A chat with Erik Thomson
With all the hype surrounding the latest family drama to hit
our screens, we were lucky to catch up with
Erik Thomson who plays Dave in
Packed to the Rafters
tvnz.co.nz: Packed to the Rafters (the Logie award winning
series) had the highest rating on the Seven Network in 2008.
To what do you equate its success? Is it because it's such a
true depiction of family life in Australia?
Erik Thomson: We had a few names in the show and a really big
publicity push. But the following week, we actually went up
in the ratings which is unusual because you usually drop 5-10% with
people deciding it's not really for them. It was at that
point we realised that we had a show of the times. It depicts
family life but people wanted to see something that was reflective
of their own life but also a nice, easy, comfortable enjoyable show
to watch on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter. The
planets just aligned...
tvnz.co.nz: You were nominated for most popular actor (Logie
awards). How did that make you feel?
Erik Thomson: It was good. I've been around Aussie
television for about 15 years; now I don't want to say that I
wasn't surprised I was nominated, but when you're in a very popular
show, nominations tend to come along so I was obviously
thrilled. I'm flattered by it but I certainly don't strut
around the place flashing my nomination. I didn't win the
award which was disappointing but a relief at the same time. Jo
went on to win six, Rebecca (Gibney who plays Julie Rafter) got
two, Jess (McNamee who plays Sammy) got two, Hugh (Sheridan; Ben
Rafter) got one and we won most popular drama so I got to write the
acceptance speech and accept that award and really it's about the
show. I think ultimately if the show's going well then we're
all going to do well out of it.
tvnz.co.nz: What or who inspired you to act?
Erik Thomson: I just liked it. We used to have these things
in New Zealand called School journals, I'm not sure if they still
do it. They were little books that short stories and little plays
and we would sit in the class and the teacher would give people
characters and we'd read the play as a class and I loved them. I
used to love getting to that time of the day where we'd read a play
and I would always stick my hand up in the air and was always
disappointed when I didn't get cast - that hasn't stopped. I
really enjoyed the storytelling and the imagination that was
required. I was an immigrant child to New Zealand, I came out
from Scotland at seven years old so adapting to a new culture a
long way from home is underestimated. As a child it's a very
strange world that you're entering into and the whole acting and
drama thing made me comfortable and allowed me to feel accepted
into a new place and culture. I just carried on doing it.
tvnz.co.nz: You came from Scotland to New Zealand and you're
now in Australia, do you miss New Zealand?
Erik Thomson: Yeah, absolutely. I ultimately would
love to just live in New Zealand. All my closest friends and
all my family are there and I miss them a lot. Although it's
only a few hundred kilometres away, it's an international flight so
you have to be there 2 hours before so it turns into a days
travel. I worked back there a couple of years ago which was
brilliant but there's just not enough work for me there and my life
is over here now. Who knows? Down the track we might get a
chance to come back and live but I'll always return to New
Zealand. As much as I was born in Scotland, most of my
childhood was spent in New Zealand, so it's my spiritual home if
nothing else. All my memories of my childhood and my early
adult life are in New Zealand. It's just the way it is.
tvnz.co.nz: You've presented for travel show Getaway - how
does that differ to playing Dave, the lead male in Packed to the
Rafters?
Erik Thomson: Presenting is a completely different
discipline. I did it for one year and was attracted more by
the fact that I was going to get to travel around the world - which
I did for a year which was brilliant. It was actually six
months out of a year around Australia and the world. It was
fantastic but ultimately travel is very tiring and it can be quite
stressful - you're sitting around quite a lot on planes and in the
hotel room. It was really doing that, that I realised I
wasn't a TV presenter, I was an actor.
It's sort of like working for a magazine in many ways - you're just
wandering around and having shots where you look out of a view,
it's not particularly challenging. As much as I enjoyed
seeing these places, I was always very happy to come home and
relieved when I left at the end of the year and went back to
acting. That's what I do. Sometimes you've got to walk
away to realise you love it and that's what makes you tick so that
was a good thing to do for a year.
tvnz.co.nz: Are there any similarities between you and your
character?
Erik Thomson: There are. I was brought up in suburban
Tauranga. I'm of a similar age to Dave so I do identify very
strongly with him. It's just a much more straight forward way
of living life. In the big cities, the big metropolises like
Sydney, people view life differently and I think Dave and Jules got
together when they were young. People in the provinces in
suburbs and rural communities tend to marry younger and have their
families younger and Dave did that and a lot of my friends did
that. I identify with that.
Dave's background is that he had to make a decision when he was a
young man whether he was going to be a musician or an
electrician. I was in a few bands back in the mid 80s but I
was acting as well but there came a point where I had to decide
which way to go - not that my musical career was going to be
anything fantastic! There's an episode coming up, I think it's
about episode nine where we explore Dave's past where he had to
make a decision whether he was going to be a husband and a father
or pursue his rock and roll dreams and that had a lot or resonance
with me because although it's not completely parallel, there's a
lot of things in there.
tvnz.co.nz: Has the fact you're a father helped you play the role
of Dave?
Erik Thomson: When we did the pilot which was basically
episode one, although we re-shot some of it when we came back and
started shooting the series, my daughter was only a month old and I
came up to Sydney. From what I've been told, whether you've
got a one year old or a twenty-five year old, the emotions are the
same and the problems are probably just bigger as they get
older. I think I 'm very lucky that I understand the emotions
related to parenthood that I can just bring ito this role.
There was a scene on episode two where Dave says to Rachel, 'I'm
your father even if they put me in a home, I want to protect
you'. That really resonated for me. It would have been
a very different experience had I not had a child to relate to in
parenthood.
tvnz.co.nz: Do you feel fatherly towards your onscreen kids -
Rachel, Nathan and Ben?
Erik Thomson: Fatherly? Maybe it's the
word... I'm twenty years older than them, I've had twenty
years experience as an actor. You can look out for them and
give them advice professionally and also keep an eye on them
personally. I don't want to be the sort of actor that walks
in and says 'when I was your age' or force my advice upon
them. As long as they know they've got someone to talk to
need, someone to get some advise from they can just ask me or
Michael Clayton whose been around even longer than us.
Rebecca's very much taken the mother role and is in there involved
in a lot of the aspects of their lives. I take a back seat
and make sure that they know I'm there to speak to if they need
to.
We've become a very tight knit cast and we've very lucky and I
think that's one of the main reasons why the family comes across so
well on screen is because we do actually genuinely care about each
other and have our little moments now and again like every family
does.
tvnz.co.nz: What's it like to play opposite
Rebecca (who plays Julie).
Do you think the fact you're both kiwis gives you a special
connection onscreen?
Erik Thomson: It does. I remember being in New Zealand
and people would say 'What is the New Zealand culture?' but when
you're away from New Zealand and you meet another New Zealander,
there's an unspoken understanding. Rebecca is from provincial
New Zealand and was born in Levin, bought up in Wellington and
spent a little time in Hawkes Bay. Our backgrounds are quite
similar. She's been in Australia for twenty-five years, I've
been here for fifteen. We hit it off the first time we
met. She's got a five year old boy and we've got a lot in
common.
tvnz.co.nz: You've got quite a female following - what does your
wife make of it all?!
Erik Thomson: Caitlin and I have been married for ten years
this year and we've been together for twelve. She's been with
me throughout the whole journey since the All Saints days and The
Alice that we did together, then to Packed to the Rafters so we're
very much used to that sort of stuff. I'm not of the
generation or of the age where my fans chase me around the
place. My fans tend to be a little bit more reserved and
conservative in their expressions. You just get used to it -
if it comes up we have a laugh.
tvnz.co.nz: What's your favourite scene and why?
Erik Thomson: There have been quite a lot of favourite
scenes. There's a scene coming up in episode nine where Dave
comes home really drunk and he speaks but you can't understand what
he's saying so they sub-title it. Because he's that drunk
he's basically talking and Julie's trying to decipher it but the
sub titles come up for the audience about what he's really
saying. It's very funny and it was difficult to do but comes
across as very funny.
From an emotional level I think the scene that I really want to go
back to was the scene I was talking to you about before with Jess
Marais. Dave and his daughter Rachel both have black eyes and
he comes in and says 'I'm sorry I went and saw Daniel but you know
why I did it because I'm your father and I love you and I'll always
be there to protect you.' From an emotional level, it just
resonated really strongly with us as her father died when she was
twelve.
They played that scene at the award ceremony when I was up for the
award and we both looked at each other and we had little tears
rolling down our cheeks. It was one of those moments of
connection and I think we'll always have that. She calls me
Diddy as in P Diddy, that's our nickname to each other so we've
always got that connection.
tvnz.co.nz: Who would you love to star against given the
opportunity?
Erik Thomson: Anyone in the whole world? I really admire
people like Emily Watson, the grand dame of them all Meryl Streep
and Cate Blanchet. I've fortunately worked opposite Toni
Collette who is a very well know Australian actress. I also
worked opposite Gina Davis from Thelma and Louise. It's just
brilliant when you work with people who have such a strong
reputation and that are so good just to measure yourself against
them. When I worked with Toni and Gina Davis, I could see why
they were where they were in the world, in the acting world because
they've got that extra 20% that they just bring.
I'm lucky with the women I have worked opposite - Rebecca and
Georgie Parker (All Saints) previously and also my wife Caitlin in
The Alice. You take the opportunities that you have and
create the magic together. It's nice to have dreams but I
just really make the most of where I am and the reality of the
situation.
