Going by the book

Craig Hall tells how church sermons and Biblical references helped him find his way into his role as an evangelical minister in the new local drama Testify. Sarah Nealon reports.

For his latest role Craig Hall is sporting slicked-back grey hair. It’s something of a different look for the New Zealand actor whose CV includes A Place To Call Home, Head High, Outrageous Fortune and Boy.

“Between jobs I generally do just grow my hair,” says Hall, who scoffs at the suggestion he was asked to grow his tresses for his part on Testify, a new TVNZ drama about family, secrets, gender and podcasting.

Here, Hall plays Scott Jacobsen, a wealthy, middle-aged family man at the helm of a powerful evangelical church. Scott is married to Jen (Kat Browne) and their children include Emmaline (Jessica Grace-Smith), an active church member, and David, a charismatic outreach pastor played by Vinnie Bennett (The Gulf, Good Grief, The Bad Seed).

“David is his star,” says Hall of the father-son relationship between Scott and David.

“He (Scott) really puts him (David) on a pedestal and I think up until this point, he’s pretty much been able to control him.

“He’s poured a lot into him. He’s this fresh, young pastor who has his faith but also has this amazing talent for singing and dancing. He has a way with people.

“He kind of feels like he’s being groomed to sort of take over the church.

“But David is certainly more open-minded and he starts heading down a path that causes Scott to try to rein him in.”

Then there is Scott and Jen’s other adult son, Paul, played by former Shortland Street actor Ari Boyland.

Paul turns up out of the blue after being estranged from the family for many years.

Troubling past events and dark secrets led to him cutting ties with his parents and siblings, but now he’s back.

However, it is unclear whether his return will lead to a happy family reunion.

“Paul, without going into detail and

giving away other plot points, is somewhat of a disappointment,” says Hall, referring to Scott’s relationship with Paul.

“I think he feels like he gave Paul every chance that he gave David and Paul really rebelled.

“But I think there is probably more to it in terms of how he treated him based on history. So yeah, it’s an interesting dynamic.”

Hall’s research for his Testify role included visiting places of worship.

“I went to a few churches,” he says. “I won’t name which ones. The thing is, I’m not religious. I don’t know scripture.

“Everything I had to say as that character I researched as they were taking their translation from a certain Bible.

“I would cross reference those and contextualise all of that. That sort of stuff. I watched sermons up the wazoo, from all sorts of countries.”

Set in contemporary Auckland, Testify also features a group of young flatmates with a podcast and some questions about the church.

“The podcast is this voice of dissent in terms of what’s happening in these mega churches,” says Hall.

“I think that dissent comes out of some personal experience.”

Since 2008, Hall has been working between New Zealand and Australia, going from acting job to acting job.

In the past few years he has appeared on shows such as The Claremont Murders, My Life Is Murder, Halifax Retribution and Sweet Tooth.

Hall, who spoke to TV Guide while staying with family in New Zealand, had just finished working on a project in Australia but he wasn’t allowed to talk about it – at least not yet.

While some actors need to supplement their income via other means – especially during quiet periods – this isn’t something Hall does.

“I remember (getting) some advice as a young actor that I’ve held on to,” he says.

“It was, ‘Save when you can so you can spend when you have to’. I know a lot of actors who all of sudden will get a chunk of change and they spend it. I don’t ever bring my spending up to the level of what I’m earning. “It’s a very simple life. That just enables me to not have to do something else for a period and I can be an artist. I can be an actor you know? I’ve been very fortunate but I work hard.”

“I watched sermons up the wazoo, from all sorts of countries.”

– Craig Hall