Mike Edward from The Brokenwood Mysteries

Mike Edward returns to The Brokenwood Mysteries this week for what threatens to be a dose of double trouble as he takes on the role of twins. Kerry Harvey reports.

Few guest stars on The Brokenwood Mysteries survive to make a second appearance but Mike Edward is the exception – for now. The Filthy Rich actor is back this week as man-about-town, organic farmer Philip Henderson who appeared in the series’ first episode. This time around, Philip is the victim, discovered dead in a field – killed by an obscure poison. As usual, there are plenty of suspects including a cantankerous neighbour, the landlady at the local pub, a cafe owner and last, but by no means least, Philip’s twin brother Thomas, who seems remarkably unmoved by his brother’s murder. “I was chuffed to get a call up and very surprised that his brother got a call up too,” says Edward, adding he loved being able to reprise his original role. “Philip was very much the red herring in that first episode and that’s always enjoyable to play. You seem guilty as anything but it’s not you.” The actor is unfazed playing twins. “All the characters I’ve played in my life look identical, too, but they are all very different so I just treated (the twins) like that,” he says. “Obviously, there’s costume and they do your hair differently, and that goes a long way for differentiating so the audience can tell them apart by looking, so I felt I didn’t have to do anything beyond the usual. “Plus, Thomas is very different to Philip in the sense he’s all about the city, all about the money. He doesn’t understand this rural lifestyle,

this living in the wops. He’s very much a suit-wearing money dude.”

Edward is no stranger to playing unsympathetic – if not downright nasty – characters. Most recently seen as Filthy Rich’s malevolent Fisher, the actor cut his teeth playing the creepy Zac on Shortland Street

– in 1995, at 21, and again in 2012.

“I am playing a lot of bad guys, but it’s a joyous thing to play evil or Machiavellian because you are the one instigating a lot of the action,” he says.

“I always find the thing with playing the evil or bad character is, to do it well, you really have to justify it so you don’t think of your character as evil, you don’t think of yourself as bad.

“Most evil people in the world don’t think they are evil. They think they are doing the right thing for the right reasons and I really enjoy tapping into what they might be. As with a lot of acting, it’s about being brave enough to show the **** sides of yourself.”

A recent encounter while shopping proved he must be doing it right.

“I had someone give me a croissant at a bakery looking at me very strangely. Then, as I took it, she said, ‘You are a nasty man’,” Edward says, laughing.

“Outside of that, people generally know you are just an actor. I get people going, ‘Man, you do good work’. It’s really cool, the feedback I get. I think if you are successful in riling people they enjoy that.” However, while the past few years have been busy, Edward doesn’t take work for granted.

“It ebbs and flows. Acting is a hard career to keep consistent and I am very grateful for the opportunities and the run I’ve had,” he says.

“I also know I’m very exposed in this country now and I might have three or four years without anything. That’s OK, too.

“I’ve got my own arts company and we make our own theatre. As long as you are not reliant on being cast, then maybe you’re a lot more relaxed about it all.”

That “arts company” is The Dust Palace, the circus theatre company he runs with his wife,

Almighty Johnson’s actor Eve Gordon. It is a perfect fit for Edward who was a decathlete before he was an actor.

“The theatre company came about from being a physical actor and then wanting to make my own stuff and then the circus was just something that naturally grew.

“People come and do the school, we take classes and it changes lives,” he says.

“It’s a fun thing and getting to create your own work (outside of TV jobs) means I feel like I’m still an artist. I’m still creating and doing the things I love.”