Extra funny guy

Despite the Irish brogue in his voice, Jimeoin is an Australian institution. His face is instantly recognisable to millions from his stand-up shows, TV appearances and movies. He’s been a bit quiet of late (his last film, The Craic, was released in 1999), but now he’s back with The Extra. The comedy follows the exploits of any everyman (played by Jimeoin) who finds work as an extra on the set of a Hollywood blockbuster being filmed in Australia.

Comedy on film, of course, is a very different kettle of fish to stand-up. As Jimeoin explains, “With stand-up, if you have an idea, you can give it a go and it’s not that expensive to try it out. If it works you can expand on it, but if it doesn’t, you can just move on. With film, because it’s so expensive, people get so nervous. ‘This is a bit different; are you sure it’s going to work?’ and I say ‘Well, no’ but you’ve got to try”.

“You have to try the things you’re scared of, because if they scare you, you know you’re on the right path. They might not work, but at least you’re on the right path to possibly striking on an original idea or something that an audience wants to see. I didn’t realise the fight I’d have on my hands just to get those things up.”

Like his character in The Extra, Jimeoin isn’t all that impressed with some of the movies Hollywood has foisted upon us in recent times. “The thing about the movies is that you can watch them on TV or on DVD or in a hotel; but to ask people to go to the pictures - drive their cars, try to find a parking space, go in, sit down - I think you’ve got to give them something different”.

“You’ve got your blockbusters, which for me… you know, I think The Extra’s far funnier than any of them – Hitch or any of that – because I made it! Actually, there’s a hole in the market between the big Hollywood blockbusters and the art house stuff; and I think this is kind of in between. You know, there’s really really tacky visual gags, good wordy gags, there’s pathos; rather than all being pitched at one level. I really try to make it a mixture of things I find funny”.

As the writer on the project, Jimeoin brought a lot of personal experience to the film. “I’ve been all those people,” he observes wryly, “except the Kristy Hinze character”. “I’ve been an extra; I’ve had fame; I’ve been a writer, producer, director, you name it”.

He had a real affinity with the director character, Curtis Thai Buckworth, played by Rhys Muldoon. “That person is just like a dog with a bone trying to get their thing done, and if you step back you can say ‘They’re mad’. I’ve been that person over issues in my life, then I’d look back and ask what it was all about”.

He also used a real life experience for one of the film’s funniest scenes. “When I was with a drama group in London where the guy [who ran the group] ran a modelling agency and he wanted to get his models to become actors. He was gay, so he used to get all these straight boys up to a gay nightclub to get their union card. I always thought that was very funny – seeing these four straight guys dancing in a gay nightclub”.

While it would have been easy to be, as Jimeoin puts it, “cynical” when writing The Extar, he instead decided to take a different tack. “I wanted to give a heartfelt reason as to why people want to become famous. Some people don’t get respected in this world, yet you see other people being really respected, and they turn their nose up at people who want to be famous. That’s too easy, it’s too cold. I mean, everyone’s aware of that Tom Cruise no eye contact thing, which is just laughable to Australians. And I thought, what a joke!”

The Extra opens nationally on April 21. Jimeon is also touring the country with his live show, The Shameless Film-Plug Tour. Confirmed dates are:

Adelaide: His Majesty's Theatre, April 1 and 2
Perth: Regal Theatre, April 7 - 9
Bunbury: Regional Entertainment Centre, April 10
Melbourne: (as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival) Melbourne Town Hall, April 14 -16
Brisbane: Tivoli Theatre, April 22-23

David Edwards

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Jimeoin -
the shameless
film-plug interview

Film: The Extra
Release: April 21, 2005
Rated: M