ALMIGHTY REUNION IN FERNDALE!
An almighty reunion of two Norse gods is brewing — former The Almighty Johnsons’ star Emmett Skilton is joining Ben Barrington, his fellow god from the hit series, on Shortland Street.
It’s been a big few months for actor/director Skilton, having recently launched the highly successful Instagram series Millennial Jenny, which he directed and starred in with fiancee Holly Shervey. He has also found himself juggling a couple of roles in Ferndale — on-screen and off. “Millennial Jenny really hit a great note with our viewers. And with the feedback so overwhelmingly good, we’ve now put plans in action to bring out more episodes of the Insta-series very soon,” Skilton says. Already an experienced director, Skilton has been put through his paces with the directors’ training programme on Shortland Street, and after shadowing one of the regular directors he is now being left to his own devices, directing his first solo block of episodes.
“The stories I had heard that Shortland Street is fast turnaround couldn’t be more true. It’s a machine. And now having seen it from both sides of the camera within the space of only a few months, I’ve really come to appreciate how talented the cast and crew are. It’s world class out here, and never to be underestimated.”
As for his on-screen reunion with Barrington, Skilton says the two managed to sneakily get in a reference to the show that made them famous.
“We got a reference about ‘Grandpa’ into a scene that wasn’t in the script. (Skilton played Norse god Axl Johnson and Barrington played his Grandpa Olaf) — a little shoutout to all our Johnson fans.”
Skilton says his character, which hits screens early next month, causes some trouble for Barrington’s plastic surgeon Dr Drew McCaskill.
“I can’t say much about the storyline but being on set with Ben definitely felt like the boys were back together again.”
They certainly have been: Skilton was part of Barrington’s mad SkyCity bachelor party and attended his wedding to Kristie Fergus last month.