fallen out of the spotlight in recent years, but he’s back and embarking on an unexpected new career.

Australian comedian Chris Lilley appears to have undergone quite the career change in recent months.

Lilley, who has been out of the spotlight in recent years and is best known for his show Summer Heights High, doesn’t have any current TV projects in the pipeline.

And, at least for the time being, it seems like his TV comedy days are behind him.

Instead, he’s embarked on a new career as a YouTuber and seems intent on following in the footsteps of fellow Aussie wildlife star Rob Irwin.

Over the last six months, Lilley has turned his back on comedy, and instead has been sharing videos of his many wildlife encounters while travelling around Australia.

Chris Lilley has embarked on a new career as a wildlife YouTuber. Picture: YouTube.

The comedian has shared numerous videos on YouTube exploring wildlife in Australia. Picture: YouTube.

In one video he shares his experience meeting wild wombats, while in another he explores the vibrant wildlife of the Ningaloo Coast.

In recent years, Lilley’s brand of humour has proven to be controversial as attitudes have shifted.

In 2020, Netflix removed any content that featured blackface, including four of Lilley’s mockumentaries: Summer Heights High, Angry Boys, We Can Be Heroes, and Jonah from Tonga.

His character rapper S.Mouse from his 2011 series Angry Boys later became the subject of viral tweets sharing outrage.

“I wanted to do it because I thought it was a challenging, new, interesting idea, and mostly I just thought it was a really funny character,” Lilley said, addressing the backlash in a 2011 interview with Vulture.

Lilley's brand of comedy has proven to be somewhat controversial in recent years. Picture: Supplied.

“The funny thing is, I played a Chinese student in We Can Be Heroes, I played a Tongan boy in Summer Heights High, and I play a Japanese woman also in Angry Boys, but the only one that people talk about is S.Mouse.”

He continued, “It’s kind of funny that there’s only certain races that it’s an issue – yes, it’s that history with blackface – but, I don’t know. There’s no comparison. I think it’s a bit stupid that you would shut yourself off to being able to do that.”

Despite his works being removed from Netflix, Lilley doesn’t appear to harbour any hard feelings toward the platform.

“I feel like whatever was talked about was more of a media take on the situation rather than reality,” he told Unilad last year.

“All of my shows have been and always are available. They never disappeared – skim through some headlines, you might think otherwise.

“But they’re still popular, and Netflix and I still have a great relationship. They really back Lunatics and it still does really well on that network.”

Originally published as Summer Heights High star Chris Lilley reveals surprise career change