Ja’mie’s Jewish father

ARMED with a thick Afrikaner accent, Jewish businessman-turned-actor Brad Brivik is the perfect foil for comedian Chris Lilley’s brilliantly obnoxious title character on ABC TV’s Ja’mie: Private School Girl.

Playing Ja’mie’s father Marcus King is Brivik’s first major acting role and a long way from his first career as the founder of businesses in industries including snack foods and gifts.

“Before this series, I’d done some TV commercials and smaller roles in Australian films, which were fantastic experiences,” Brivik told The AJN.

“But I really loved making this show and working with Chris Lilley and his team.”

The series features the Ja’mie character Lilley first introduced in his award-winning satirical miniseries about the Australian of the Year contest, We Can Be Heroes and resurrected in the follow-up Summer Heights High. Ja’mie: Private School Girl follows Ja’mie, the spoilt daughter of a wealthy family from Sydney’s North Shore, in her final months at a prestigious private girls’ school.

South African-born Brivik was put up for an audition by his Melbourne agency when it was discovered Lilley was seeking an actor to play Ja’mie’s South African father.

“My own South African accent is just a regular one but I auditioned with a very strong Afrikaner-style accent,” Brivik explained.

“The casting director and Chris just went potty over the Afrikaner accent and asked if I’d be able to sustain it throughout the series.

“I said I was confident that I could, and I think it won me the role.

“Funnily enough, the actor who plays Ja’mie’s mother, Jhyll Teplin, is also a South African Jew, but the Kings aren’t a Jewish family.”

Brivik enjoyed working with Lilley, who he said is “very different” to Ja’mie.

“He’s very gentle, genuine, patient and professional,” Brivik said.

“He sought out actors like me, with little to no experience, because he wanted genuine reactions to Ja’mie’s shenanigans. A trained actor could respond to that readily as they’re trained to do so.”

Brivik, who fell into acting when his partner’s agent was seeking middle-aged male actors for extras work, would like to pursue acting further “and see where it goes”.

“It’s fun but it’s not as easy as it looks,” he laughed.

Ja’mie: Private School Girl is on ABC1, Wednesdays at 9pm.

ALEXANDRA ROACH

Jewish businessman-turned-actor Brad Brivik.