Outward thinking
Former Auckland Daze actor Millen Baird (right) talks about his latest comedy, which also stars his wife Siobhan Marshall (left).
Kiwi actor and writer Millen Baird has reunited with some of his Auckland Daze castmates for a new comedy web series. In Darryl: An Outward Bound
Story, Baird plays Darryl Walker, a long-distance runner who enlists in an eight-day adventure course after a sporting failure captured on camera goes viral and shatters Darryl’s confidence.
Auckland Daze actors Fasitua Amosa and Glen Levy play a social worker and a spiritual healer respectively, who are also on the Outward Bound adventure course.
Other well-known faces appearing as course participants include ex-Shortland Street actresses Shavaughn Ruakere and Rachael Blampied, who plays a no-nonsense human resources manager. Baird’s wife Siobhan Marshall
(Outrageous Fortune) plays an
Australian network marketer trapped in a loveless marriage while Toby Sharpe, who was in the comedy
Hounds, is an ex-army guy who belittles Darryl at every opportunity. Darryl: An Outward Bound
Story was the brainchild of Baird who wrote much of the script and enlisted the talents of film-making husband-and-wife team Kiel McNaughton and Kerry Warkia who also worked on Auckland Daze.
“I did two courses of Outward Bound – one in 2001 and one in 2006,” says Millen from the Los Angeles abode he shares with Marshall. “The first one was a Christmas present from Mum and Dad. I think it was a gentle reminder to pull my finger and get something happening.” Baird, who has had roles in Step
Dave, 800 Words and Terry Teo, finished drama school in 1999.
“I spent the next year probably waiting by the phone for the agent to call,” he says. “I was trying to get some work happening and nothing was happening so I did Outward Bound in February 2001 and it was a bit of a game-changer for me.
“Things just slotted into place and my mindset changed ... I wrote a one-man show and toured the country. In 2006 when I did the second one, I approached the CEO at the time and I said ‘If you put me on a course and sponsor me, I’ll write a one-man show about it and I’ll tour it’ but I never did it.
“I couldn’t figure out how to stage it and write it so doing the series is kind of my love letter to Outward Bound and payback 10 years after the fact.”
Baird and Marshall have been based in Los Angeles since tying the knot in September last year. In between industry jobs they are busy with a new project.
“Siobhan surprises me with her many talents,” says Baird. “She’s an awesome graphic illustrator so we’ve started a greeting card line.” Streams on TVNZ OnDemand from March 27.