David Fane
The opportunity to eat real food created by a chef while filming wasn’t one to be missed by actor David Fane. Before the cameras on the 800 Words set were ready to roll, he had already finished his plate, and “doing my best Oliver impersonation, I asked for more”. The serial funny man has starred in Sione’s Wedding and Outrageous Fortune, and is gracing our screens in Prime’s new season of The Brokenwood Mysteries.
What’s been your funniest food-related incident while acting? I’m not the best at remembering my lines – a slight problem. We had a breakfast scene in Outrageous Fortune where my character, Falani, would eat, talk and wax lyrical. Being nervous about the many lines and so as not to waste people’s time, I placed the page of dialogue on my plate, put plastic wrap around the plate and piled the food on top. They yelled action and I ate the food, spraying the lines out while moving food around the plate and glancing at a slowly revealed script. It was word perfect. Robyn Malcolm couldn’t believe I’d got it in one. She then noticed the plate and just laughed.
What do you eat on show days? On days I have dialogue, I’m a nervous grazing sort of creature and will only have a meal at the end of the day. But if I finish my dialogue early and still have to be there and they call “Lunch!”, I’ll eat like a wild animal. I always stay away from chocolate when acting; I find it a bit gluggy on the vocal cords.
Has your Samoan heritage influenced your diet? I love anything and everything with coconut in it. Just say the word coconut to me and I begin to salivate.
You’ve said lifestyle was to blame for a stroke you had. Is healthy living a priority now? Smoking and heavy drinking were huge, if not “the”, factors in my having a stroke. I adjusted my lifestyle accordingly; I believe in the benefits of healthy eating, but lean more towards the school of thought of everything in moderation.
What do you have for breakfast? Normally a cup of tea and toast.
And for lunch? Anything the lovely caterers on set offer me. When not on set, I prefer fish. What is your favourite meal? In one word “lamb”. If it in any way contains the aforementioned, then it is my favourite dish.
What is your guilty pleasure? I never have guilt and everything is
pleasure.