In the spotlight: A chat with Bede Skinner who plays Shortland Street’s bad cop Brady Nash.

Brady Nash is upsetting Shortland Street’s TK Samuels (Ben Mitchell) and Frank Warner (Luke Patrick) with his brutality and racism, but taking on the role of a villain is all in a day’s work for actor Bede Skinner who plays the bad cop. He has made a name

How does a pharmacist end up as an actor?

I’ve always tried to do lots of different things and right from school I was always into acting and singing, but was also always quite studious and academic and somehow I’ve managed to keep that going. Unless you are one of that small percentage that can make a living acting, you do need a second job. So I am very lucky I can fall back on pharmacy and I’ve had to fall back on it a lot.

Was hosting Top Of The Pops in 2005 your first television job?

I’d recently got an agent and was starting to pick up auditions and then Top Of The Pops came along. When I was growing up, Ready To Roll was my favourite programme, so it was a dream come true.

What was your first acting job?

It was Power Rangers Jungle Fury. I was very fortunate that I got quite a big role early on and I did, at times, feel a bit overwhelmed but was able to join in a fantastic production that was watched worldwide and has a massive fan base. I still get mail and messages on Facebook and Instagram from people who watched it when they were growing up.

Brady is a racist, over-zealous cop. What do you like about him?

It’s always a tough one when you are given these bad characters and have to find the goodness in there, but while he may have some different – and not

very nice – views he is still human. As humans we sometimes have those sort of (unpleasant) aspects in us. It’s really about just embellishing them, to really bring them out and make them a lot bigger. That’s one of the cool things about playing a bad guy.

He antagonises Frank Warner. That’s not a good move, is it?

I’m expecting a little bit of a public backlash about tormenting one of the favourite characters, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. It was a privilege to work with Luke who plays Frank. He gives it his all and that’s what comes through on TV and that’s why everyone really likes him and his character.

Do you get recognised in your other job – handing out prescriptions?

I get more that I look like Superman than anything else. You get people who go, ‘I know you. I’ve met you before’ and I’m thinking, ‘I’ve never met you before’. Then I wonder if it’s maybe they have seen me on TV.

You have said you plan to live to 100. Why?

I hope I’m not selling myself short. I have read since if we were to live a clean and healthy life, we should be living closer to 120. We’ve had health problems in my family, my mum and dad, so that had a big impact on me and I don’t want my kids to go through that. I’m living as healthy a lifestyle as possible to hopefully improve my chances of reaching that goal of 100 and beyond.

Is it true you were a Cleo Bachelor 2003?

My sister entered me and I kind of scoffed at the idea, but when it came round I thought, ‘Why not? It could be a bit of fun’ and it was. It also helped me into a promotion assistant’s job in radio. When I said I was a pharmacist, I could feel the conversation not going very well so I said, ‘I’m just doing that Cleo Bachelor Of The Year’ and immediately got an interview. I think I ended up coming second – and I remember Craig Hall being in it that year as well.