Speaker 1: It's the Flavor Podcast Network.
Speaker 2: Island Roots Auckland Ways.
Speaker 3: This one's for the Brown brothers and sisters who want
Speaker 3: to be one with themselves, their culture, their identity, their roots.
Speaker 2: This is Island Roots Auckland Ways.
Speaker 1: It's holler for love everyone and welcome back to Island
Speaker 1: Roots Auckland Ways.
Speaker 3: Hey everyone, week knew me, week knew you.
Speaker 1: Okay, But by the time you hear this, I'm still
Speaker 1: going with seventy five has. Hopefully I'm not struggling because
Speaker 1: as a time of recording a little bit struggle.
Speaker 3: I feel like maybe your first week will be difficult
Speaker 3: because you're getting into the routine. But I mean, you've
Speaker 3: already got the meal prepping down, girl, You've already got
Speaker 3: the mindset. I feel yes like you wanted to start
Speaker 3: seventy five hard before you did. But we we see
Speaker 3: to Maz, we all see two mares in the Flavor studio.
Speaker 3: You cannot start something five year.
Speaker 2: Before the Radio Awards because we need to get drunk
Speaker 2: the radio.
Speaker 1: We bloody won it.
Speaker 2: We didn't.
Speaker 1: Who this week on the podcast is Theo David.
Speaker 3: O King, a true icon and he's on the most
Speaker 3: iconic TV show in New Zealand. His story short Street.
Speaker 3: I really wanted to introduce him by going is it you?
Speaker 1: Is it me?
Speaker 2: No, it's Theodavid. But then I was like, that's really
Speaker 2: critic a little bit.
Speaker 1: A little bit if I linked.
Speaker 3: Into it, embraced the silliness as our friend created tarriage
Speaker 3: or now I would have said, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well here is the chat. Now.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to another episode of Island Routes Auckland Ways.
Speaker 3: We have the incredible, multi talented, amazing Shorty Streetsir, Theo,
Speaker 3: David and the building. A listener of the podcast, so
Speaker 3: we love.
Speaker 2: But do you still live in clean?
Speaker 4: I don't live in Clontalkland button right, My parents are
Speaker 4: still out there them every week. Take them outside the
Speaker 4: house and this house in New Zealand, house where grew up.
Speaker 1: Exacting thing doesn't work out. Welcome to Alan Roots Auckland Ways.
Speaker 1: And you'll know from listening that every episode we talk
Speaker 1: about what we love about home. So whatever homers to you,
Speaker 1: whether that is Clinton or we currently live where you
Speaker 1: feel most grounded. What is home to you and what
Speaker 1: do you love about it? We'll start off first, Alyssa,
Speaker 1: do you care to start off things for us?
Speaker 3: Oh? I'm really having to think now, I think going
Speaker 3: off the Clinton HATI Clinton.
Speaker 4: Everyone always talks about, But there's this Clanton.
Speaker 3: And I remember Clinton town Sinton when it was a
Speaker 3: New world and now it's a pack and Save.
Speaker 1: I also.
Speaker 3: So, I yeah, my dad used to take me every
Speaker 3: Monday night, so you stay my Dad's every Monday night.
Speaker 2: After swimming.
Speaker 3: He would take me to Mecca's at Clinton, which is
Speaker 3: also next to T A B.
Speaker 2: But that's clear.
Speaker 3: I mean after a while I was like, Dad, I
Speaker 3: don't want to do Meccas anymore. So we graduated to
Speaker 3: the Brandy's Roast, which is also in.
Speaker 2: The same conflict.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Clinton Town Center, that's where it's sat.
Speaker 1: Do you reckon? They brought a Pack and Save there
Speaker 1: because that's Clinton, of course, but they still have New
Speaker 1: world and Sophomore, which I.
Speaker 4: Like, Yeah, it's not me. I don't know of many
Speaker 4: new worlds.
Speaker 1: There's a New worlds my money sub.
Speaker 4: What's that about?
Speaker 2: What is it about food?
Speaker 1: Stuff? Pack and so be cheap? They'd be eating that
Speaker 1: up in the price of heart.
Speaker 2: Are you a pack and Save shopper for you?
Speaker 4: When I was living in Clinton, because that was like
Speaker 4: down the road, I loved it. They never did bags.
Speaker 4: They yet to grab a box.
Speaker 1: In your One thing about peck your own.
Speaker 4: Save us our because I love peking.
Speaker 1: Shout Cleveland shopping, what loves of my mind free. I
Speaker 1: always think about this. This is my Roman Empire. The
Speaker 1: fact there is a warehouse in Clinton.
Speaker 2: Literally and it's huge.
Speaker 3: It's actually really big, and you can always find stuffinite
Speaker 3: that's Crazy's.
Speaker 4: Like our landmarket. How far do you have from.
Speaker 2: Clinton from Clinton Warehouse? But then also behind the warehouse
Speaker 2: there's the library. This even lean is it a whims
Speaker 2: of course, there's a laundry mass laun.
Speaker 3: Get into it, a pharmacy and doctor, a post office,
Speaker 3: everything you need, everything you could possibly need, and also
Speaker 3: wild people just some.
Speaker 2: Some characters.
Speaker 4: And then there's the Cleanton Bakery as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, people say that'd be a good ass bakery and.
Speaker 2: I think it's good.
Speaker 4: Okay, okay, baking and slice that is what I recommend.
Speaker 4: Note you gotta get a slice slice Okay.
Speaker 1: They also say that potato top pie was pretty good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I work went over in the weekend and she
Speaker 4: writes she said it was a.
Speaker 1: Never had You better put some respect one.
Speaker 4: But also don't flock there at once.
Speaker 3: We need to get you. Yeah, like, actually it's not
Speaker 3: that good at all, don't.
Speaker 1: Actually terrible rated?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was such.
Speaker 1: A good one.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 1: Then what I love about homes So the gonut you
Speaker 1: so classic, Like I went home yesterday, I had guli
Speaker 1: with rice and it's just so simple but so good
Speaker 1: feeds the soul. There's nothing like well that eo.
Speaker 4: Do you know whenever you tell your nonsemone mates about
Speaker 4: they sort of hold it in respect to it more
Speaker 4: so than you. Like, if you say you're busy on Sunday,
Speaker 4: they'll be like, do you have okay? All good?
Speaker 2: I feel like even.
Speaker 3: Though Sunday is one of my days off my friends, no,
Speaker 3: Sundays might not be the best day to try and
Speaker 3: might hang out because there's always going to be stuff
Speaker 3: to do and there's always going to be a family.
Speaker 1: Lunch and is the day of the law the day.
Speaker 2: Of the law? Yeah yeah, yeah, God, bless.
Speaker 1: You, God, bless you listening. Well, thank you Alyssa for
Speaker 1: sharing your blessing. Yeah, what do you love about?
Speaker 4: I love? I love And it's not exclusive to South Auckland,
Speaker 4: but it's those you know, those bongo chips, the Green Packer,
Speaker 4: namely the best flavor. But I don't know something about today.
Speaker 4: Just when I see that pecker, it just reminds me
Speaker 4: of like, oh, that's the like looking way dairy suns.
Speaker 4: There's all like. And when I see those ships, I'm
Speaker 4: always reminded of my like my mum beck in the
Speaker 4: early two thousands, she's still alive, by begging the early
Speaker 4: two thousands, when housey was a massive thing a she
Speaker 4: she'd have Becky in one hand. She'd ever she'd buy
Speaker 4: like the fat capt marker for her numbers and she'd
Speaker 4: walk out with the green packet like that's South.
Speaker 1: Auklands are superior green Gurley or pink gurly.
Speaker 3: Okay, this is when the me being brought up with
Speaker 3: a white mom really, because bongo wasn't huge, but my
Speaker 3: dad would always bring freak what's it called?
Speaker 1: It was like.
Speaker 3: No, no, it was like it was like a mix
Speaker 3: and it.
Speaker 2: Was called like.
Speaker 3: Yes, So that was that's my bongo.
Speaker 1: These are some hood snacks per years.
Speaker 2: Really brings you back.
Speaker 1: I was allowed to go to housy, not always see
Speaker 1: it stay home.
Speaker 4: Oh we never win. We would just drop you just
Speaker 4: do the drop off face. Whenever they would lose, they'd
Speaker 4: be like it's your attitude.
Speaker 1: And then you'd be like and housing has really evolved
Speaker 1: with the times and now do it over zoos, especially
Speaker 1: during COVID, and you would have like your eight your eighth, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and like the housing ladies, they're fast with it. There's
Speaker 1: a lot at steak Yeah. Money, I can't see truly.
Speaker 4: Bring that back.
Speaker 1: And this cost a little bit crisis. Well THEO thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us. People will know you best. Airs
Speaker 1: really yummy. So on Shortland Street, tell us about your
Speaker 1: journey way before Shortland Street when you first started acting.
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about it.
Speaker 4: Off the mate. So I did my first ever drama
Speaker 4: all acting workshop with Massive Theater Company back in twenty ten.
Speaker 4: And this was while this was my first year in
Speaker 4: high school as well. I went to seek Kendigan's College.
Speaker 4: We said three names, that's right. I was there on
Speaker 4: a Rugby scholarship, and so I remember my first memories
Speaker 4: of drama, also my first memories of rugby and how
Speaker 4: it is clashed and then back I think I might
Speaker 4: have been year twelve or something. I remember I was
Speaker 4: cast in the school play, but I was also in
Speaker 4: the first thing and I just remember having to lie
Speaker 4: to my rugby coaches going, I'm so sorry, so I
Speaker 4: got to go do this chemistry into an or have
Speaker 4: to find out how much vitamin see rabina when actually
Speaker 4: I was going to rehearsals and the stuff. So yeah,
Speaker 4: it was like it was like high school musical but
Speaker 4: like not. And Troy.
Speaker 2: From Glee when he was remember the season, Yeah, when
Speaker 2: he was like having to like.
Speaker 5: Or am I And you know, the more I listened
Speaker 5: to like actors, namely some more Nectars talk about their
Speaker 5: how they got into theater, it's always because like rugby
Speaker 5: was the opposing thing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think there are a lot of us
Speaker 4: with the same story where we were like, man, we
Speaker 4: had this rugby thing, but we also, you know, we
Speaker 4: had this adrenaline rush from being on stage. So it
Speaker 4: was kind of the know which way to choose. Ended
Speaker 4: up choosing drama. Sat Kings to decided just to change
Speaker 4: my rugby scholarship to a drama one. Yeah, it was, honestly,
Speaker 4: it was that easy. In my head, I was like,
Speaker 4: I'm going to get kicked out, my mum's going to
Speaker 4: just own me a monologue and then yeah, I just
Speaker 4: started doing the drama for the rest of my time.
Speaker 4: In high school while still working with Massive Theater Company and.
Speaker 1: Then and so you had stuck with them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they had stuck with me, to be honest, because
Speaker 4: I was like, like with my mom. Mom definitely can
Speaker 4: be a headache at times. And I remember it was
Speaker 4: my final year of school and I called Samantha Scott,
Speaker 4: who is the artistic director of a massive company, and
Speaker 4: I was just like, hey, I could go to drama
Speaker 4: school or I could stay in Auckland and train with you.
Speaker 4: What do you reckon? And she was very unbiased. She
Speaker 4: was like, this is what to CARDI can offer you.
Speaker 4: What I can offer you this co And I stuck
Speaker 4: with her and we still have a good relationship today,
Speaker 4: still popping in back to the Theater company and stuff.
Speaker 4: The Massive Theater Company in twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen came around,
Speaker 4: was working in a cafe, didn't really know if the
Speaker 4: acting thing was gonna pop. Literally, yeah, just I remember
Speaker 4: I was on the train and I didn't have any
Speaker 4: gigs lined up. I had enrolled into Auckland UNI to
Speaker 4: study occupational therapy and I just remember being on the
Speaker 4: train and I get a call from Midiama mcdell.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 4: She called me and she goes, hey, for you really
Speaker 4: out of the blue, do you have a Shakespeare monologue handy,
Speaker 4: And like, I love Shakespeare all of high school, so
Speaker 4: my immediate unswer was yes. And she said can you
Speaker 4: go audition today like at ten? And I was like yes,
Speaker 4: And then I just remember going off a phone call,
Speaker 4: just recounting the monologue in my head, going to this
Speaker 4: empty warehouse at the time, doing it for this company
Speaker 4: cast the very next day, quit my job that Sunday,
Speaker 4: and then just off going Shakespeare for like four years.
Speaker 1: I feel like I feel like I just heard the
Speaker 1: plot for a movie right now.
Speaker 4: One phone called Yeah. No, It's just there's so many
Speaker 4: listens you can get from it. But I feel like
Speaker 4: I take something from that story every time I come
Speaker 4: back to it, so there's not like there's not one
Speaker 4: thing to learn from it.
Speaker 1: I guess Yeah.
Speaker 4: Third pop up globe which was the Yeah, which was
Speaker 4: the globe he had rebuilt in Auckland for about four
Speaker 4: years that got shut down in twenty twenty COVID happened.
Speaker 4: Arch jobs are really scarce. Twenty twenty one, rolled around
Speaker 4: got this audition from Shorties after having auditioned for them,
Speaker 4: like five other times.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, so you had auditions before, which.
Speaker 4: Is a common story. Actually yeah, excuse me. And then
Speaker 4: you know the role opened it uh late thirties, early forties,
Speaker 4: Tongulans sit in the waiting room like all these old
Speaker 4: dectors walk out, and I'm just like, what are you
Speaker 4: up to out go and do an audition? Yeah, get
Speaker 4: called back on the Thursday. And I remember when I
Speaker 4: got called back. So they and then you do a
Speaker 4: screen test and there were three other names or two
Speaker 4: other names on the board and I was last, and
Speaker 4: first on the board was Vince Harder's name, and I
Speaker 4: was like, well, it's been a good rite, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 4: Names THEO just swing and then I need to call
Speaker 4: back the following Monday, going yeah you're on tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's weird.
Speaker 4: How this like a phone The phone call happens to
Speaker 4: like pop up a lot of ye but yeah, a
Speaker 4: lot of fast turned around in my life. It's kind
Speaker 4: of ye. Stay ready, it's incredible. That was long. Sorry
Speaker 4: about that, My gosh.
Speaker 3: No, no, no no, but I have so many questions. First
Speaker 3: of all, as someone who wanted to pursue acting as
Speaker 3: a drama practitioner, if you will. I used to walk
Speaker 3: into auditions and oh my, go's so cringe and be like,
Speaker 3: I'm going to be the first time one woman to
Speaker 3: win the Best Actress Oscar Yeah, and then I'm never
Speaker 3: doesn't get the job. But Toy for Caadi was always
Speaker 3: the thing that people would be like, get experienced, then
Speaker 3: go to toy for CADDI like, that is your break?
Speaker 2: Did you?
Speaker 5: Like do?
Speaker 3: Like what was your thinking around not going to Toy
Speaker 3: for Caddy? Because to me, or at least at the time,
Speaker 3: when I was even in first year of unis studying drama,
Speaker 3: I was still like, yeah, I'm just gonna do one
Speaker 3: year here and then I'm gonna go Toy for Caddy.
Speaker 3: Like you know, I thought I was the man, but like,
Speaker 3: why why was it not the right decision for you?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I'm sure I think that it wasn't
Speaker 4: the right decision for me, and I think it would
Speaker 4: like if you ask someone else, they'll probably go, I
Speaker 4: don't really like what massive does, so I'll go here.
Speaker 4: But I don't think theo. I I couldn't learn drama
Speaker 4: or theater in an institution, like I couldn't know if
Speaker 4: something is compulsory to me then I kind of feel
Speaker 4: repelled by it. Then I don't really want to do
Speaker 4: it anymore. And Massive Theater Company met up every second
Speaker 4: Saturday of the school term and then did a week
Speaker 4: long intensive and then you kind of just back to
Speaker 4: your life and you could do things during the day
Speaker 4: and it was all hands on, like there were no exams.
Speaker 4: It was never sitting down and talking about stuff. We
Speaker 4: worked a lot at Massive were our and I'm not
Speaker 4: I'm not trying to shun. I never went there. I
Speaker 4: don't really know what.
Speaker 3: I think it's good for young aspiring actors to know
Speaker 3: that these options, Yeah.
Speaker 4: And so I leaned more towards Massive because at the
Speaker 4: basis of all this workers this it's this French idea
Speaker 4: called complicity. And I don't think it has a like
Speaker 4: an English translation, but what it roughly translates to is
Speaker 4: the secret between people or the game between people. And
Speaker 4: it's just this idea that if you ever walk out,
Speaker 4: even in life all but mainly, if you walk out
Speaker 4: on stage with someone else, like the rapport I have
Speaker 4: worth mes here, it will be totally different to the
Speaker 4: rapport I have with you. And it's trying to get
Speaker 4: the audience in on that connection, and then it's about
Speaker 4: trying to put that on stage and not having to
Speaker 4: like whip yourself out the back or you know, pluck
Speaker 4: a nose here so you're gonna have tears when you
Speaker 4: walk out on stage. It's about absolutely being present in
Speaker 4: this moment and going this is meant to be a
Speaker 4: sad scene. It doesn't feel like we're going to cry,
Speaker 4: so you know what, let's not cry. Let's just play
Speaker 4: it as we are right now. And and honestly, like
Speaker 4: you just, Massive was a place about you could be
Speaker 4: a dick and you wouldn't be shamed for You could
Speaker 4: be loud and you wouldn't be shamed for it. I'll
Speaker 4: warm up every time you go there. It's like the
Speaker 4: most intense game of handball ever. And I remember they
Speaker 4: would hold these like they do hold these introduction workshops
Speaker 4: to the company and Sam Scott, she's got the best
Speaker 4: eye in all of theater to me in the New Zealand.
Speaker 4: She will see someone play handball and know if they're right. Yeah,
Speaker 4: you know, I don't know how she does it, but
Speaker 4: you know, you'll get some people who you just come
Speaker 4: and want to play the game, who want to be
Speaker 4: in on that connection, and then you get other people
Speaker 4: who are just like, you know, too cool. You know,
Speaker 4: they don't want to do anything. When do we start
Speaker 4: saying the words? When do we start doing there? But yeah,
Speaker 4: I lean towards messive because yeah, it was physical, a
Speaker 4: rugby background. It was a base and emphasis sorry on
Speaker 4: connection and you yeah, you could just pretend to be
Speaker 4: anything you wanted to know.
Speaker 2: I love that. That's so cool.
Speaker 3: This is as someone I feel like when I was
Speaker 3: studying drama, everyone would always be like.
Speaker 2: Oh, what do you prefer? Stage or screen? But like
Speaker 2: you've had this extensive pop.
Speaker 3: Up globe history. It's a big part of your TV.
Speaker 3: But then you're also your day job. It's on the TV,
Speaker 3: So what is it?
Speaker 2: Is it stage or screen?
Speaker 4: Stage? By five? Like you just theater kids, the theater
Speaker 4: paid as much as screen or film that I don't
Speaker 4: think anyone would ever truly. Yeah, there's nothing like how
Speaker 4: we are talking now. Like a good play will feel
Speaker 4: like you're looking into people's eyes for the first time
Speaker 4: and you know they might feel something and you'll feel
Speaker 4: it too. And especially with screen, you can you know,
Speaker 4: you can have REGOs and you can fake everything on stage.
Speaker 4: If you see a performance, and if they feel awkward,
Speaker 4: you as an audience will feel with them. And there's
Speaker 4: no way that lesson is harder and it's more rewarding.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's no.
Speaker 4: And to that point, to the show that you give
Speaker 4: tonight is for that audience, and you will never give
Speaker 4: that show even though you're saying the same lines, doing
Speaker 4: the same moves tomorrow night. You might stumble over a
Speaker 4: line and it might be funny and the audience will laugh.
Speaker 4: Nobody else will ever get that stumble over that line
Speaker 4: ever again, So what about you?
Speaker 3: For sure, there's something about just like letting go of
Speaker 3: every inhibition and just being like fuck.
Speaker 4: It, you know, like that's like the overarching phrase.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like there's something about being like, okay, we'll ever
Speaker 3: who's it like this, but I'm going to make a
Speaker 3: choice and like maybe the choice isn't going to pay
Speaker 3: off and that's okay, but the choice might pay off
Speaker 3: and then everyone laugh, you know, Like there's just something
Speaker 3: about stage that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And also I just don't think personally not built. I'm
Speaker 3: not built to be a screen actor, but stage stage
Speaker 3: all the way, Like it's in the moment and then
Speaker 3: when it's done, just let it go.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's done.
Speaker 1: We've probably already talked about this, but for all our
Speaker 1: new listeners, would you go back to your acting day?
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, I'm curious for context. I have a drama degree,
Speaker 3: so my undergrads and Pacific Studies and drama. And I
Speaker 3: think I realized when I was doing drama that I
Speaker 3: like the behind the scenes, like I like the producing
Speaker 3: putting people in the room. But I don't know if
Speaker 3: I enjoyed. That's not true. I love acting. Acting is
Speaker 3: so much fun, but I found it really hard to
Speaker 3: let go of a character or like not hold on
Speaker 3: to whatever they were going through. How do you shake
Speaker 3: off an emotional day on set? Like?
Speaker 2: How do you become THEO again?
Speaker 4: We'll acting. We're in the arts. So even in these
Speaker 4: dark moments, there does have to be some a little
Speaker 4: bit of joy in what you're doing, because then otherwise
Speaker 4: you're just whipping yourself and there has to be coming
Speaker 4: out of it. There has to be hope. But for me,
Speaker 4: it's always been there. It's always been about holding on too.
Speaker 4: Like I like, I love to pretend. I love this
Speaker 4: craft so much. I know that when they call cut,
Speaker 4: I can just drop this And this is what my
Speaker 4: character is going through I'm saying these words. These aren't
Speaker 4: my words, but I mean to your point though, like
Speaker 4: when you ever you deal with stuff like that, it's
Speaker 4: your your real body is taking a toll on that
Speaker 4: a So even if your even if your character is crying,
Speaker 4: those are like those are your real tears, and your
Speaker 4: body doesn't actually know when you're exactly or not. So
Speaker 4: like you know, you probably find yourself driving home after
Speaker 4: something intense and you're just shaking it the steering wheel
Speaker 4: and you can see us I've replaying it. I don't
Speaker 4: have an answer to that, but I think it is
Speaker 4: a it's a skill to be able to brush off
Speaker 4: your character not take your work home. Unfortunate that I
Speaker 4: have like a twenty five minute drive from work to
Speaker 4: my house, so it's like a nice debrief.
Speaker 1: Year, like literally exiting the space.
Speaker 4: Literally literally, you know, just chuck Chuck a podcast on
Speaker 4: there's a small one called Ira.
Speaker 2: Podcast.
Speaker 4: Check that one on space.
Speaker 1: We ate.
Speaker 3: But I think, actually I'm thinking so much about like
Speaker 3: my training and how so much of my training was
Speaker 3: like Stanislavski based, which is like realism, realism like being
Speaker 3: you know, not being able to let go. So yeah,
Speaker 3: you can google it and find out. But knowing that,
Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe if I've been training people going
Speaker 3: tom worry illustrates, pretend you don't mean to think about
Speaker 3: that time that your grand dad died, you know.
Speaker 4: To your point, though, I think the mythod the mythod
Speaker 4: actors cop a lot of flak because you know, they
Speaker 4: go out and build up barn because their characters are
Speaker 4: carpenter of something. But like that's just one way of
Speaker 4: getting to the character and there's no right way. Like
Speaker 4: at the end of the day, whatever gets you to
Speaker 4: that point is kind of not as important as getting
Speaker 4: to that point unless you go home and you know,
Speaker 4: start being a bott dude. And but no, yeah, I
Speaker 4: think whoever comes up with the answer to that, you
Speaker 4: make sure you let us know.
Speaker 1: And real talk.
Speaker 4: We've lost a lot of people because they you know,
Speaker 4: they didn't know how to handle coming out of character
Speaker 4: and then they turned to like all these different substances.
Speaker 4: So it's real. It's definitely real.
Speaker 1: Conver to have are the many specific and acting right now.
Speaker 4: A lot heaps are untapped potential. Like the one thing
Speaker 4: about being a brown actor in New Zealand is that
Speaker 4: we've been pushed this narrative that like when you make
Speaker 4: it the question, they're always asking you what makes you
Speaker 4: different from that brown? What makes you different? But it's
Speaker 4: like and then our own people start saying that to us,
Speaker 4: and it's like, okay, what makes you different from the
Speaker 4: guy down the road. But isn't the idea that it
Speaker 4: doesn't matter who's eating at the table, it's just as
Speaker 4: many of us at the table as possible. And it
Speaker 4: really fucks me off because, like I've said it, now,
Speaker 4: you've probably had it. You've probably had it when you
Speaker 4: turn on your TV and you see someone who looks
Speaker 4: like you and sounds like you, You go, I want
Speaker 4: to do that because I sound like that and I
Speaker 4: look like that. And then you get there and their
Speaker 4: first question to you what makes you different? And it's like,
Speaker 4: but I've just heard people sound like me, Like now
Speaker 4: you don't want me to be so yeah, there's a
Speaker 4: lot of us, but they only want one type of
Speaker 4: us and they all look the same. Yeah, it gets cussed,
Speaker 4: so yeah, yeah, there just needs to be a lot
Speaker 4: more of us.
Speaker 3: Truth, I'm thinking it was a strange right now.
Speaker 1: Radio once we might be on fourth of.
Speaker 3: Has the you are obviously very proud to be some
Speaker 3: What villagees are you from?
Speaker 1: Ah?
Speaker 4: My come to you by way or by muscle?
Speaker 3: And now okay, muscles right next to my village?
Speaker 4: Oh really? Yeah, I haven't heard of that villain. Only
Speaker 4: know my villages.
Speaker 1: But what is so he pretty much just see it.
Speaker 4: I don't know how.
Speaker 1: So we've got some town?
Speaker 5: Is that?
Speaker 4: Okay?
Speaker 2: Yep, city girls, that's what we are.
Speaker 4: I don't go back often, and I know I'm going
Speaker 4: to look back on my life and go you should
Speaker 4: have gone back more.
Speaker 3: Has there ever been anything with Billyami? We were like,
Speaker 3: culturally that would be such a no, like what the pick?
Speaker 2: Don't don't do that?
Speaker 4: Do you know what? They've actually been really good because
Speaker 4: we have a Salmon advisor and it is like all
Speaker 4: our dialogue, like any storylines that potentially might cause friction
Speaker 4: with our community. They're really quick to get her in
Speaker 4: the room and goes this all right, Bella, Bella, she
Speaker 4: plays my sister on the show. Yeah, we just try
Speaker 4: and ham up the brother sister dynamic for all the time,
Speaker 4: and yeah we hate each other.
Speaker 1: Oh that's so good, and of course for many years.
Speaker 1: But the Roger, that's right, you know.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you remember this episode that he wrote,
Speaker 4: but it was when was on the show and his
Speaker 4: brother was on the show, and there was the storyline
Speaker 4: where someone patient came in and Robbie Mangi's character clocked
Speaker 4: him and was like, oh no, please, don't don't come here,
Speaker 4: and one of the other niss was like, he speaks someone.
Speaker 4: So the someone patient goes, gets dealt with, leaves the
Speaker 4: hospital and Robbie's character is just being like dark the
Speaker 4: whole day, and he was like, what's going on with him?
Speaker 4: And he was like, just make sure you're at work tomorrow.
Speaker 4: The next day, the whole Salmon community is at street
Speaker 4: wanted to get free from his character. But like Victor
Speaker 4: Roger wrote that episode, yea, And to me that's like
Speaker 4: one of the earliest, not the only example, but that's
Speaker 4: my earliest earliest example of like someone who knows the
Speaker 4: culture writing a story about what the culture is about.
Speaker 3: One thing that I remember this was always stick in
Speaker 3: my mind. It must have been like Rugby World Cup time,
Speaker 3: and you know how people are so haughty, maybe not
Speaker 3: as hearty as the Tonguans, but very hatty. This was
Speaker 3: back in twenty eleven in the episode. It was written
Speaker 3: into the episode that there was like it wasn't like
Speaker 3: a legit parade, but it was like a parade through
Speaker 3: the hospital of like the it was like Robbie MANGACEIVERI
Speaker 3: and they were like holding like sumone flags and like
Speaker 3: cheh and someone who was like, you know, still learning
Speaker 3: about their culture.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, there's white people.
Speaker 4: Yeah. All it takes is just to see that. Yeah,
Speaker 4: one person to go, I'm going to give this a grreat.
Speaker 1: That was iconic era.
Speaker 4: Was via the player. It was.
Speaker 1: Do you have any goals? And acting like is it
Speaker 1: like a dream position that you want to hold? Like
Speaker 1: do you want to end up?
Speaker 4: I want to end up on superhero movie. I think
Speaker 4: superhero movies have always been like, well get me excited
Speaker 4: about Yeah, I'd love I think the structure of my career,
Speaker 4: I'd love to be able to transition between theater and
Speaker 4: film and and movies. Did Washington has a He's a
Speaker 4: great actor, but he's got a really great career because
Speaker 4: he's able to do that. I'm also not getting any younger,
Speaker 4: So I think we spoke about rome and Juliet before.
Speaker 4: I think Romeo is like the one role where I
Speaker 4: feel like think I'm running out of time. Yeah, hopefully
Speaker 4: I can crack that one.
Speaker 3: Because you played Paris, I have yeah, anywhere.
Speaker 4: Else I don't know if you. I played a characterical
Speaker 4: cludier and much do about now? Oh yes, I played
Speaker 4: the Thetaming of the Shrew. Nice Richard the third a
Speaker 4: fellow that a couple, but I think, yeah, the young lovers,
Speaker 4: I mean you just have to say his name and
Speaker 4: people have like connotations to today. Just to be able
Speaker 4: to provide for my family financially, whether that's doing the
Speaker 4: stage stuff for the big movies and stuff, I think
Speaker 4: that's the big, big goal.
Speaker 1: Oh that's so cool. For any aspiring actors out there,
Speaker 1: what would be your advice.
Speaker 4: To do the thing. As much as I love drama classes,
Speaker 4: as much as I love studying Shakespeare in your English class,
Speaker 4: this is a very action based occupation, hobby job. So yeah,
Speaker 4: you're going to do these internals, but make sure you're
Speaker 4: able to get up on your feet and do the job.
Speaker 4: There's lots of community theaters in Auckland, there are lots
Speaker 4: of free workshops for young emerging actors in Auckland. So
Speaker 4: do the thing and watch go out and watch, you know,
Speaker 4: I feel like you cannot and like our live performance
Speaker 4: on the screen is good, but go to your theater
Speaker 4: and watch it and let it affect you and be
Speaker 4: open to it.
Speaker 3: Has there been a stage show recently that you've gone
Speaker 3: through that you were like far out?
Speaker 2: That got me?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I went to I mean a nice top on about
Speaker 4: massive theater company a lot, but they had a show
Speaker 4: called I Love You.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I felt like that was like massive theater work to
Speaker 4: a t. It was like physical and parts. It was
Speaker 4: their Storian parts.
Speaker 1: What a beautiful well yeah, and like it was.
Speaker 4: Just them being them, yeah, and not trying to answer
Speaker 4: anything for us and just going putting it out there.
Speaker 4: Whatever lens you view this with, have a jam. But yeah,
Speaker 4: actually I did see Priscilla like a couple of years ago,
Speaker 4: and that one was like at the Civic.
Speaker 1: Oh that was Queen.
Speaker 4: I was like, holy, this is what this can be.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one more question, because I'm just curious if you
Speaker 1: had to act alongside anyone who would be a.
Speaker 4: Probably there's a her, her name, she's not acting anymore.
Speaker 4: Her name is Denise.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: I hope I'm not outing her story, but she was
Speaker 4: with an acting agency and she said that after she
Speaker 4: fell pregnant, they dropped you. But she is honestly like
Speaker 4: one of the most powerful actors less extras I've ever
Speaker 4: been on stage with, I've ever seen and performance. She's
Speaker 4: one of those people that can just stand there and
Speaker 4: you just go. You just want to watch it all
Speaker 4: the time. So Denise, if you hear this, please get
Speaker 4: back into it the service to by raising your son.
Speaker 1: Well, before we go, we want to play a little
Speaker 1: rapid fire Kim. As you would know. This is a
Speaker 1: part of our podcast, just for us to have a
Speaker 1: little bit of one to wrap up the pod Letdlebox
Speaker 1: is a movie review website and on your profile you
Speaker 1: can highlight up your top four films of all time.
Speaker 1: So what are your top four films of all time?
Speaker 2: And we can give you ours as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah sure, yeah, I will go Avengers one. Okay, just
Speaker 4: this idea of people and then they did too much.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, Venges one. I would go Stump the yard.
Speaker 4: These are like influential movies growing up to me. I
Speaker 4: watched that movie every day for the school holidays. Two
Speaker 4: we spoke about which I really love and Roman Juliet
Speaker 4: n ninety six. If you haven't seen it, go and
Speaker 4: watch it.
Speaker 3: If I've got it on a hard drive somewhere if
Speaker 3: you need it.
Speaker 4: Amazing.
Speaker 3: It's my favorite. My top four, I think, oh gosh,
Speaker 3: I've been waiting. My goodness, okay, my top My first
Speaker 3: one would be Rocky Horror Pic sure my second favorite
Speaker 3: musical behind.
Speaker 4: Me making that like a sequel or something.
Speaker 3: Oh my ho To be honest, it's so campy and
Speaker 3: like almost ugly, like grotesque that I feel like you shouldn't.
Speaker 2: You can't remake Wow that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean. Yeah, anyway, the secondest Wana. Obviously,
Speaker 3: people have like some criticisms of it and blah blah
Speaker 3: blah blah.
Speaker 2: But I think I just remember.
Speaker 3: Going to that for the first time and like being like,
Speaker 3: oh my god, like I feel like I am one,
Speaker 3: and my little baby cousin was like, oh, it's.
Speaker 2: Not cool on screen to one of the characters. And
Speaker 2: it's like moments like that.
Speaker 3: Where you're like, this is representation, you know. My third
Speaker 3: is One Thousand Ropes, which was made by the same
Speaker 3: guy who made The Orator. But one thousand Ropes to
Speaker 3: me is just I give it as a reference whenever
Speaker 3: people ask me for advice on their work, especially if
Speaker 3: it's like a pacificer dark a themed piece of like
Speaker 3: body of work. I'm always like, go watch One Thousand
Speaker 3: Ropes because they do it so good. They do that,
Speaker 3: they just do it so it's such.
Speaker 2: A good movie.
Speaker 3: And then my last one would be Jordan Peele's get Out,
Speaker 3: which I always tell people was.
Speaker 2: My comfort film. I love that movie. That's my comfort film.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 4: No, really good movie.
Speaker 2: Yes, so good.
Speaker 1: I'd be scared of that.
Speaker 2: It's scary.
Speaker 4: That's it's more like because it feels real horror through racism,
Speaker 4: like life.
Speaker 1: That's the one about the white family and the lobotomies. Yes,
Speaker 1: I love. I don't know, I'm not a movie person a.
Speaker 1: I like Lelant Disney movie on all time. I like
Speaker 1: on his one. Yeah, I just feel like there's so
Speaker 1: any like that, just like epitomizes the mid two thousands
Speaker 1: for me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the soundtrack on the sound soundtrack, bro, I've got
Speaker 3: it saved on my Spotify.
Speaker 1: I also like The Lovely Bones.
Speaker 2: You Are Deranged.
Speaker 1: No, that's not my comfort film. It's really sad. It's
Speaker 1: such a sad movie. But so well done.
Speaker 3: What's her first name? Salmon is the last name of
Speaker 3: the main character her monologue at the start of the film. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that was one of my things, right, I be like
Speaker 3: that was like the thing I would pull out in
Speaker 3: my back pocket.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's yeah, it's heavy. It's heavy, as I think.
Speaker 1: I watched it when I was a kid because I
Speaker 1: was on TV three and like, you just watched What's
Speaker 1: on the TV and you've seen it since, like you, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've watched it many times since. And I don't really
Speaker 1: have any other standouts, to be.
Speaker 2: Honest, you literally have one more. Surely there's one more,
Speaker 2: one more.
Speaker 1: I like. Oh see, I like kids moving.
Speaker 4: Because they end up having an effect on Yeah.
Speaker 1: Leland's stitch is such a good one. The soundtrack for
Speaker 1: that hurts as well. I don't know.
Speaker 3: Mes okay, Ma's doesn't know anything like song lyrics.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm a bloody radio host, don't even anything.
Speaker 3: So you know what, Yeah, you keep your three out
Speaker 3: of four three. Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me your award business podcast, and
Speaker 4: he gave us chocolates.
Speaker 1: Literally, what you appreciate you bro? You guys, do I
Speaker 1: actually remember meeting you for the first time outside. I know.
Speaker 4: I have you guys been before? Ye, I didn't get
Speaker 4: at I caught the vibe and I was like, I
Speaker 4: thinks might be not with us, right, So I was like,
Speaker 4: I love you.
Speaker 1: What were you doing or someone's birthday? And I was
Speaker 1: drunk And that was my first time at Rudy and
Speaker 1: my last since.
Speaker 2: Are you a big frequenter of the town.
Speaker 4: No, no, this was maybe two years ago. Yeah, I
Speaker 4: very really go out. Okay, pretty boring my dad now Yeah.
Speaker 3: So yeah, thank you so much, such a treat.
Speaker 2: Thank you back.
Speaker 1: And we'll see you next week on Islands Aukland Wet.
Speaker 1: Don't forget to follow us on the socials, you guys.
Speaker 3: Every every morning I get on my zoom and I
Speaker 3: do the social So can you just comment, please.
Speaker 1: Help us out. Please, We'll see you next week.
Speaker 2: By