Veteran actor Kevin J Wilson has made a career out of playing no-nonsense Kiwi blokes. His film credits include Pictures, Wild Horses and Chunuk Bair.

Veteran actor Kevin J Wilson has made a career out of playing no-nonsense Kiwi blokes. His film credits include Pictures, Wild Horses and Chunuk Bair. He played Janet Frame’s father in Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table, starred in the Wellington-based TV cop series Shark in the Park, and replaced the late Bruno Lawrence in the Aussie comedy show Frontline.

In this ScreenTalk, Wilson talks about:

• How the weather on a Pukemanu shoot changed industry pay rates
• Not really knowing what he was doing in the film Pictures
• How troubled feature film Wild Horses went wrong right from the beginning
• Enjoying hanging out with real cops preparing for Shark in the Park
• Playing ‘end of an era’ character Sgt Jessop in the show
• Meeting Janet Frame on the set of An Angel at My Table
• Working with the “intense but wonderful” Jane Campion
• Feeling the film Chunuk Bair looked too much like a piece of theatre
• Taking over from Bruno Lawrence as the star of Australian comedy Frontline
• Getting his first ever sex scene, with Lucy Lawless in Spartacus
• How avoiding lead roles can give you longevity as an actor

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

NZ On Screen: Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside