Speaker 1: Your story is your power, Snipper, too far gone for
Speaker 1: as long as you're breathing once if you just push
Speaker 1: past that little barrier. We don't know what your capacity is,
Speaker 1: what our potential do, so always know that that is
Speaker 1: always more in the tank. The self dealt goes away
Speaker 1: when you're becoming a master of your craft and also
Speaker 1: a believer in your own process. Like you just touched
Speaker 1: on this, there's no sit way.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the seas the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy
Speaker 2: are not the same thing. We too rarely question what
Speaker 2: makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but
Speaker 2: rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than
Speaker 2: one way. So this is a platform to hear and
Speaker 2: explore the stories of those who found lives they adore,
Speaker 2: the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst day
Speaker 2: will bear all the facets of seizing your Yay. I'm
Speaker 2: Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned
Speaker 2: entrepreneurs What the suits and heels to co found, matcha
Speaker 2: Maiden and matcha milk bark. Seize the is a series
Speaker 2: of conversations on finding a life you love and exploring
Speaker 2: the self doubt challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way. Hello,
Speaker 2: lovely neighborhood, and welcome back to another guest episode in
Speaker 2: a row. This week, We've skipped our Yeas of Our
Speaker 2: Lives episode to squeeze this one in because we were
Speaker 2: so excited to have this wonderful guest on the show.
Speaker 2: So we'll be back next week with the typical chaos
Speaker 2: that always ensues when Ange is involved, But for this week,
Speaker 2: I'm so excited to have Nick Afoa here on the show.
Speaker 2: You might have seen a couple of weeks ago, Ange
Speaker 2: and I went on a little CZA date night to
Speaker 2: see the incredible new production of Miss Sagon that has
Speaker 2: absolutely taken Australia by storm. Either you will have seen
Speaker 2: it and you will have been as blown away by
Speaker 2: it as we were. I cried, I loved the music,
Speaker 2: just transported me away. Or if you haven't seen it,
Speaker 2: you've probably heard someone in your network rave about it.
Speaker 2: It's been an absolute raging success and Nick is one
Speaker 2: of the lead roles in this year's cast, So that's
Speaker 2: one of the reasons why I'm so excited to have
Speaker 2: Nick on the show, because we loved the production so
Speaker 2: much and just wanted to hear about the behind the
Speaker 2: scenes of what it takes to actually bring that together
Speaker 2: and what the day to day of a career in
Speaker 2: musical theater actually looks like. But even more so because
Speaker 2: you guys know, I love a wayta that takes twists
Speaker 2: and turns you would never expect. And Nicko Foer actually
Speaker 2: began not just as your average rugby player. I mean
Speaker 2: many people play rugby in their younger years, but he
Speaker 2: went on to become part of the under nineteen World
Speaker 2: Cup team in South Africa, where he actually won that
Speaker 2: tournament so well and truly on the path to success
Speaker 2: in an incredible sporting career with a bright future ahead.
Speaker 2: So how does one then end up making their theater
Speaker 2: debut as Simba in The Lion King, not just in Sydney, Melbourne,
Speaker 2: Brisbane and Perth, but then moving on to spend five
Speaker 2: years playing the coveted role in London's West End. Nick
Speaker 2: tells the story far better than I ever could myself,
Speaker 2: so I'll hand it over to him to connect all
Speaker 2: the dots that eventually make sense in his wonderful Parthia.
Speaker 2: He's such a warm and interesting person. We go down
Speaker 2: so many tangents. It was such an enjoyable episode. I
Speaker 2: hope you guys like it as much as I did. Well,
Speaker 2: you've recorded some amazing video as well, but sadly it
Speaker 2: just didn't save I mean, the joys of technology these days.
Speaker 2: But the audio was wonderful, so I hope you guys
Speaker 2: enjoy Nick. Welcome to Seize.
Speaker 1: A thank you for having me.
Speaker 2: I am so excited to have you on the show,
Speaker 2: particularly having watched your recent performance. I'm fangirling even harder.
Speaker 2: But I think you're definitely the first New Zealand tenor
Speaker 2: and former New Zealand age grade rugby union footballer that
Speaker 2: we've ever had on the show. I mean, what a combination.
Speaker 1: I know, right, Just hearing you say that takes me
Speaker 1: back many, many years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is why I'm so excited to have
Speaker 2: you on, because the main crux of this show is
Speaker 2: the idea that you know you might find one life
Speaker 2: pathway and at the time it feels like it's your
Speaker 2: b all and end all, and you think you've found
Speaker 2: your joy and like tick the boxes, I'm going to
Speaker 2: live a happy life. But you can end up in
Speaker 2: something completely different that you never expected. And like some
Speaker 2: of the most beautiful pathways do have massive pivots and
Speaker 2: twists and turns like that. So I would love to
Speaker 2: go through the journey of how you got to where
Speaker 2: you are. But first we always break the ass with
Speaker 2: a little question, just to ask what the most down
Speaker 2: to earth thing is about you? Because both of those
Speaker 2: titles are pretty impressive.
Speaker 1: Oh, what's the most down sort of thing about me?
Speaker 1: I kicktics quite simple these days. I love coming home
Speaker 1: and spending time with my family, and I love fishing.
Speaker 1: I love nature. Since i've been in Melbourne, I've had
Speaker 1: to give that a bit of a miss, so you know,
Speaker 1: I walked past the Albert Lake, was saying about five
Speaker 1: minutes from the lake, and I saw the no fishing signs,
Speaker 1: So I don't worry. I'm not going to pull out
Speaker 1: any fish from the lake.
Speaker 2: I'm not even sure they'd be worth pulling out if
Speaker 2: they were surviving in that lake. It's a beautiful lake
Speaker 2: to look at, but I don't know if it's fishing worthy.
Speaker 2: Oh I love that. I think it's so easy to
Speaker 2: read someone's Wikipedia or meet them at a chapter that
Speaker 2: you're in right now, where there's so much shiny performances
Speaker 2: and ows and like, you know, like World Cups, and
Speaker 2: just forget that you're actually also just a human being
Speaker 2: who does normal things and who has I'm sure lots
Speaker 2: of quirks and weird habits as well, which I hope
Speaker 2: to unearth during mischief. But let's go back to the
Speaker 2: very beginning, because I think one of the most sort
Speaker 2: of interesting things that doesn't come up as much when
Speaker 2: you're an adult is to trace back to who you
Speaker 2: were as a kid. Like now people will be asking
Speaker 2: you all about Missigone and all about Broadway and forgetting
Speaker 2: that you were, you know, a little child who once
Speaker 2: had no idea where he'd end up. So New Zealand born,
Speaker 2: but I read Samoan and Croatian heritage. Yes, about that?
Speaker 2: How fascinating.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So when people ask me so where I'm from,
Speaker 1: that stumps me to this day because I always feel
Speaker 1: like I need to be honest about all of who
Speaker 1: I am. And I think sometimes from the can look like, oh,
Speaker 1: this guy's a Pacific guy, or he's a Maori guy
Speaker 1: who's a salmon guy. But I you know, I was
Speaker 1: born and raised in Altaio in New Zealand. My dad
Speaker 1: is a salmon born salmon. My mom is a third
Speaker 1: generation Croatian queuing. Yeah, it sounds like a big you know,
Speaker 1: big fruit sal ethnicities.
Speaker 2: A big spread, you ticket, a lot of boxes.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And I grew up in South Auckland, which is
Speaker 1: at the north in the North Island of New Zealand,
Speaker 1: and I was more probably connected more so to my
Speaker 1: Salmon side growing up because you know, Pacific ethnicities make
Speaker 1: up probably about eighty five to ninety percent of South Auckland.
Speaker 1: Connecting to my Croatian side, which is my mother's line,
Speaker 1: really only happened in the last few years, to be honest.
Speaker 1: Then that happened when I went on a huge trip
Speaker 1: to London when I was on the West End, and
Speaker 1: then I decided to take a trip to Croatia and
Speaker 1: I found family there and I could actually come home
Speaker 1: and tell my not just my mom, but my who
Speaker 1: also was had never been back home. It was my
Speaker 1: great my great grandparents came on a grandfather came on
Speaker 1: a ship in the fifties. And so I found family
Speaker 1: there and I could come home and bring photos and
Speaker 1: show them, so for them to connect those pieces to
Speaker 1: that part of them as well as me as pretty special.
Speaker 2: So yeah, gosh, I mean that part alone that's like
Speaker 2: the very first dot point. And I feel like it's
Speaker 2: so interesting because I'm sure people would assume very quickly
Speaker 2: that you're Maudi and that you know the Kighi accent.
Speaker 2: It's such an easy assumption. But that whole landscape of
Speaker 2: identity fascinates me because that kind of is the patchwork
Speaker 2: of you know, where you start from.
Speaker 1: True.
Speaker 2: But I also think it's so cool that you've already
Speaker 2: mentioned the West End. But when I look at sort
Speaker 2: of your early school years, it was schools in New
Speaker 2: Zealand and then pretty much going straight into sport like
Speaker 2: club rugby, and then really accelerating in that pathway, so
Speaker 2: being selected for like junior World Cup teams and then
Speaker 2: winning the Junior World Cup and going to South Africa
Speaker 2: and for a young person, and like, that's a very accelerated,
Speaker 2: successful pathway. And especially I think a lot of young
Speaker 2: people grow up thinking, especially young boys, that they want
Speaker 2: to be a sports person, but not many people actually
Speaker 2: get to do it as a career. So did you
Speaker 2: at that time of your life think that your pathway
Speaker 2: was going to be sport.
Speaker 1: I wanted it to be, I deeply wanted it to be,
Speaker 1: and like you just mentioned. I mean, I really supportive
Speaker 1: parents who you know, you see the seeds and your
Speaker 1: kids and what are spouting. And they saw that I
Speaker 1: was sporty as well as artistic, but because of the time,
Speaker 1: I don't think they saw a pathway in yats. So
Speaker 1: my dad encouraged me a lot in my sports, even
Speaker 1: though he said, son, you've got to get an education.
Speaker 1: But I you know, young boy in New Zealand who
Speaker 1: had the All Blacks team to look up to, and
Speaker 1: other other role models who were doing it. They were
Speaker 1: also pacific as well. It was it was all I saw,
Speaker 1: and you know, even to a point where I ignored
Speaker 1: the other advice from there that I needed back up.
Speaker 1: So I got into rip teams quite young, you know,
Speaker 1: fourteen fifteen, I was making Auckland rip teams and it
Speaker 1: starts to inspire you and you kind of feel like
Speaker 1: you're getting closer. And yeah, I got into quite a
Speaker 1: good school for a sports scholarship.
Speaker 2: Amazing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was it was all looking like that was
Speaker 1: the trajectory. But you know, things happened and I got
Speaker 1: an injury in my early twenties and then, like you said,
Speaker 1: that's when I needed to pivot because it didn't happen.
Speaker 1: It didn't happen the way I wanted it to happen.
Speaker 2: And it's funny that I think a lot of the
Speaker 2: time it's out of adversity or something that feels like
Speaker 2: the end of your world at the time, Like getting
Speaker 2: into an acl as a sports person is like, oh,
Speaker 2: oh my god, I've never imagined another future for myself.
Speaker 2: But without that happening, like, would you have ever pursued
Speaker 2: the thing that you really love now? Maybe not? And
Speaker 2: I love those sliding doors moments. So how did you
Speaker 2: go from envisioning your entire life this one career and
Speaker 2: like all your metrics are measured based on like rugby
Speaker 2: metrics and World Cups and getting into a good team
Speaker 2: and building a career to then that just gets cut short.
Speaker 2: But you know your world's over. What's the process of
Speaker 2: finding a new pathway?
Speaker 1: Well, it is a process, it's yeah, it.
Speaker 2: Doesn't have an overnight even the same that way, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: I think I do think a lot of people think, oh, well,
Speaker 1: it was an overnight thing, like it just went from
Speaker 1: rugby back to the arts or you know, went on
Speaker 1: that pathway. But I think hindsight's a beautiful thing right, Like,
Speaker 1: I can look back now and I can see that
Speaker 1: I don't even know even if I didn't get injured,
Speaker 1: I don't even know if I wouldn't made it. I
Speaker 1: realized why I deeply loved rugby, and it was the community.
Speaker 1: It was camaraderie. It was friendships, friendships from which I
Speaker 1: still have now, you know some of them. Some of
Speaker 1: my mates went on to play, you know, for the Wallabies,
Speaker 1: for All Blacks, and we're still friends to this day.
Speaker 1: And even before I got into the Arps, straight after
Speaker 1: I got injured, I was like, you know, there was
Speaker 1: about a year or two of down in the dumps
Speaker 1: and what the heck am I going to do? And I,
Speaker 1: for someone who wasn't didn't get the best marks at school,
Speaker 1: I actually decided, Okay, I was twenty years old at
Speaker 1: this time, and I was old enough to get into university.
Speaker 1: I didn't have the school marks to get in, but
Speaker 1: because I was twenty, I got mature injury and I
Speaker 1: just all of the studden and was like, I want
Speaker 1: to study. And I did a social scientist degree and
Speaker 1: that actually made my dad prouder in the right and
Speaker 1: the rugby, you know, I think it's a big thing
Speaker 1: for you know, my grant parents, you know, come to
Speaker 1: the colony that they're like, you got to get educations,
Speaker 1: and that's you know, my dad came here to New
Speaker 1: Zealand in the sixties as a twelve year old with
Speaker 1: no word of English, and you know, he was my
Speaker 1: role model in terms of that, and I always had
Speaker 1: it in the back of my mind like, oaf, my
Speaker 1: dad can do it, then I can go to university.
Speaker 1: And a three year degree took me for but I
Speaker 1: got there. I got a job straight away as a
Speaker 1: youth counselor and I loved it. Like I wasn't paid
Speaker 1: as much as a professional sports person, but I truly
Speaker 1: felt like I was stepping into my shoes as who
Speaker 1: I was. So I was like, oh, this is who
Speaker 1: you are. And I got to work in schools where
Speaker 1: I grew up and I got to impart knowledge to
Speaker 1: kids who are just like me. And you know, you know,
Speaker 1: had wanted to do some things but just needed a
Speaker 1: bit more of a snapshot of opportunities and possibilities. And
Speaker 1: I did that for four years. It wasn't until twenty six,
Speaker 1: twenty seven that I actually stepped into an audition room. Wow, Yeah.
Speaker 1: It was a late bloomer in terms of theater. You know,
Speaker 1: I had a really unorthodox journey into it, and it
Speaker 1: wasn't theater that pulled me in. It was the story
Speaker 1: of The Lion King, which was my favorite movie of
Speaker 1: war time.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is where we get along. Right when
Speaker 2: my baby is born, we are doing the Yeah, like
Speaker 2: that's happening.
Speaker 1: Don't worry, we still course you did.
Speaker 2: Are you going to send me the video so I
Speaker 2: could get some inspo?
Speaker 1: Yeah. I had a connection to that storyline, and I
Speaker 1: had a had friends who were in the original show
Speaker 1: in two thousand and three, and so I was at
Speaker 1: another pivot point. I'd done four years working as a
Speaker 1: school counselor, and I had this thing in me. I
Speaker 1: was liked, Niki, what is something else? There's something else?
Speaker 1: There was the rugby and you had these seeds of
Speaker 1: being a singer and an arty person as a kid.
Speaker 1: But what are you going to do with it? And
Speaker 1: so The Lion King is one of the only shows
Speaker 1: in the world where on the briefing for the audition
Speaker 1: it says no previous experience required. Wow, there's not many
Speaker 1: shows out there that do that. That's what's why I
Speaker 1: think that there's theater and then there's the Lion King.
Speaker 1: It's it's a sort of a different realm because they
Speaker 1: find people around the world who can fit into that
Speaker 1: mold of the story that they want to tell. And Yeah,
Speaker 1: I stepped into this audition room and it was Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was an experience I'll never never forget. And it
Speaker 1: was another experience of this makes sense to me. This
Speaker 1: world makes sense to me. And because I was already
Speaker 1: immersed in the world of you know, use development, I
Speaker 1: kind of even though I didn't study acting from a
Speaker 1: human perspective, I could understand the story and I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is a ten year old child who's run away
Speaker 1: because his father's been killed and his uncle told him
Speaker 1: that it's as fault, Like you imagine that in a
Speaker 1: real life setting like that is some some pretty heavy stuff,
Speaker 1: you know. And I was sitting in the once I
Speaker 1: had gotten the role and then the rehearsal process, and
Speaker 1: I was like, Wow, I can can really bring human
Speaker 1: perspectives to the story and I really enjoyed them. And
Speaker 1: I think that's my process for everything that I've done
Speaker 1: so far, not that I've done many shows. I've only
Speaker 1: done the Lion King and now mist like gone.
Speaker 2: I love that you use the word only for like
Speaker 2: the biggest production in the entire universe at the actual
Speaker 2: home place of like London's West End. There is nowhere
Speaker 2: better that you could be on stage. And I think
Speaker 2: you've brought up so many things there, but particularly the
Speaker 2: fact that there are unorthodox ways to get into a career,
Speaker 2: because I think a lot of people assume like, oh,
Speaker 2: I'm too old, or it's impossible because I didn't study acting,
Speaker 2: or I don't have connections.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I think you're a wonderful and inspiring example that you
Speaker 2: can come into something late and it's maybe not the
Speaker 2: most common way that people do it, but it's possible
Speaker 2: to not have a whole musical past for your entire
Speaker 2: life and still your first role it wasn't just like
Speaker 2: a mere cat in the background. It was simber, like guys,
Speaker 2: come on, Nick is being so humble here, but his
Speaker 2: theater debut was as Simba in The Lion King, and
Speaker 2: that I just think it's people will take chances on
Speaker 2: a newcomer and don't like rule yourself out just because
Speaker 2: you don't think you have what you know, the background
Speaker 2: that you need definitely.
Speaker 1: That's crazy that I could still use even though I
Speaker 1: couldn't play rugby anymore. The athleticism was something that I
Speaker 1: could still bring to this young at a listent lion
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: So, I think one of the big things about the
Speaker 2: fact that our lives unravel in chapters, and that your
Speaker 2: three kind of broad chapters have been very different to
Speaker 2: each other is the self doubt when you're a newbie,
Speaker 2: like when you've just started and you don't have the
Speaker 2: backup of you know, a degree and a million different
Speaker 2: qualifications in that area, plus the fact that for a
Speaker 2: very sporty dude, theater is often not the most logical
Speaker 2: step that comes next. Did you have any of either
Speaker 2: doubt from externally like people sort of being like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, you're in musical theater, or for your self,
Speaker 2: doubting that you'd be able to Like it's hugely nerve
Speaker 2: wracking to go to any audition, let alone for Simba
Speaker 2: in The Lion King. What do you do in your
Speaker 2: brain to quell the sort of fear or doubt.
Speaker 1: That's good question, because the self doubt actually never goes away.
Speaker 2: Yes, so true.
Speaker 1: I'm thirty seven, you know, and you think you know
Speaker 1: back then you think, okay, you know it can about
Speaker 1: ten years old master it. You know, I'll never have
Speaker 1: that doubt again, but you get better at managing it.
Speaker 1: Time to your question. I think I was always I
Speaker 1: had that label of like the guy who could play
Speaker 1: rugby and could sing, so that my mates were you know,
Speaker 1: I got the low key you know, digs from them
Speaker 1: like are ain't dancing on stage? You know, but.
Speaker 2: Where's your licra? Stop it? Did you really?
Speaker 1: I did like to change a lot of things and
Speaker 1: the way I trained, you know, my dance kept them
Speaker 1: When I first joined, they're like, yeah, you look the part,
Speaker 1: but you can't move like we need you to. So
Speaker 1: you know, you're going to ballet classes, you're learning how
Speaker 1: to pirouet. You know you've got to You're going to
Speaker 1: raise in it. It's but anyway I am. The self
Speaker 1: doubt goes away when you it's preparation, right. You would
Speaker 1: have heard this before. Just becoming a master, becoming a
Speaker 1: master of your craft and also a believer in your
Speaker 1: own process. Like you just touched on, there's there's no
Speaker 1: sit way you know, I mean, and I kind of
Speaker 1: I still do that. I go, Nick, you've done this
Speaker 1: before and you know you have a process and it works,
Speaker 1: so believe in that. And I know for a fact
Speaker 1: when I kept the most self doubt, it's when I
Speaker 1: haven't prepared. It's when I haven't you know, sat down
Speaker 1: and gone. And maybe I'm jumping a bit forward now
Speaker 1: and to Massagon, I don't know if I If you
Speaker 1: want me to move that forward.
Speaker 2: We go wherever you like. My brain's a mess, so
Speaker 2: it suits me, let's go all over the place.
Speaker 1: I struggled at first when I got the role, when
Speaker 1: I stepped inside this room and I was pulled once
Speaker 1: again into a story through a song with Die, which
Speaker 1: I just was like this, what a powerful song. Then
Speaker 1: I get given the role and it's like now you've
Speaker 1: got to play the character nic And it was huge
Speaker 1: responsibility for me because obviously seeing that it was a
Speaker 1: true story and then also you know the cause and
Speaker 1: the purpose that this guy John has after the fall
Speaker 1: and what happens in this transformation, and I'm going, man,
Speaker 1: what am I? How am I going to bring this
Speaker 1: guy to life? And how is he going to be
Speaker 1: authentic to me? But also true to what the creatives
Speaker 1: wanted to be? And I really had to had that
Speaker 1: same process that I did with the symbol. I had
Speaker 1: to go who was he? How does he make sense
Speaker 1: to me? And I had when I researched. The more
Speaker 1: that I researched, I actually found out because this is
Speaker 1: what I found uncomfortable. We were in the rehearsal room
Speaker 1: in week one and Nigil Hakl, who's my beloved best
Speaker 1: mate on stage and also an awesome guy of stage,
Speaker 1: he said to me, he goes, Hey, what ethnicity are
Speaker 1: you playing?
Speaker 2: And I was like, oh, big question.
Speaker 1: And it was a great question. And I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: my gosh, he's American, but he.
Speaker 2: Could be any any ethnicity, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. And I'm like, well, I don't know
Speaker 1: how I feel about playing an African American. I don't
Speaker 1: know how I feel about playing a Hispanic person, like
Speaker 1: in terms of authenticity. And then I researched and I
Speaker 1: found out that there were so many Pacific people that
Speaker 1: served in the war, not just they for America, and
Speaker 1: it actually took me into a part of my history
Speaker 1: that I didn't know. Sal mourns and Pacific people have
Speaker 1: been migrating to America since the sixties, and it's the
Speaker 1: same story again, the same way that my dad wanted
Speaker 1: me to go to diversity when I got to New Zealand.
Speaker 1: You know Pacific people in America that are like, you're
Speaker 1: joining the army. Son, You're joining the army. It's assimilation.
Speaker 1: How are we going to be accepted into this place?
Speaker 1: You join the army? And so that was my in
Speaker 1: into finding a purposeful job. It was a beautiful process
Speaker 1: for me, and I'm glad that Nudge asked me that
Speaker 1: question in that room. And you know what, people watching
Speaker 1: the show won't know that, but it was. It helped me.
Speaker 1: It helped me go, Okay, this is who he's going
Speaker 1: to be, and even bringing values that are deep down
Speaker 1: even though he does some crazy things in that first act,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like you, It's like, okay, you are
Speaker 1: this person, but was brought this out of you because
Speaker 1: it can do that to the best of people. And
Speaker 1: then he comes around and the second actor, not a
Speaker 1: new person, he comes around to who he always was.
Speaker 1: That's my take on it. So I know, you just
Speaker 1: asked me a question and I went I waffled.
Speaker 2: Oh no, we love a tangent. I should just call
Speaker 2: the show the Tangent. It's my absolute favorite. But it's
Speaker 2: also it gives such an amazing insight. So why I
Speaker 2: feel so privileged to have a show that's not limited
Speaker 2: to one industry as I get to speak to people
Speaker 2: and share with the audience like community, is that they
Speaker 2: if you don't know someone in musical theater, you have
Speaker 2: no idea how someone prepares for a role. You have
Speaker 2: no idea like you just see the finished product. And
Speaker 2: it's the behind the scenes that I find so interesting
Speaker 2: because you just don't know that unless you are a
Speaker 2: fly on the wall. So I think it's fascinating to
Speaker 2: hear that you do historical research, you do decide what
Speaker 2: your backstory is, even if no one ever knows what
Speaker 2: you've chosen. That's what comes through is powerful in your performance,
Speaker 2: even if we don't know that. So going back to
Speaker 2: first entering this world, when you first became Simber, I
Speaker 2: think a lot of people have seen I mean millions
Speaker 2: of people around the world have seen The Lion King.
Speaker 2: I've seen it like four times in three different countries
Speaker 2: because it's just one of the most magnificent shows that
Speaker 2: have ever come to the stage, particularly because you don't
Speaker 2: think that animals on stage would work. But it's wild
Speaker 2: but I don't know anything about the behind the scenes,
Speaker 2: particularly not if you had come into performance without having
Speaker 2: done singing coaching and dancing coaching. So what is the
Speaker 2: process from your first audition, get the role and then
Speaker 2: be on stage? Do you do like months years of classes?
Speaker 2: Do you rehearse on your own? Like how do you
Speaker 2: go from zero to hero? Basically, for me, how.
Speaker 1: It worked was when they cast that role, the Simber
Speaker 1: and Nala role. I think they when they find the
Speaker 1: person that they want, it's almost like they don't want
Speaker 1: to mess with what they find in the rehearsal room.
Speaker 1: That's so cool, I know it is. And it's it's
Speaker 1: quite what's the word I'm looking for. It's it's confronting
Speaker 1: in a way because here's what happened for me, and
Speaker 1: it's I'll share it. Like I stepped into this room
Speaker 1: and the song that I just sing was Endless Night,
Speaker 1: which is simber song. And he's singing it to his father,
Speaker 1: who's who's passed away.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you why because I told you before
Speaker 1: that I have an eighteen year old son, and you
Speaker 1: know our history is quite a special history. I was
Speaker 1: eighteen when he was born. And I was a father
Speaker 1: who was not in his life. This is true, this
Speaker 1: is raw facts. You know, I was a runaway father.
Speaker 1: I stepped into this room. Remember the director. He prought
Speaker 1: me aside after I sung the song, and he said,
Speaker 1: and I hadn't met my son at this age. I
Speaker 1: was in touch with his mother, and you know, he
Speaker 1: knew who I was through a long distance conversations because
Speaker 1: he was in South Africa. Anyway, the director pulled me
Speaker 1: aside and he says, you sound pretty. It's great, but
Speaker 1: I don't believe you. Woo yeah, yeah. He said, you
Speaker 1: got a great voice, but I don't believe you. And
Speaker 1: he told me a story about his dad and he said,
Speaker 1: I can't remember the exact facts, but he told me
Speaker 1: a story about his dad being on his deathbed and
Speaker 1: the things that his father had said to him that
Speaker 1: he had wanted to say to him his whole life.
Speaker 1: And it sort of brought a peace to their relationship.
Speaker 1: And then his father passed away. And then he said, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're going to go back in that room and you're
Speaker 1: just going to be real and right. I don't care
Speaker 1: how you sound. You sound great. Wow. I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: what does that mean, I didn't know what that meant.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought I did it right the first time.
Speaker 2: I thought I did my best, I know.
Speaker 1: And I walked back in that room and the pianist
Speaker 1: played the first chords and I couldn't sing. I could
Speaker 1: not get the words out, and they were behind the
Speaker 1: panel and they were saying keep going, keep going, and
Speaker 1: I was singing the lyrics, but as I was singing them,
Speaker 1: I was I was a mess. I was like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, this is not good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm having a mental big guys, just bear with me.
Speaker 1: And the first lyrics to that song, where has the
Speaker 1: starlight gone dark as the day? How can I find
Speaker 1: my way home? And then the chorus said you promised
Speaker 1: you'd be there whenever I needed you, whenever I call
Speaker 1: your name. You're not anywhere. And I finished the song.
Speaker 1: It was a mess technically, and I thought I'd stuffed
Speaker 1: it up, and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm
Speaker 1: going home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll say myself ast I came to.
Speaker 1: It was like a moment where I came back and
Speaker 1: the song had finished and they were just quiet, and
Speaker 1: they said, what was going on for you there? And
Speaker 1: I was like it was a moment where you just
Speaker 1: felt like, Okay, I just had done this, so I'm
Speaker 1: going to tell them I don't know these people, and
Speaker 1: I just said to them, look, I don't know what happened,
Speaker 1: but I have a son who's nine years old that
Speaker 1: I never mean and I felt like he was singing
Speaker 1: to me. Where am I? So my long story is
Speaker 1: me being in the Lion King was actually never about
Speaker 1: me being in the show, because that spurred me to
Speaker 1: want to own my shit and find him and do
Speaker 1: what's right, you know. So I came and I did
Speaker 1: the Aussie tour, and long story short, I ended up
Speaker 1: meeting him through the grace of his mother, who I
Speaker 1: didn't deserve a second chance, but she gave me a chance.
Speaker 1: And anything he's downstairs is chilling out.
Speaker 2: Right now to stop. Oh my gosh, that's the most
Speaker 2: beautiful story.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you asked me about my process, and that's
Speaker 1: why I want to encourage people. You know, it's your
Speaker 1: story as your power. Absolutely, you know, Snipper too far
Speaker 1: gone for as long as you're breathing, you know, and
Speaker 1: so far I'm glad. I'm just I'm just happy that
Speaker 1: that's why you asked me. What might downce to Earth
Speaker 1: and like my family, that happened. That's just the most
Speaker 1: important thing to me. I proudly should. I know it's
Speaker 1: quite a heavy topic, but it's a happy ending. It's
Speaker 1: got a happy ending to it.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful story as well, because I think it
Speaker 2: is a reminder that you know, it did take nine
Speaker 2: years and that's okay. Like, you know, people need time,
Speaker 2: and it takes a catalyst, like it takes an ex
Speaker 2: or a conversation or something to trigger a different choice.
Speaker 2: But I think people forget they have choices, like they
Speaker 2: often just assume it's too late for whatever reason. It's
Speaker 2: too late for a relationship, it's too late for a career,
Speaker 2: it's too late for a first you know, try it
Speaker 2: something and you're right until you're not breathing. It's never
Speaker 2: too really what's too late? Who's to say what's late
Speaker 2: and what's early? Like maybe that was the perfect time.
Speaker 2: Maybe nine years earlier you wouldn't have brought to the
Speaker 2: relationship what you wanted to. And I think it's it's
Speaker 2: so beautiful that it came from this whole new chapter
Speaker 2: for you to realize in a totally different area of
Speaker 2: your life that you wanted to do something differently. That's
Speaker 2: magical and that now ten years later, like you have
Speaker 2: this beautiful relation you live together. Yeah, that's amazing. Wow.
Speaker 2: And that it took the Lion King. I mean, if
Speaker 2: anyone needed proof that the Lion King is the becture
Speaker 2: in the world, it's just it's bonding families all over
Speaker 2: the place, you know. Yeah, but I also love that. Again,
Speaker 2: it comes back to people self selecting themselves out of
Speaker 2: opportunities because they assume that it's going to be a
Speaker 2: technical audition. They assume that no one would give you
Speaker 2: a chance based on a technically not perfect audition. That's
Speaker 2: emotionally like, you do never know what someone's looking for,
Speaker 2: and on that day it was what you had, not
Speaker 2: what someone technically perfect had. So how did you go
Speaker 2: from that to the West End? What? Yeah, what do
Speaker 2: you mean that's the pinnacle? Like that's ten years is
Speaker 2: a short time for the career that you've had. So
Speaker 2: how did you go from that newcomer with raw emotion
Speaker 2: into I'm going to do it in the home of Broadway.
Speaker 1: This is how it happened. We were finishing up in Perth.
Speaker 1: That was the last leg of the Aussie sort, and
Speaker 1: the creatives from New York were like, hey, our Simba
Speaker 1: in the West End is leaving. We want you to
Speaker 1: take over the role. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1: And I'm like, what's the West End?
Speaker 2: I mean that's west? Like is that what you mean.
Speaker 1: To it all?
Speaker 2: And at times that's even cuter that you were like
Speaker 2: where where.
Speaker 1: Is that your funny story? When I got they cast
Speaker 1: me up, I said yesterday or obviously. And then I
Speaker 1: was looking for accommodation and I was looking in the
Speaker 1: west of London because I thought west End meant that
Speaker 1: the theaters were in West London and the producers they
Speaker 1: were like, why are you saying so far? And when
Speaker 1: I'm like, what do you mean? I know it's just
Speaker 1: called westing but it's it's in central London and.
Speaker 2: Wow, I mean real newbie vibs. I love it.
Speaker 1: It was special. I got to experience another cast and
Speaker 1: another family of lion king and I got to take
Speaker 1: my Bussie Pacific version and take it there and they
Speaker 1: embraced it. And you know, it was huge. It was
Speaker 1: a huge chapter of my life. I thought it was
Speaker 1: going to be one year and it ended up being
Speaker 1: five almost Wow. Yeah, oh my.
Speaker 2: God, I mean, congratulations. That is gigantic. Not only did
Speaker 2: you not kind of seek out this opportunity at the
Speaker 2: top of the ladder, you just kind of were given it,
Speaker 2: like we love you so much. Here have it. You
Speaker 2: don't even know where it is, but let's take you there.
Speaker 2: But also, I think another thing about industries that people
Speaker 2: as a sort of spectator. You go and see the show,
Speaker 2: you get your buy tickets, you go and sit in
Speaker 2: the theater, and you get wowed. But forgetting that, you know,
Speaker 2: I think because you guys perform often at night and
Speaker 2: then maybe a few matinees, people don't know what you
Speaker 2: do during the day in your job. So during that time,
Speaker 2: are you rehearsing all day every day? Is it a
Speaker 2: combination of like voice classes with dance classes. You slipped
Speaker 2: very easily into an American accent just before do you
Speaker 2: do accent training? Like how do you spend the d
Speaker 2: You know, it's your job, but it's not conventional, So
Speaker 2: what do your hours look like?
Speaker 1: Hours? It's like it's like you said, it's a combination
Speaker 1: of things. Mean, you got to you know, we're doing
Speaker 1: this thing eight times a week.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Yeah, how does your voice keep up
Speaker 2: with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's you got to you got to get on it.
Speaker 1: You know. It's and that's not the other thing, you know,
Speaker 1: even though I liked to send it, it's my parents
Speaker 1: are always like, you've got to practice. I like, natural talent,
Speaker 1: that's not going to get you through. You need to
Speaker 1: you know, you need to master your your crafts. And
Speaker 1: so I like, I had to stop lifting weights the
Speaker 1: way I did when I was playing rugby. I had
Speaker 1: to go pilates classes, yoga classes, you know, ballet, voice classes,
Speaker 1: and then rest on top of that, and then at
Speaker 1: the same time trying to detach yourself so you're not
Speaker 1: playing the character off stage.
Speaker 2: It's not to everybody. Why is he walking on all
Speaker 2: fours around the house?
Speaker 1: Why do you roar at me? Yeah, So it's a
Speaker 1: combination of all of it.
Speaker 2: Do you get weekends off during the daytime, Like do
Speaker 2: you have a structured set of training and classes and
Speaker 2: rehearsals on the.
Speaker 1: Double show days, like forget that you're waking up and
Speaker 1: you're going to work, but you try and really try
Speaker 1: and plan your days of filling things on the evening
Speaker 1: show days. So Wednesday, I mean, when I was on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and that was a four show weekend, two Saturday, two Sunday. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but then you get Monday and Tuesday off, so you
Speaker 1: have to try and use those wisely. And then you'd
Speaker 1: come back to a double show on the Wednesday. But
Speaker 1: then Thursday and Friday are a day off, so you
Speaker 1: could kind of use those days as well.
Speaker 2: Do not talk on those days to give your voice arrest.
Speaker 2: Does it actually wear out or do you just develop
Speaker 2: the endurance it wears out?
Speaker 1: Sometimes I'd be that person at the bar if this
Speaker 1: music playing, I'll be like, can you go somewhere else
Speaker 1: because I have to.
Speaker 2: Raise my voice too loud.
Speaker 1: If your friends think a bit of a diva, it's
Speaker 1: like listen, let's don't like because he's good or quite.
Speaker 2: In case you guys don't know, I'm like famous and
Speaker 2: my voice is like very important. But it's true. It's
Speaker 2: your craft. Do you need it?
Speaker 1: You don't foresee those things. You just think, you know,
Speaker 1: you go to work and come home. But I mean
Speaker 1: every time, I'm sure your voice gets tired. After doing
Speaker 1: a lot of podcasts. You know, every time you're opening
Speaker 1: your mouth, you're using those those vocal cords that coming together,
Speaker 1: they tire around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. So what about things like I mean having
Speaker 2: I'm sure it's quite unusual to have only done two
Speaker 2: major roles and to have done them so exhaustively, But
Speaker 2: even swapping from one show to a completely different show,
Speaker 2: and also back in a different country, different writers, different scores,
Speaker 2: different makeup, different costumes, and like you said, you had
Speaker 2: to reformulate your interpretation of John. So now you're back
Speaker 2: here in the incredible production of Missigon, as we've mentioned,
Speaker 2: playing the role of John. How do you shift out
Speaker 2: of one show and go into another? Because the other
Speaker 2: thing about your industry is that like in between, is
Speaker 2: there dead time? Are you just are you re auditioning?
Speaker 2: Or do you usually have one thing lined up before
Speaker 2: you go to the next show and then you switch
Speaker 2: off Zimba and turn on John? Like, how does that all.
Speaker 1: Work for me? The breaks in between have happened quite
Speaker 1: naturally in an ideal world for theater people that do
Speaker 1: it and have done it for a long time. This
Speaker 1: role after role just lined up. I'm about to experience
Speaker 1: it for the first time because I'm about to be
Speaker 1: in another show called Rent. Yeah, thank you lended it
Speaker 1: a couple of months ago. We were actually in our
Speaker 1: opening of Sydney, and I auditioned on the opening week
Speaker 1: and so I got the role and it was crazy.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, okay, and it's the role of Colins
Speaker 1: and Rent. I'm sort of like parking that in my
Speaker 1: brain at the same time immersing myself and John. But anyway,
Speaker 1: we opened soon and I get three weeks break from
Speaker 1: John and too Collins. So that's this is our first
Speaker 1: for me. I'm actually going through it right now. My
Speaker 1: wife is actually in the show as well, and we're kind.
Speaker 2: Of yeah, that's so cool. Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So we're both sort of navigating how we're going
Speaker 1: to do it with a babysitter and then you know,
Speaker 1: and getting into into our characters and I can't actually
Speaker 1: give you like we'll talk in a few months time.
Speaker 2: And yeah, yeah, yeah, But it's the same.
Speaker 1: Same sort of process of I mean, my friend's given
Speaker 1: me some documentaries to watch and that's what I did
Speaker 1: for obviously for Miss Gone as well, and you kind
Speaker 1: of just you do the pre research, you know, before
Speaker 1: you get to rehearsal, and then you arrive to rehearsal,
Speaker 1: and then the creative sort of guide you and so
Speaker 1: where they see the story and you just slowly piece
Speaker 1: things together, and then it's getting on stage, and then
Speaker 1: it's feeling it, and then it's how you're moving and
Speaker 1: how is the movement affecting you know, the way you
Speaker 1: deliver your scene partners, you know, what are they bringing
Speaker 1: out in you? It kind of just kind of just happens,
Speaker 1: So cool, so big old process.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what about some of the sort of behind the
Speaker 2: scenes surprises in particularly in Missigon, just because there'll be
Speaker 2: people listening who have just seen it or about to
Speaker 2: see it. Like have you ever had like a moment
Speaker 2: where you've forgotten your lines? Or because it's not like
Speaker 2: TV where people have to remember scripts, but they can
Speaker 2: kind of like edit it out if you just have
Speaker 2: a brain fart you're on stage, if this happens to you,
Speaker 2: So have you ever forgotten your lines? Or like at
Speaker 2: a wardrobe malfunction or like what happens when props don't work?
Speaker 2: Like what are some of the things that surprised you
Speaker 2: when you come to a production like this, like the
Speaker 2: helicopter scenes, Like that's what the hell? Like, how what
Speaker 2: do you mean?
Speaker 1: I know? Right? Its yeah, it's crazy that I think
Speaker 1: that's one of the biggest surprises that people see, right,
Speaker 1: it's the helicopter. There's so much going on in the show,
Speaker 1: and so there are things that constantly go not wrong,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say wrong, they're just this is a show
Speaker 1: that's all music. There's not much dialogue, so the beautiful
Speaker 1: music plays the biggest part. It's the backbone. It's it's
Speaker 1: really percussive. Especially my role John, He's got a lot
Speaker 1: of small little part two. He's got to come in
Speaker 1: and communicate and then it's got to be on beat.
Speaker 1: But the audience won't necessarily know that. But I'm constantly
Speaker 1: like connecting with the conductor because it's got to be.
Speaker 1: It's got to be. On the other night, I made
Speaker 1: a mistake. What happened. I was in the second act.
Speaker 1: I came on stage. The engineer who was on for
Speaker 1: that night threw me something. And this is about being
Speaker 1: present as well, Like sometimes a couple will come on
Speaker 1: and play the role and they'll bring their own neck
Speaker 1: beautiful version of it, and you gotta and he threw
Speaker 1: me something. It was a beautiful choice, and I was like, ah,
Speaker 1: And because it was so had already moved. I missed
Speaker 1: my line, Oh no, and missed my life. And then
Speaker 1: he jumped in. He jumped in and safe me. But
Speaker 1: that brought out something quite nice and in the moment. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it kind of like wires you up. You come
Speaker 1: off stage and you're like, man, thanks for that. Man.
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, that was cool something the other night.
Speaker 1: Even the Tams, like the Tams, sometimes you just sit
Speaker 1: there and you watch the kids just be. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a lot the show is a lot for the
Speaker 1: young kids. But I admire the the fearlessness to just
Speaker 1: stand there and they be, and they kind of can
Speaker 1: sometimes give you a good acting lesson, just like just
Speaker 1: don't don't try, just be in the moment, you know.
Speaker 1: And there's this cheeky, cheeky Tam and Sydney's left now
Speaker 1: and I do this thing sometimes where John comes back
Speaker 1: and he gives Tam a little fist bump. There was
Speaker 1: one Tam who would just stand there when I kneel
Speaker 1: down and give them a fist pump, and you'd stand
Speaker 1: there on everything. He wouldn't. He wouldn't.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, what a frascal.
Speaker 1: No, you haven't hearned it exactly, Like that's your choice.
Speaker 1: That's a stranger. You don't have top.
Speaker 2: Stranger danger, that's smart, that's straight, safe, well done.
Speaker 1: So many things that happen that you know, either just
Speaker 1: happen or things that we do to keep each other
Speaker 1: lights as well to heavy show to heavy show. Sometimes
Speaker 1: those things happen off stage. We do them to just
Speaker 1: to keep the just keep the vibe up and then
Speaker 1: we can go on and do the heavy stuff keep
Speaker 1: it light off stage.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's crazy, how like, especially if it's your second
Speaker 2: show in the day, like the audience doesn't know for
Speaker 2: them it's their first, and so it's amazing that you
Speaker 2: guys can bring that same energy again even though it's
Speaker 2: exactly the same as what you have literally just done.
Speaker 2: I used to be ballerina and people would always say, like,
Speaker 2: you just did this, this exact same thing, how do
Speaker 2: you enjoy it? And I'm like, that's when you know
Speaker 2: that you love what you do, when as soon as
Speaker 2: the music comes on, it just you're there And I
Speaker 2: could do it a million times and never get bored.
Speaker 2: It's not one of those normal jobs where you're sort
Speaker 2: of like, what am I going to do for dinner tonight?
Speaker 2: Like you you can't think about that stuff, you know,
Speaker 2: while you're singing or do you like, do you do
Speaker 2: you have a tune out?
Speaker 1: Sometimes it happens.
Speaker 2: Where am I? Oh I'm on stage?
Speaker 1: Yeah, no's it's not that you're not enjoying it. It's
Speaker 1: just I mean you're a human, right, and.
Speaker 2: It's like autopilot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you'd like to say you're at the actor. It
Speaker 1: doesn't switch off. But I mean there's been moments. And
Speaker 1: that's the beautiful thing of just being there for your
Speaker 1: scene partner because sometimes it happens for them and you
Speaker 1: can see it happen.
Speaker 2: And you you're like, oh, you're god.
Speaker 1: It's the beauty of the right.
Speaker 2: Have you ever needed to like pay in the middle
Speaker 2: a show or like like do you eat before you perform?
Speaker 2: Like how do you manage your digestion?
Speaker 1: You know what? Before I say that last night on
Speaker 1: stage and I need to find out when I go
Speaker 1: back to work today. Someone did the biggest fart that
Speaker 1: the smelliest part okay, and no one stage on stage,
Speaker 1: one stage, in the in the in the scene, in
Speaker 1: the dreamland scene and I'm at the bar. Who did that?
Speaker 1: Who did that? And you see I used it in
Speaker 1: the scene and yeah, no one owned up.
Speaker 2: I mean, if you've got to go you got, I mean,
Speaker 2: what are you going to do?
Speaker 1: But it's great. I think the other night was at
Speaker 1: the end of the show and the final final scene
Speaker 1: in the dressing room and I needed to sneeze, and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my gosh, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: ruin the end, but the ending is about to happen
Speaker 1: when Kim and Chris are together, and I'm like, if
Speaker 1: I sneeze, everyone is going to look this way. But
Speaker 1: I don't know. I held it back. It's crazy what
Speaker 1: you off stage. I'm never be able to hold off
Speaker 1: a sneeze. You always have to sneeze, but just that
Speaker 1: just held it and there was like it's not coming down, but.
Speaker 2: You're just like I'm just not because I'm emotional. Okay.
Speaker 2: See that's even something that we don't think about that
Speaker 2: you guys are on stage for a really long time
Speaker 2: and like if you need a pee, it's like, do
Speaker 2: you like you can't drink five liters before you go
Speaker 2: on because like you're going to need to go logistics
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Well, I have actually quite a few
Speaker 2: friends who have seen it twice. They've loved it so much.
Speaker 2: So I will definitely include all the links to Missigone
Speaker 2: to everyone and then of course Rent, which is so exciting,
Speaker 2: But I would also love to know. I think we
Speaker 2: do spend a lot of time, like most of us
Speaker 2: introduce ourselves by our name and our job, not like
Speaker 2: anything else about our personality. It's just like I am
Speaker 2: my work. But I think what you do when you
Speaker 2: play and have downtime, or how you choose to spend
Speaker 2: your voluntary time is just as informative about who you
Speaker 2: are as the things that you do for your kind
Speaker 2: of like, you know your profession, So how do you
Speaker 2: play when you have time off? Does it have to
Speaker 2: be something that's completely separate to musical theater? Like I
Speaker 2: think some people have to do something completely opposite. And yeah,
Speaker 2: what are your favorite do you? Binge? Netflix? Like what
Speaker 2: do you do in your spare time?
Speaker 1: Right now, we're actually watching Oh my gosh, you know
Speaker 1: Fresh We your Fresh Princes of Fresh prints from.
Speaker 2: Back in the day, you know, like oh yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so watching the new version on Netflix. I didn't
Speaker 1: want to give it a chance because I was like, nah,
Speaker 1: there's nothing that can that can be Oh but that's
Speaker 1: quite it's really good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm like you, I'm like, nothing will ever replace
Speaker 2: the old version. Don't even try.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, but anyway, I mean, we do like
Speaker 1: to separate it. But because we I mean, why if
Speaker 1: he's at Sally, my son makes music gets to My
Speaker 1: daughter is already you know, singing and dancing.
Speaker 2: She's like one and a half.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wow, Yeah, she's screeching and she loves to dance
Speaker 1: and move, and so I think, yeah, just artistic expression
Speaker 1: is sort of always happening in our house in some way,
Speaker 1: you know, because it's the first time for me and
Speaker 1: my wife with our daughter. It's new, it's really new.
Speaker 1: So we're trying to create an environment of that while
Speaker 1: also being on the road, like we're touring with our family.
Speaker 1: That's another thing right now, it's like whoa, Okay, maybe
Speaker 1: we wanted this, but do we really?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's rough. You're living at a suke. There's four of.
Speaker 1: You litually literally How long have.
Speaker 2: You When did you leave New Zealand?
Speaker 1: Uh? July?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, you've been out of home since Oh
Speaker 2: my god for the whole show. I didn't even think
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, July winter Sydney then came here and that
Speaker 1: the tour is happening in Asia too. But we we
Speaker 1: decided not to do it, but then Rent came up.
Speaker 2: So is Rent here?
Speaker 1: Winter's here?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, So are you going back home in between?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll go home. We'll get a three weeks. Three weeks.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's right.
Speaker 1: So I'm looking forward to that because my family, my sisters,
Speaker 1: Mum and dad haven't seen Baba in a while, so
Speaker 1: they're missing her. And we'll go back to our house
Speaker 1: to see if yeah, it's still standing, if.
Speaker 2: It's still there. Yeah, I forgot. That puts so much
Speaker 2: pressure on just like it's hard to live not in
Speaker 2: your own bed and not in your own home, but
Speaker 2: then to do it with kids, like that's an enormous challenge,
Speaker 2: but amazing that you get to do it together. Do
Speaker 2: you ever play rugby now? Do you ever like miss
Speaker 2: it or watch her or play for fun or not?
Speaker 1: I try. I try to keep up with my son.
Speaker 1: He's boughtier. I think he's sportier and faster and more
Speaker 1: athletic than I actually was. And I think I'm kidding
Speaker 1: myself that I can keep up with them. I don't
Speaker 1: want to. I don't want them to hear that.
Speaker 2: You just look so scared. You're like, oh shit, I.
Speaker 1: Remember that might be my dad and an arm wrestle too.
Speaker 1: I think I was like fourteen fifteen, no, fourteen, and
Speaker 1: he's like, you can stay up the day that you
Speaker 1: beat me in an arm missle and I beat them.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's still a cool memory for you. So,
Speaker 2: my gosh, it's.
Speaker 1: Still a part of my life. I mean back home
Speaker 1: when if I'm not doing theater, I'm still involved, like
Speaker 1: I do m seeing at the games and I sometimes
Speaker 1: sing the anthem.
Speaker 2: I saw that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what a full circle circle. I looked at the
Speaker 1: side of me and the guys about to that I
Speaker 1: used to play with, about to go and play, and
Speaker 1: I'm there singing. So it's it's a special sort of moment.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's beautiful. I forgot to ask you
Speaker 2: this question at the start. Actually this is so random,
Speaker 2: but do you and your kids speak someone Maori or Croatian.
Speaker 1: I am embarrassed to say that we speak English, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. You know it's our language, we
Speaker 1: speak it, but it was the goal of our's like
Speaker 1: we're going to speak someone and my wife has you know,
Speaker 1: I can speak a couple of the dialects from South Africa.
Speaker 1: You know, we try to inject words where we can,
Speaker 1: but none of us are fully fluent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's just a mishmashing. What is this language?
Speaker 2: That's cool? You guys can understand it. Who cares.
Speaker 1: Has been watching one lot and she's even though we're
Speaker 1: trying to get her off it, because that's the first
Speaker 1: thing that she says in the morning. She say on
Speaker 1: no more none, that TV too much TV.
Speaker 2: That none of us are called that, babe, no, mummy, daddy.
Speaker 1: The word for tattoo was and someone, And so she
Speaker 1: will she will look at my tattoo sometimes and say, tattoo.
Speaker 2: That's so cute.
Speaker 1: Yeah. They pick up things. They pick up things fast,
Speaker 1: and you wonder where and it's like, okay, it's TV
Speaker 1: too much.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, very last question to finish off. I'm a
Speaker 2: big fan of quotes, and I feel like I love
Speaker 2: to leave our listeners with a quote or a mantra
Speaker 2: that you live by. Do you have something that you
Speaker 2: live by, oh, other than Hakuna matal? I feel like
Speaker 2: that would just be true stereotypical for you.
Speaker 1: Kind of what I was saying before. I mean at
Speaker 1: the start about it's never over. It's never over. There's
Speaker 1: always more in the tank. It sounds so.
Speaker 2: Like keep going.
Speaker 1: I'd gne to share this one because something happened. I
Speaker 1: was on our version in the New Zealand of you
Speaker 1: have It Here. I think it's called I'm a celebrity
Speaker 1: to get out of here?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, did you do it?
Speaker 1: I did one of those in New Zealand.
Speaker 2: Amazing.
Speaker 1: It was an amazing experience. But I had a moment.
Speaker 1: I wasn't a challenge and I was in the challenge.
Speaker 1: It was an endurance challenge. I was therefore about and
Speaker 1: a half hours standing and I won the challenge, but
Speaker 1: there were moments in my mind where I was about
Speaker 1: to give up. This was about half an hour mark,
Speaker 1: and I ended up staying up there for two and
Speaker 1: a half hours, and something happened where I just was
Speaker 1: almost out of body. I couldn't feel. It was quite
Speaker 1: painful on my feet. We had to stand on this
Speaker 1: tower and stand on these pegs, and whoever fell was
Speaker 1: going to go home. And at about the two hour mark,
Speaker 1: I stopped feeling pain and I just was there and
Speaker 1: in my mind I was like, I'm going to stay
Speaker 1: here the whole night. I hope the camera crew already like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know what's going to hit them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but there's always more like it's so you know,
Speaker 1: people have done it since the beginning of time. You know,
Speaker 1: this was so much more powerful than we think. You
Speaker 1: were talking about South doubt before. You know, once if
Speaker 1: you just pushed past that little barrier. We don't know
Speaker 1: what your capacity is, what our potential live, so always
Speaker 1: know that that is always more. In the tech, I
Speaker 1: I have the lights on orange gold because your card
Speaker 1: might break down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, also good advice. Oh, Nick, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for your time. I'm so so excited for the rest
Speaker 2: of this season and to see what happens Withrent and
Speaker 2: to see you take on that role with as much
Speaker 2: gusta as you have the other two incredible roles that
Speaker 2: you've you've played so far. So thank you so much
Speaker 2: for making time and using your voice on this as well.
Speaker 1: It's all good. Thank you so much, Sarah, thank you
Speaker 1: podcasts and this has been amazing. So all the best
Speaker 1: and all the best of your your family and Bubba
Speaker 1: coming up. It's beautiful. Well.
Speaker 2: Nick was definitely our first professional rugby union footballer turned
Speaker 2: tenor and musical theater start, but first time everything I
Speaker 2: found this one so fascinating. He just seems like such
Speaker 2: a warm and wonderful person and blew us away on
Speaker 2: stage in the show. As you guys know, he has
Speaker 2: another production coming up. I will share links to that
Speaker 2: how to get tickets when that eventually goes love. I
Speaker 2: hope you guys enjoyed as much as I did, and
Speaker 2: of course, if it feels right, please do share the
Speaker 2: episode tag nick tag the show spread the yighborhood love
Speaker 2: as far and wide as possible. I hope you're all
Speaker 2: keeping safe and well and relatively stress free as much
Speaker 2: as possible as the silly season starts to really get underway.
Speaker 2: It's such an exciting time of year. Are and I
Speaker 2: will be back recording next week for the last couple
Speaker 2: of episodes of the year. We also have a few
Speaker 2: CZA activities. We're doing a Christmas party with literally just
Speaker 2: the two of us, so that will be a lot
Speaker 2: of fun. There's, of course our little bump that's growing
Speaker 2: on the way, our mini ya and if you guys
Speaker 2: have any more questions about that following on from our
Speaker 2: last Q and A episode, we can also answer any
Speaker 2: of those in the next few years of our lives. Episodes,
Speaker 2: so as always, don't forget to shoot as a DM
Speaker 2: or an email at any time. And in the meantime,
Speaker 2: I hope you are having a wonderful week and seizing
Speaker 2: your yay.
Speaker 1: Ultimate content Intendment, intimate intenet intent.
Speaker 2: Yeah,