Joe Layton

Tatau’s leading man talks ink jobs and All Blacks

What attracted you to playing Kyle? He doesn’t enter into the story as a superhero or a detective; he’s had enough of his job in London so he and Budgie decide to travel the world. There were so many dimensions to the character. Kind of a dream role for myself because it’s a great opportunity to really flex your abilities and learn about where you can go with what you’ve got and what more you can discover. What’s so important about Kyle’s tattoo? Kyle decides he’s going to get this tattoo before he leaves. It’s something he’s been sketching but he doesn’t have any understanding of the symbols. When he arrives he discovers these symbols mean something and it’s fairly obvious from people’s reactions that they don’t mean “I love mum”, they mean something more intense with real depth in this Maori, Cook Island culture. Budgie and Kyle are best friends on screen. How did you bond with Theo Barklem- Biggs? We flew out 12 days before we started shooting and I booked some tickets to go see the All Blacks play, so we went along to that and painted the town red. We have a great friendship and with that came a great working relationship in the sense that we never felt uncomfortable about calling the other person on something and saying, “No, that’s a crap idea.” And that’s only going to have a positive effect on Tatau. Why should people tune in? It’s something that most people have never had an experience of in terms of this Maori culture. And the beauty of the Cook Islands really comes across on the screen, but there’s a real added grit to the series and you get a sense of how people live out there. It’s fast- paced, there’s twists and turns galore and hopefully it’s a really fun and enjoyable and insightful show for people to watch. Jordan Farley