How Aussie soap Home And Away lured Rob Kipa-Williams back to acting
The Parata family is the first Māori whanau to join Australian soap opera Home And Away.
Former 800 Words actor Rob Kipa-Williams is astonished at the attention that comes with working on Australia's long-running drama Home And Away.
"I didn't know its scope and how famous it was," he says, in the wake of signing a three-year contract to play newcomer Ari Parata at Summer Bay.
"Sometimes they are doing that on-site, and 80 people will watch us," he added," he added. "It's like having a show. (Fans are) arriving here on tour buses, looking for photos, signatures, and autographs. '
Kipa-Williams started filming for almost six months before making his debut throughout the final episode of 2019. Like the other parata kiwis– Bree Peters (Shortland Street, Runaway Millionaires), Kawakawa Fox-Reo (Wellington Paranormal and The Dead Lands), and outsider Ethan Browne– he was not allowed to say anything about his new job until he appeared on the screen.
However, after months of silence in social media, his accounts went crazy within mins of the ep airing.
There are some loyal fans out there." Response to his character is particularly gratifying, given which Kipa-Williams had decided to give up acting after his role as Viktor.
"I had 3000 followers on Instagram in less than 48 hours, and I was like, ' Whoa. ' My phone wasn't even running for around an hour and a half once the show aired as too many updates were going in.
"I've been wearing acting boots. I've been through a few disappointments getting close to some huge roles, right down to the last one or two, and I've got to the stage I needed more peace in my life."
"I was dreaming about the other issues like work, purchasing a home, and adding peace to my life. I began studying to become an insurance agent and tested." I wasn't sure I wanted to go back to acting again, but when I read the role description, it seemed like a perfect match for me because I auditioned.
Former criminal Ari Parata wants to put his past behind him and look after his widowed sister-in-law (Peters) and her son Nikau (Fox-Reo).
"I have families who were like him in practice. I was in engineering like my character before I started acting, and just like my character, I had an accident that made me start thinking about life in a different light," he continues, explaining Ari's challenges with his new life.
But a lot of his old life spills over again, and he wrestles a lot with the stresses of that– what he was and what they were and what he is today. That makes him fun to play. Ari deep isn't sure when a person finds out whether they' re going to want to be with him. That is what I think he's afraid of.
Early indications, however, may be overly worried.
In his first scenes as the hospital siege, Ari not only made a great impression on Marilyn (Emily Symons), but the Parata men are already being hailed as New Zealand's answer to the show's much-loved River Boys– Steve Peacocke, Dan Ewing and Lincoln Younes– who have all gone on to international success.
"I recognized the series–everybody knows the show–so I knew who the main characters were." However, I didn't know who the River Boys were, and now that the trailer starts to be revealed, there's a connection beginning to be made, "says Kipa-Williams, smiling." That's fun for us, yes.
