Marshall Napier: a Trans-Tasman success…

Interview – 2012

Marshall Napier forged a long acting career playing memorable supporting roles in a swathe of Kiwi and Australian screen dramas. His many credits include Came a Hot Friday, Babe, TV movie Swimming Lessons, and late starring roles in movies Bellbird and Northspur. He also had a strong pedigree in theatre, and took his play Freak Winds to New York in 2006.

Marshall Napier died in August 2022. In this ScreenTalk interview published in late 2012, Napier talked about:

Having only one costume to wear as Sir Richard Seddon in The Governor
Almost driving off the road during a car chase in Goodbye Pork Pie
Being told to smile by director Ian Mune on the set of Came a Hot Friday
The chaotic nature of filming on Vincent Ward’s The Navigator
How people assumed he was a real farmer after his long stint on Australian TV favourite McLeod’s Daughters
Being directed by his nephew in I’m Not Harry Jenson
Being surrounded by grotesque characters in Picnic at Rock Island
Playing a hard-nosed "prick" on City Homicide
How an actor’s life can be a tough one

This video was first uploaded on 25 October 2012, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside

It was only the second time I'd been on camera — I'd done a few stage plays, so I was really very much of a novice. And I got handed this role of Sir Richard Seddon ... I had to do a lot of quick research because I wasn't huge on New Zealand history.
– Marshall Napier on acting in 1977 historical epic The Governor, early in this interview

Marshall's Full Profile