At home with: Chris Parker
Award-winning comedy, actor and writer, Chris Parker, lives in Kingsland, Auckland, in a ‘‘very creative flat’’ of actors and artists. It’s the perfect living environment for Parker, 26, who has featured on Jono and Ben, 7 Days, and played David Halls in the successful theatre show Hudson and Halls live. Next week he’ll tread the boards again starring as Nick Harrison in Shortland Street – The Musical.
Describe your house in two sentences...
Sunniest house in Kingsland. Not mine.
Describe your style in three words...
Colour, soft, breezy.
Where is your home and who lives there with you?
We live on a very steep street with too many cars. I live with my designer/artist/architect boyfriend Michael McCabe, artist Alice Canton, her boyfriend Tim who I still don’t understand what he does, but I think it’s race cars. And then there is comedian/actress Brynley Stent and her actor partner Adam Brown. It’s a very creative flat. Someone is always making some kind of prop or set piece in the lounge.
Your favourite room/area in the house and why?
I love my kitchen when the evening sun pours in and floods it with perfect selfie lighting. Also, my boyfriend and I have made our room a ‘‘masc free zone’’ so it’s very soft and gorgeous and I really like hiding away in there.
Finish this sentence with an anecdote. ‘‘once someone came to my door and...’’
Dropped off an Asos package and was never seen again.
Your proudest diy moment?
Getting my boyfriend to fix things... I’m not really a DIY guy. We even hire someone to do the lawns for us because I don’t trust myself with a lawnmower.
If my partner would let me, I would get rid of...
OMG this is a shady question. He knows exactly the answer to this. I’m too scared to say this publicly... but his old computer that’s gathering dust.
Title of a book, film or TV show that describes your home’s mood?
Gaycation.
Best money you have ever spent on the house?
The bed I bought off my friend Sophie Dowson. It’s got a lamp in the headboard which I think is low-key expensive but we bought it for nothing.
Worst thing that’s ever gone wrong while entertaining?
I’m the perfect host. But my best friend once had a dinner party and dropped an entire pot of pasta and I got to witness that. It was heaven.
One item I wish I had kept or not got rid of is?
Honestly no regrets! I love getting rid of stuff and as soon as I have got rid of something I instantly forget I ever owned it.
Favourite piece of furniture?
I love these benches my boyfriend Micheal created as part of an exhibition for The Dowse Gallery in Wellington. I love that they are his work. They are one of a kind.
If I had $50k, what i would change about my house is...
Not a thing. But I would save that money for the tiniest part of a deposit for my own house.
Which home habit annoys you the most?
A dirty kitchen. I hate feeling toast crumbs under my feet in the morning. But it happens.
What’s one domestic/ housework/gardening trick you’ve learned?
Learning to accept that you are never done with housework! You just have to learn to deal with it. Or maybe hire a cleaner.
Shortland Street – The Musical is at Auckland’s ASB Waterfront Theatre November 17 to December 8. The show will tour New Zealand in March and April 2019.