Marshall Napier has forged a successful acting career playing strong supporting roles in a swathe of Kiwi and Aussie TV dramas and films.

His numerous credits include The Governor, Goodbye Pork Pie, Came a Hot Friday, Blue Heelers, Babe, McLeod’s Daughters and Water Rats. He also has a strong pedigree in theatre, and took his own play Freak Winds to New York in 2006.

In this ScreenTalk, Napier talks about:

• Having only one costume to wear as Sir Richard Seddon in The Governor
• Almost driving off the road during a car chase in Goodbye Pork Pie
• Being told to smile by director Ian Mune on the set of Came a Hot Friday
• The chaotic nature of filming on Vincent Ward’s The Navigator
• How people assumed he was a real farmer after his long stint on Australian TV favourite McLeod’s Daughters
• Being directed by his nephew in I’m Not Harry Jenson
• Being surrounded by grotesque characters in Picnic at Rock Island
• Playing a hard-nosed ‘prick’ on City Homicide
• How an actor’s life is a tough one

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

NZ On Screen: Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside