Dominic Ona-Ariki

After playing the nephew of fan favourite TK Samuels on Shortland Street in 2007, Cook Island Māori actor Dominic Ona-Ariki took a break from acting. He'd previously co-starred as the time-travelling Fred on sci-fi series P.E.T. Detectives. From 2017 he began to appear more regularly on New Zealand screens, including playing All Black Eric Rush on miniseries Jonah. Soon after joining acclaimed Australian sci-fi series The Commons (2019), he starred in Kiwi crime drama One Lane Bridge — as a detective haunted by visions of the dead. Ona-Ariki's big screen roles include comedy Gary of the Pacific, and gang drama Savage.

I just thought that it was kind of cool to bridge the gap between the two worlds. I was brought up by my Mum who had quite a spiritual side, and then going out into the corporate world when I was in university . . . you don't normally get to have those two conversations at the same time, and in this show, we get to bring those ideas together. Dominic Ona-Ariki on his detective character in One Lane Bridge having second sight, The NZ Herald, 16 April 2020