‘I was a weird kid’
Brynley Stent tells Monique Barden that comedy is no joke
Who is your favourite character you’ve ever played and why?
I do tend to lean towards these sort of hopeless weirdos. People that you would love to watch at a party but wouldn’t want to talk too because they have a strangeness to them. I played a girl in the Christmas show last year called Sheree Mudge from Levin who still wore early 2000s fashion and Impulse spray. Those kinds of characters I love, they’re innately funny because we all kind of recognise them as that girl who was a bit hopeless and from a small town, but at the same time there is a touch of humanity and realness to them as well, you kind of feel sorry for them and you can relate to them.
Are there any no go zones in Jono & Ben? Is there a character or topic that you would just never do?
I try to steer away from anything that’s outwardly offensive like racism, homophobia. All that sort of stuff is 100 per cent a no-go. Also low-blows to people who can’t help things like disabilities. I steer way clear of that stuff, because that’s just not fun and not nice. There is a line, you’re going to offend people sometimes with content that you do, so it’s just about keeping it balanced and trying to make sure that you’re laughing with them and not at them.
Does being funny come naturally? Are there some days when it’s hard work?
I think writing jokes is hard work. A lot of the comedy I write doesn’t necessarily come from punch lines or puns. It’s finding things that are relatable to people and blowing that up and going what’s a tiny nugget that we can all relate to and what happens if we turn that dial up to 100 and see how that would play out in the real world. I find myself quite often telling stories in a funny way or putting on voices and accents. I think a lot of comedians are like that, they’re good at telling funny stories instead of jokes, per se.
Your character Providence, from Gloriavale, is back in Jono & Ben, what can we expect to see from her?
We’re doing a bit of a different spin on it. In the past I’ve done this character like she has escaped and is living in the real world. This time we thought it would be more fun if she is still living in Gloriavale and is making her own television show, Gloriavale TV, for the residents.
If you weren’t an actor/comedian, what would you be doing?
I love visual arts, I always thought I might like doing prop-making because you kind of go into your own little world and go away and craft stuff. Other than that, I’d like to be a midwife delivering babies, it’s quite fascinating to me, but I dropped science at high school. A friend of mine convinced me to do tourism because we got a free trip to Australia, so I gave up my science career.
At drama school did you know then that you would be taking the comedy path?
I got into acting through comedy. My school drama teacher needed more girls for a theatre sports team. Then I went to Toi Whakaari. You’re there to learn, so they give you lots of challenges pushing you in directions you might not naturally fit. They already knew I could do comedy, so I got a lot of romantic leads, drama characters and matriarchs, which are against my type. I still love drama. There are lots of actors in New Zealand, but there aren’t as many who can naturally do comedy. It’s great to have that in my back pocket.
What would you say to your 10-year-old self?
Embrace the weirdness more. I was a weird kid. Be your authentic self more through high school. Don’t go to university just because your friends do. I did half a BA before I realised I should be in drama school.
If you were a vegetable what would you be? Sweetcorn on the cob. I’m a fussy eater and I lean towards white, brown and yellow food. It comes with butter and salt and it’s a little bit sweet, it’s a classic.