Even as a schoolboy, Oliver Driver knew he wanted to be an actor. Since leaving school he has had a varied career in theatre, television and film.

"I didn't want to be just an actor, I wanted to be a creative and it's taken me a long time to come to the point where I can call myself an artist and not cringe about that."

Playing the role of male nurse Mike Galloway in Shortland Street made Driver a famous face in New Zealand, but he has also appeared in other homemade TV shows such as The Strip, Serial Killers, and Letter to Blanchy, and the films Topless Women Talk about Their Lives, Magik and Rose, Black Sheep, and A Death in the Family.

Driver can now be seen every weekday morning on TV3’s Sunrise, and is appearing as the villainous ‘Mr Wilberforce’ in the upcoming feature film Under the Mountain.

In this interview, Driver talks about:

• How he left school and jumped into theatresports

• The love he has for directing theatre, and the creative process involved in getting a script to the stage

• How City Life gave him his first and most memorable TV experience

• Hosting Sunrise and the pressure of live television, and whether or not he “sold out” by taking the job

• Playing the role of Mr Wilberforce in Under the Mountain and how a prosthetic face brought him to tears

NZ on Screen: Interview, Camera and Editing by Andrew Whiteside