Patrick Brammall as Detective Nick Cullen in a scene from the TV series No Activity.
Patrick Brammall as Detective Nick Cullen in a scene from the TV series No Activity. Jared Mechaber

Meet the man translating Aussie humour for Americans

PATRICK Brammall hopes it's a case of third time lucky in his quest to get Americans laughing at Aussie humour.  

The actor and producer believes he has finally struck gold with the US remake of his hit Stan original series No Activity.  

"This is my third time reprising an Australian role in America," he tells The Guide.

"We did a pilot of Upper Middle Bogan, which didn't get commissioned, and the one before that was Strange Calls."  

Thanks to the backing of Will Ferrell's production company Gary Sanchez, Brammall and director Trent O'Donnell have attracted a top-notch cast including Saturday Night Live alumni Ferrell and Tim Meadows, Jake Johnson, Amy Sedaris and J.K. Simmons.  

Set against the world of a major drug cartel bust, No Activity follows a cast of characters including two low-level cops (Brammall and Meadows) who have spent far too much time in a car together.  

Tim Meadows as Detective Tolbeck and Patrick Brammall as Detective Cullen in a scene from No Activity.
Tim Meadows as Detective Tolbeck and Patrick Brammall as Detective Cullen in a scene from No Activity. Trae Patton

"America has a rich tradition of taking Australian shows and not quite understanding them," he says.

"That's why it was important for myself and Trent to be the showrunners on this.   

"We wrote scripts but there's lots of improvising... that's what made the show work. America has a very deep tradition of improv, which is great.  

"Because we're going to have Americans in those roles it's going to have a different flavour but it's going to be the same feast."  

No Activity is available to stream on Stan now.


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