Kiwi drama school reject shines as evil Jafar
As a 20-year-old, Adam Murphy was devastated when he was turned down for New Zealand’s most prestigious acting school, Toi Whakaari, in Wellington.
But that didn’t stop Murphy, 46, from forging a successful theatre career here and in Australia, even sharing the stage with Academy Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush.
The Tauranga-raised actor now calls Australia home and is back in New Zealand to take up the villainous role of Jafar in the Disney musical Aladdin.
‘‘There was a little monkey on my back that told me because I never got into Toi Whakaari, there was something missing,’’ he says.
What made matters worse was that Murphy’s best mates at school and his groomsmen at his wedding, Eryn Wilson and Craig Muller, were accepted for drama school and he was left out.
‘‘It made me even more determined to make this industry work for me.’’
Murphy received his training by acting in plays and musicals for the Fortune Theatre in Dunedin and Christchurch’s Court Theatre before moving to Australia to take up a role in Les
Miserables.
‘‘This industry is full of
rejection. I have auditioned for many more shows than I’ve gotten. I’m proud to be in my mid-40s and still acting.’’
Murphy was even nominated for one of Australia’s most important theatre accolades, the Helpmann Awards, for his role in the musical The Drowsy
Chaperone, in which he starred alongside Geoffrey Rush.
He’s excited to play the role of Jafar in Aladdin, mainly because he can bring his wife Esther, and his three children, Isla, 11, Lucinda, 8 and Eli, 5, back to New Zealand to visit.
‘‘I get to show them around places I’ve been to and show them my love for this country.’’
Murphy reckons he secured the role of Jafar, the villain, because of his baritone voice and his menacing looks.
‘‘It’s a dark character but also a comedic character. It gives me the licence to bring out that evil side and do that evil laugh. Whenever I’m doing the school drop-off in the morning, my daughter will bring her friends over to the car and tell me to do the evil laugh for them. It seems to be a thing.’’
‘‘It’s a dark character but also a comedic character. It gives me the licence to bring out that evil side and do that evil laugh.’’
Adam Murphy