Actor Jay Laga’aia is in demand on both sides of the Tasman, having had a number of popular TV roles in both New Zealand (Heroes, Gloss, Marlin Bay, Xena and Street Legal), and Australia (Home and Away, Water Rats, Play School). He says his most memorable achievement was having an action toy created in his likeness after appearing as Captain Typho in Star Wars.
In this ScreenTalk interview, Laga’aia talks about:
- Thinking he was terrible in his first TV role in Heroes
- Learning to be an actor in Open House
- Believing Marlin Bay was ahead of its time and finished too soon
- The delicious pleasure of playing the first bad guy on Xena: Warror Princess
- Forgetting his lines upon first seeing Lucy Lawless in full costume
- Causing chaos on Sydney Harbour during a shoot on Water Rats
- How he ‘came of age’ playing the lead character in Street Legal
- How he got a role on Home and Away
- Playing Captain Typho on Star Wars and being made into a plastic toy
This video
was first uploaded on 10 August 2010, 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 a coming of age for me really. It was the first time that I really truly felt that I could lead a cast; that I was clever enough to remember lines and say them, but also to break a character down...
– Jay Laga'aia on finding his stride with his starring role on TV series Street Legal