Kiwi actor Rob Kipa-Williams is making a big impact on Home And Away.
Home And Away’s phenomenal popularity in Australia rubs off on a Kiwi actor who has landed a plum role. Kerry Harvey reports.
Former 800 Words actor Rob Kipa-Williams is stunned at the attention that comes with working on the long-running Australian drama Home And Away.
“I actually had no idea of its reach and how popular it was,” he says, in the wake of signing a three-year contract to play Summer Bay newcomer Ari Parata.
“Sometimes they’re doing things on location and there’s 80 people watching us.
“It’s like doing a theatre show. (Fans are) coming here on tour buses and they’re waiting for photos and signatures and autographs.”
Kipa-Williams started filming nearly six months before making his debut in 2019’s final episode. Like the other Kiwis making up the Parata family – Bree Peters (Shortland Street, Runaway Millionaires), Kawakawa Fox-Reo (Wellington Paranormal and The Dead Lands) and acting newcomer Ethan Browne – he was not allowed to say anything about his new job before appearing on screen.
However, after months of social media silence, his accounts went crazy within minutes of the episode airing.
“I had 3000 followers on Instagram in less than 48 hours and I was like ‘Whoa’. My phone didn’t even work for about an hour and a half after the episode appeared because there were too many notifications coming through. There are some really diehard fans out there.”
The response to his character is particularly gratifying given Kipa-Williams had decided to give up acting after his role as Zac in 800 Words ended when the series was cancelled in 2017.
“I had 3000 followers on Instagram in less than 48 hours and I was like ‘Whoa’.”
– Rob Kipa-Williams (left) with Ethan Browne and Kawakawa Fox-Reo
“I had hung up the acting boots. I had been through a few disappointments at getting close to some really big roles, right down to the final one or two, and I got to the stage I wanted some stability in my life,” he says.
“I was thinking about other things like family, buying a home and bringing balance to my life. I actually started training to become an insurance adviser and qualified.
“I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go back into acting again but when I read the character brief it felt like a really strong fit for me so I auditioned.
“Then, when they offered me the role, I was sort of challenged by moving countries because I love New Zealand. All my friends are there, my family’s there but I’m glad that I did because now I realise I have reignited my passion for acting again and every day I’m on set, tweaking my craft, finding ways to try to improve what I do. It’s pretty cool.”
Ari Parata is a former criminal who wants to put his past behind him and look after his widowed sister-in-law (Peters) and her son Nikau (Fox-Reo). Kipa-Williams says he has no trouble identifying with his character.
“I’ve family members who have been in the life like he had. Before I started acting I was in construction, just like my character, and just like my character I had an injury that made me start to look at life in a different way,” he says, adding Ari struggles in his new life.
“He’s on this path of redemption, wanting to change the direction his family was heading in. But a lot of his old life crosses over again and he wrestles with the pressures of that a lot – what he was, and what they were and what he is now. It makes him interesting to play.
“Zac was more of a ladies man.
Ari deep down isn’t sure that when a woman finds out about his past whether they will want to be with him. That’s what I truly think he fears.”
However, early indications are he might be worrying unnecessarily.
Not only did Ari make a great impression on Marilyn (Emily Symons) in his first scenes during the hospital siege, the Parata men are already being hailed as New Zealand’s answer to the show’s much-loved River Boys – Steve Peacocke, Dan Ewing and Lincoln Younes – who have all gone on to international success.
“Obviously, I knew the show – everybody knows the show – and I knew who the main characters were.
“But, I didn’t know who the River Boys were and now that the promos are starting to be released there’s a comparison starting to be made,” Kipa-Williams says, laughing. “That’s interesting for us, yeah.”