SIMON PRAST
Simon Prast stars as Adam Harding in the new season of the popular local series The Gulf, screening Mondays, 9pm on Three.
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I was quite a reserved, grown-up, formal little boy and I enjoyed a wonderful childhood on an acre of land in Waiko¯whai, beside the Manukau Harbour, overlooking the airport and Ma¯ngere Mountain. We lived there with a great dane, a goat, two sheep and a cat. My folks worked really hard so my younger brother and I could go to Kings Prep, which was quite an expensive private school. I’m so appreciative of the effort they made, they put a lot of love into their boys.
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The interesting thing about the character I play in The Gulf is the connection between the show and my own life. My father went to prison three times and this year, 2021, marks the 40th anniversary of him being sentenced to 17 years for drug-related crimes. At the time, it was the longest finite sentence given to anyone in the country. I was in my first year of law school when he was sentenced and, by the time I was in my final year, we were studying his case because he set a bit of a precedent around wire taps.
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Fast forward to today, I’m sitting there in prison garb, Ido Drent is playing my son, and it’s art imitating life. I dedicate my performance to my old man, and to my ma and brother, because we all went through it together. That’s always the case when a family member gets locked up, the whole family has to go through it.
‘It’s rare in life that you get an opportunity to make use of your experiences in such a direct way.’
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My father was an old-school senior crim. He was not at all violent, but he did like to say, “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”. My brother and I took turns visiting him at Paremoremo. The first time, he was in D Block and we had to visit through glass, very much like what you see in The Gulf; a boy sitting there, trying to make a connection with his father. Playing that part, I drew on things I actually lived through. It’s rare in life that you get an opportunity to make use of your experiences in such a direct way. Dad served nine years that time, and was released in 1989 when Gloss was on
TV. While he was still inside, he had to fight, virtually with a meat cleaver, to reach for the channel changer, to watch his son on television.
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I went to Auckland Grammar, where there was an expectation you’d go to university. I also developed my love for theatre and acting there, and did four plays in my final two years. The last one was Death of a Salesman and when I played Willy Loman, I felt I’d discovered something I was really good at. So I decided to get a law degree first, then see if I could become an actor. I enjoyed law school — goodness, but the training came in handy when I was setting up the Auckland Theatre Company — but what I liked most was the performance aspect. In my final year I won The Mooter Pewter, the cup for a mock trial where an actual judge presided and decided who was the
As Aucklanders emerge from their heir fourth lockdown, blinking into the light of level two, it’s easy to assume that life will quickly return to normal. In many ways it does — we can now see (and hug) our friends, we can visit a bar or restaurant (subject to some restrictions, of course), and nd we can travel freely around the country.
But the impact of these lockdowns will be felt by many, for a long time to come. Auckland’s beleagured hospitality and tourism operators have suffered heavily, and continue to do so. Things are likely to get harder, too, as we move past summer and into autumn. Which is why in this week’s magazine, I’m encouraging you to show Tāmaki Makaurau some love. The city can’t bounce back by itself — it needs the support of residents and visitors to help it through these continued days of uncertainty.
If you live here, please support local businesses and consider trying something you’ve never done before — for example, Michelle Langstone visited Tiritiri Matangi recently and was captivated by its natural beauty (p6). For nonAucklanders, we’d love you to visit us, whether it’s for a day trip, a long weekend, or a short break.
There are so many wonderful things to see and do here, some of which may surprise you. Take inspiration from the stories on p4 to p11, and hopefully we’ll see you soon.