Reboot for a TV fantasy series.

Actor, comedian and TV presenter Josh Thomson talks to Sarah Nealon about his starring role in the international fantasy drama The New Legends Of Monkey, a reboot of the 1980s Japanese cult series Monkey.

Fans of The Project and 7 Days can expect to see a very different side of Josh Thomson in his latest TV outing.

The joke-cracking panellist, actor and comedian plays the slovenly god Pigsy in TVNZ 2’s fantasy series The New Legends Of Monkey.

The 10-part production is a joint Australian-New Zealand venture produced for TVNZ, ABC and Netflix. Filming took place in Auckland and the cast includes New Zealand actors Josh McKenzie and Luciane Buchanan (Filthy Rich), JJ Fong (Go Girls) and Rachel House (Hunt For The Wilderpeople).

The series is a remake of Monkey, a 70s Japanese cult TV series.

Both shows were inspired by the 16th-century Chinese fable Journey To The West.

In the reboot, the story revolves around a dangerous journey undertaken by a teenage monk and a group of fallen gods.

House and Thomson were allowed to retain their Kiwi accents for the show as a nod to the fantasy setting.

“I really wanted to do an American accent but they were like, ‘No, we like the way you sound’ which I found quite strange,” says Thomson, who is stepping away from his full-time hosting gig on The Project to spend more time with family. (His first child was due at the time of going to press.)

Thomson, says his character Pigsy is “very lazy”.

“He’s just a gentle giant guy who basically wants to lie down with his full tummy and then wake up and have a nice big meal and then go back to sleep again. So it was very hard for me to get into character.”

But the role also placed physical demands on Thomson.

“I went through boot camp and I did a lot of kung fu training, a lot of martial arts training with the stunt team,” he says.

“The stunt team was incredible. I managed to pick up some pretty cool moves and I would do a lot of them.

“It’s amazing how cool you feel when you’re doing them. But jeez, when you look at them on screen,

you look really weird. You look way less cool than you were hoping.

“But the others look incredible. The lead guy Chai Hansen (who plays Monkey), he’s incredible. He’s like an ex-dancer so he was flipping around, twisting around, sending out legs and arms everywhere...

“A lot of my martial-art style is the least amount of effort for maximum impact. Very small kicks, punches, wrestling, leaning on people, lying on top of them.

“I just did a bunch of stunts with the stunt team and it was great. They threw me in the air a couple of times and through various things like walls and stuff. It was really fun. I spent my entire life watching kung fu movies and action movies and we got to do a bunch of this stuff out in the forest and on various sets.”

When it was announced the show was being filmed in New Zealand the phrase “big budget” was bandied about in the media but Thomson reckons that is stretching things.

“It wasn’t a big-budget show but it looks like a big-budget show,” he insists.

Thomson then laughs when asked if he had his own trailer.

“There was a trailer but we all shared it so it got very stinky in there very quickly. I won’t name names but some of the actors didn’t put their plates away (after meals). “We did have yummy meals but they weren’t specifically prepared for us. It was just like any other set. “The budget certainly didn’t go on pampering us. It was very focused on being used for stuff that would end up on screen. It was very tight. They did the best they could and what they did was incredible.” During the making of the show, Thomson, whose acting experience includes roles on Hounds, Terry Teo and Short Poppies, had a gruelling workload. “It was really tough,” he says. “It was quite a big year and I was in a movie as well, which came out at the same time, called Gary Of The Pacific. “At one stage I would leave at four o’clock in the morning to do Monkey, and then in the afternoon, I’d head to do the other job (The Project). “And then after that job finished, I’d start doing publicity for the movie. My days were very long and it was very intense. It sounds weird to complain about that, but I’ve never had that much work on at one moment. So my brain was mush for a long time but it was such great fun.”

“I just did a bunch of stunts with the stunt team and it was great. They threw me in the air a couple of times and through various things like walls and stuff.”

– Josh Thomson