ScreenTalk

Veteran entertainer Ray Woolf has appeared on television and film as a pop singer, song and dance man, TV host and actor. Starting out as a singer, Woolf made a splash on television in the swinging 60s music shows C’mon and Happen Inn. His career took an unusual direction when he turned up as co-host on the long-running children’s show Play School. Showing his versatility as a performer, Woolf also hosted his self-titled chat show The Ray Woolf Show, and has appeared in a number of TV dramas such as Xena, Marlin Bay, Street Legal and The Strip. In 2011, he had a guest role in the hit show Nothing Trivial.

In this ScreenTalk, Woolf talks about:

• Pre-recording and miming to songs in a tiny studio for the music show C’mon
• Loving being part of Happen Inn, and how it gave him a strong public profile
• How hosting Play School made him a hit with young mothers
• Feeling intimidated by big name celebrities guests on The Ray Woolf Show
• Playing bad guys on the set of Xena
• Being impressed by the huge scale and skill of everyone involved in the show
• The “incredible experience” of working with Peter Jackson on King Kong
• Having fun with a coffin on the movie Insatiable Moon
• Enjoying playing a philanderer on the TV show Nothing Trivial
• Coping with the fast paced shooting on set

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Actor Jim Moriarty cut his teeth on the early dramas Pukemanu and Close to Home, then went on to appear in a number of other TV projects such as Inside Straight and City Life. He has starred in films The Strength of Water, No Petrol No Diesel, and played Jesus in Saving Grace. As well as acting, Moriarty has directed in television and theatre, and works with at risk Māori youth. In this ScreenTalk, Moriarty talks about:

• How actors were allowed to help develop the scripts on Close to Home
• Incorporating political and social issues into the show
• Being thrown from a horse on the set of The Lie of the Land
• Making ‘love’ the central focus of playing Jesus in Saving Grace
• Being give the freedom to improvise while making The Waimate Conspiracy
• How the film No Petrol No Diesel gave at risk youth a chance of participating in the industry
• Having an emotional reaction to the story in The Strength of Water
• Not regretting turning down the role of Jake in Once Were Warriors

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Kate Elliott began her life on screen after attending an audition at school. Since winning that role – as a bulimic, sexually abused, self-mutilating teenager in House of Sticks – Elliott has starred in many of New Zealand’s major television productions including Street Legal, The Insiders Guide to Love, The Cult, Shortland Street, and played Katherine Mansfield in tele-feature Bliss. Her film credits include Toy Love, The Locals, and Fracture.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Elliott talks about:

• Why she chose to be an actor
• How she began her screen career at age 14
• Making out with Madeleine Sami while wearing a school uniform in the Harry Sinclair production Pale Blue
• Her experiences on TV series Street Legal
• How strippers at Mermaids taught her how to act while under water in Toy Love
• Using what she learned on Toy Love for under water scenes in Bliss
• Her character in The Insiders Guide To Love
• Appearing in the Whittaker’s chocolate TV commercials
• Playing Katherine Mansfield for the first time in An Indiscreet Journey and how her character differed from the Katherine Mansfield in Bliss
• Juggling a new baby and her role in The Cult
• The fight to land her leading role in Bliss
• The unique skills involved in working on Shortland Street

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Over a decade ago Robbie Magasiva gave himself two choices – rugby or acting. Since then, Magasiva has made audiences laugh in Skitz, The Semisis and Sione’s Wedding, and has starred in numerous screen dramas including Shortland Street, Cover Story, Jackson’s Wharf, Doves of War and The Tattooist. He made the acting call and hasn’t looked back.

In this ScreenTalkStreet interview, Magasiva talks about:

• His first on screen acting role in a party political broadcast
• How he landed roles in Skitz and The Semisis
• Recently catching his buttoned-down character in Jackson’s Wharf on late night TV and cringing
• Behind the scenes dynamics on and off the set of Stickmen
• His amusing audition process for The Strip
• How he joined The Naked Samoans and the joys of making Sione’s Wedding
• Cultural insights from the set of The Tattooist
• Auditioning for his role on Shortland Street

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence

Actor Paul Gittins is best known for his portrayal of Dr Michael McKenna, the original clinic director, on the long-running soap opera Shortland Street. He has also acted in a number of feature films, including Other Halves, The End of the Golden Weather, and The Whole of the Moon. Gittins’ love of history led to the creation of two popular docu-drama series Epitaph and Shipwreck, which he hosted and sometimes directed.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Gittins talks about:

• How a novice actor inspired him on the set of Other Halves
• Learning lessons about life in Ian Mune’s The End of the Golden Weather
• Initially struggling to adapt to the face-paced shooting schedule on Shortland Street
• How Epitaph gave him a unique sense of New Zealand history
• Learning how to research, write, and direct television by doing the show
• Finding a solution to his seasickness while shooting Shipwreck
• Loving the process of ‘getting into someone else’s head’ when acting

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Tandi Wright spent some of her childhood in the dressing room at Avalon TV Studios – waiting for her actor parents to finish work on Close to Home. But rather than encouraging her to follow suit, Wright insists they were always “realistic about how nearly impossible it is to make a career out of acting”. She agrees – but seems to have pulled off the “impossible” anyway. Wright has been acting for television since the age of six, playing lead roles in some of New Zealand’s top productions including Shortland Street, Willy Nilly, Being Eve, Serial Killers, Outrageous Fortune, This Is Not My Life and Nothing Trivial. Her film credits include Not Only But Always, Black Sheep, and Out of the Blue.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Wright reveals:

• How she learnt to cope with the disappointment of “hitting the cutting room floor” from a very early age
• How she felt about her time at Shortland Street and her reasons for leaving the soap
• Her experiences on the set of Street Legal
• The joys of working with Mark Hadlow and Sean Duffy on Willy Nilly
• An insight into the characterisations on TV series Serial Killers
• What it was like to join the cast of Outrageous Fortune in series six
• Her feelings on playing Julie Ann Bryson and the grueling subject matter in the feature film Out of the Blue, based on the Aramoana shootings
• Her impressions of the production and her character in TV series This Is Not My Life
• The benefits of an ensemble cast in Nothing Trivial

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Actor Phillip Gordon began his television acting career playing bad boy Hugh Clifford on the long-running soap Close to Home. He then played small roles in many New Zealand films, before winning the lead role in the TV series Inside Straight. He played a conman in the hit film Came a Hot Friday, then returned to television in the kidult show Terry and the Gunrunners. More recently he has appeared on television in Shortland Street and Street Legal, and on film in The Returning. In this ScreenTalk interview, Gordon talks about:

• Not really knowing what he was doing on the set of Close to Home
• How his own life experiences helped create the role of Hugh in the soap
• Enjoying the enthusiasm of director Ian Mune on the set of Came a Hot Friday
• Learning from his fellow actors in the film
• Thinking his performance in Shortland Street was ‘over-blown’
• Finally feeling good about his acting when he joined Street Legal
• Getting an apology from the director for the hard job of acting in Bridge to Nowhere

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence

At the age of 15 actor and singer Stephanie Tauevihi debuted on TV as a reporter on the youth current affairs show InFocus. She gained nationwide fame playing Donna Heka on Shortland Street for seven years. Tauevihi has been in two feature films: Rest for the Wicked and Russian Snark. She won Best Supporting Actress at the 2010 Qantas Awards for her role in the latter film.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Tauevihi talks about:

• Being a presenter on the teen-focused current affairs show InFocus
• The terror of an autocue failing on her first live TV experience
• The ‘surreal’ experience of acting on Shortland Street
• Overcoming ‘intimacy issues’ with Blair Strang on the soap
• Never truly getting away from the role of Donna Heka
• Her amazing trip to India for Intrepid Journeys
• Acting with thespian legends and ‘wiping their bums’ in the film Rest for the Wicked
• How playing Rosanna in the film Russian Snark enabled her to develop her acting further

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Actor, musician and comedian Madeleine Sami has been on our TV screens since the age of 18 when she debuted on Pio! and Shortland Street. Since then she has appeared in a number of TV shows including The Insiders Guide to Happiness, The Jaquie Brown Diaries, and Diplomatic Immunity. Sami has also graced the big screen in Sione’s Wedding, Under the Mountain, and in 2012 a sequel to Sione’s Wedding. Her most recent TV appearance was in Super City – a programme of her own creation in which she played five roles.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Sami talks about:

• Having to be taught continuity on the set of Shortland Street
• Learning a lot from her more experienced co-stars on the soap
• The fun and chaos on the set of the feature film Sione’s Wedding
• How action in her most memorable scene was not actually in the script
• Being in the most blood-thirsty episode of Xena
• Loving her role as the comic patsy opposite the lead in The Jaquie Brown Diaries
• Wanting to create a different type of comedy in Super City
• Mixed reactions to the show – from confusion to a cultural icon
• Not realising how much work was involved in playing five lead characters
• Being taken by surprise by the news of a sequel to Sione’s Wedding

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Temuera Morrison is best known for one of New Zealand’s most graphic film performances: Jake Heke in Once Were Warriors. He reprised his role in the redemption sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? Before the Warriors films, Morrison played Dr Hone Ropata in the long-running soap Shortland Street. He has appeared in a range of TV productions and a number of Hollywood films including the Star Wars franchise. His latest film Tracker was released in 2011.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Morrison talks about:

• Having a great time as a child actor on Rangi’s Catch
• Stumbling over medical terms in the scripts of Shortland Street
• Auditioning for a bit part on Once Were Warriors but eventually getting the lead
• Being aware of people’s doubts about whether he could play the role of Jake
• The intense physical work he undertook to create the character of Jake the Muss
• The intensity and brilliance of his co-star Rena Owen
• Feeling more comfortable in the role of Jake in the sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
• Being nervous on the set of Star Wars, and the unreality of the sets
• The challenge and rewards of his latest film Tracker, a British co-production co-starring Ray Winstone

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.