10 My Covid Christmas:
Home And Away’s Kawakawa Fox-Reo will be in Sydney this Christmas, rather than with his family in Hawke’s Bay.
No festive
family holiday for Home And Away star.
Home And Away’s Nikau Parata might have decided against returning to New Zealand, but Kawakawa Fox-Reo knows just how difficult the decision was for his character.
The Covid-19 pandemic means the 22-year-old actor, who made his Home And Away debut at the start of this year, will be spending Christmas in Sydney instead of with his family in Hawke’s Bay.
“It’s a tricky time, eh, so we make the best out of what we’ve got,” he says, adding he easily understood why Nikau was tempted to return home. “He’s a very family-orientated guy and I think anyone who is family orientated feels a bit off when they’re away from the thing that keeps them grounded.”
Fox-Reo, who can also be seen in local drama The Dead Lands, says he could never have predicted the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact it would have on his first big role.
“It definitely hasn’t made it any easier but, if anything, I’m really, really grateful for the opportunity to be over here doing something I love,” he says. “I’m constantly on the phone to my mum and Home And Away keeps me busy and takes my mind off things.”
When Covid-19 halted production in March, the actor made the most of the break and returned to New Zealand. “I kind of jumped on the opportunity to get back home for a little bit, get as much family time in as I could, before coming back here,” he says. “It was just after they introduced quarantine so I did quarantine in New Zealand and then again when I came back here to Australia.” Fox-Reo, who is now Home And Away’s youngest cast member, was in the United States studying acting when he learnt he was one of four Kiwis who would make up Home And Away’s first M ori family. The Paratas – Nikau, his mum Gemma (Bree Peters, who played Shortland Street villain Dr Pania Stevens) and his uncles Ari (800 Words’ Rob Kipa-Williams) and Tane (newcomer Ethan Browne) – began filming in 2019 and the family quickly became firm fan favourites. However, only a few months after
her debut, Gemma went back to New Zealand for her husband’s memorial service – and never returned. Fox-Reo was upset to see Peters leave.
“She brought a lot to the family as an individual and as a performer as well,” he says. “I’ve learnt so much from her as an actor and I have nothing but good things to say about that lady. She’s amazing, she’s great and I really hope that they get her back at some point.”
Meanwhile, he has no problem identifying with Nikau.
“We’re both definitely mumma’s boys although Nikau probably gets into a bit more trouble than I do,” he says, laughing. “My mum would definitely give him a few smacks behind the ear, for sure, but ideally I think she’d be proud of him. He’s constantly trying to do the right thing and do right by his family.”
It has been an eventful year for Nikau. The youngest Parata arrived in the Bay grieving for his father who was killed in a bank robbery gone wrong. He quickly became entangled with Bella (Courtney Miller), Constable Colby Thorne’s (Tim Franklin) troubled younger sister, and was also caught up in his Uncle Tane’s dispute with a gang of drug dealers. With Colby now outed as the man who killed Bella’s abusive father Ross Nixon (Justin Rosniak), Fox-Reo is tight-lipped about what this year’s final weeks – and the much-anticipated Christmas cliffhanger – will bring for Nikau and the rest of the Summer Bay residents. “I have to be careful because I sort of run off my mouth,” he says, admitting he has been amused at fan ideas about what is in store for the 2020 season finale. “It was quite intense and exciting and it’s also quite funny because all the fans are very invested and they’re messaging all of us, ‘Come on, you’ve got to tell us what’s going on. What’s going to happen?’ “It’s quite cool. It’s quite nice and lovely to see that kind of support. I guess everyone will just have to tune in to find out what happens.”
“I’m constantly on the phone to my mum and Home And Away keeps me busy and takes my mind off things.”
– Kawakawa Fox-Reo