Interview - The Kings of Mykonos : Wog Boy 2

Interview with Nick Giannopoulos & Vince Colosimo : Stars of The Kings of Mykonos : Wog Boy 2

By Sean Lynch

It's been almost ten years since Acropolis Now star Nick Giannopoulos unleashed his record breaking Box Office hit, The Wog Boy, on Australian audiences.

Since then, his co-star Vince Colosimo has gone onto become one of Australia's most in demand actors (from Underbelly to Ridley Scott's Body Of Lies) while Giannopoulos faced the dreaded "Tall Poppy" syndrome.

A failed critical and commercial follow up in The Wannabes, a DOA TV series in Get Nicked, along with a new era of brainless "Wog-omedy" via Fat Pizza all but wiped Giannopoulos off the map. However, he's back with a bigger budget, a bigger story and a bigger movie that could very well put him back on the map.

Web Wombat's Sean Lynch sat down with Nick Giannopoulos and Vince Colosimo to talk all things ethnic, and to find out once and for all if it's really "A Wog's Life"...

So it's been 10 years since The Wog Boy made $13M - what prompted you to head back to the "Wog-Well"... so to speak?

This film, The Kings Of Mykonos, Chris Anastassiades [my writing partner] actually started as a separate vehicle. We probably started developing it even before The Wog Boy and then we sort of put it aside, did The Wog Boy, did Wannabes and then we came back to it in 2004 and started developing it again.

I'd been going to Mykonos since 1992 and I just fell in love with the island, I fell in love with the people on the island. I just got to hear some amazing stories, really funny stories, met some great characters - and just thought :

"How great would it be to write a film about a guy who was born in Australia from a Greek background who actually goes to Greece".

Then about two years ago I thought "You know what would be even better, what if we just got Steve and Frank and got them to do it".

And that's how it became a sequel - but I quite like the idea that it's a stand alone film as well. Because overseas the film will just be called The Kings Of Mykonos.

It's been 7 years since The Wannabes - did the failure of that film and it's backlash effect being able to get this film up?

The thing about The Wannabes is that it took $1.5M which is about the average of what an Australian film makes at the Box Office - whereas The Wog Boy did a bit better [Laughs]...

But let's just say this - it's difficult to get any Australian film made [Laughs], and even though we had a huge success with the first film, it doesn't really matter because this film had to stand up on it's own merits.

Are these Wog Boy characters ones you are likely to come back to again after The Kings Of Mykonos?

Yeah, they're great characters... people just love them. Not just our characters, but there's "Tony The Yougoslavie", there's "Theo" and "Mario" - they come back from the first film as well. It was great fun to take them overseas.

How long were you actually filming on the island - because it looks amazing...

The shoot was only about six weeks, so it was a pretty quick shoot. But I had been in Mykonos a bit longer as part of pre-production, so I spent about 3 months in Mykonos... which isn't a bad way to spend your year [Laughs].

We're actually going back later in the year for the Greek premiere... the film is getting a wide release in Greece which is really exciting to see an Australian film get that sort of press coverage overseas.

How do you think it will translate with international audiences - because "Steve" has really amped up his "Yobbo-ness" since the first flick?

You know what it is - I think you're more Australian when you go overseas [Laughs]. It's just this thing I've noticed when I've traveled and you meet Aussies, and theres a lot more "G'day Mate, Mate, Maaate".

Our accent and whole attitude really seems to stand out.

I think when you put these characters in a foreign setting, all those aspects are excentuated - simply because you are just surrounded by Greeks and Germans and Italians.

There are two German characters in the movie who almost steal the show - but the laughs come from the fact they are actually taking the piss out of some of the more poorly scripted gags. Is that done on purpose?

That's just Chris and my own writing, we just have a very weird sense of humour.

We didn't know how that would work, but I just like the idea that these Germans would let people make fun of them and then turn the tables...

You've often been the target of criticism for your "Wog" branded comedy (there is an infamous sketch from The Late Show that comes to mind), how have you dealt with that over the years - and does it affect the direction of your writing?

Have you seen the sketches about Russell Crowe? They really hurt his chances of winning an Oscar [Laughs]....

Mate, whether you're Nicole Kidman or just poor old me, I mean Kylie Minogue copped it for years... and Danni... both the Minogues.

I've thought about it a lot over the years, I think in Australia you have to go through this initiation process : "How much shit can we hang on someone - and if they don't crack - they're alright".

I mean, look at Nicole Kidman - what that woman copped for no reason over Australia, for no reason, it was out of nowhere. I mean, this poor 16 year old girl who is sailing around the world at the moment... she's copping it too.

Unbelievable.

Only in Australia - you wouldn't see this in America... maybe in England. Maybe it's something we've inherited from the Poms, because it's not in my culture either [The Greeks] aren't even like that.

So how do you deal with that...

Well this is the thing - make or break. If you get through that, you've got a career.

Daryl Somers, Bert Newton, the list is endless. I think, in this country, if you get through that "Shit Hanging" process, if you come through it - then you're a "Battler". I think it's the process of becoming a "Battler".

How much did Kings Of Mykonos cost to make compared to The Wog Boy?

It's double of both [The Wog Boy and Wannabes]... I'm not allowed to say, it's a confidentiality thing with the investors.

So it's safe to say there's a bit of Melbourne Storm, NRL, "Greek-anomics" going on there...

[Laughs] That's a nice analogy... it was substantially larger than the first one. But you can see every cent on the screen, but it had to be. Australian films are not going to be able to compete effectively [against Robin Hood, Avatar, etc] unless they can present themselves as big-screen entertainment. And as you've seen - this is a Big Screen picture.

That's the reality of the business at the moment - you need the budget to compete, otherwise it's a Straight-To-DVD title or a TV film.

One final question before we go. We ask everyone this : If you could start your own "Richard Gere Gerbil" myth or rumour to spread about yourself in the press... what would it be?

Nick Giannopoulos, in reality, did have two eyebrows - the whole mono brow thing was just a joke. He was actually born with two eyebrows and no hair on any other part of his body!

THE KINGS OF MYKONOS : WOG BOY 2 is Out Now on DVD & Blu Ray