Jay soars to stardom

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By Atama Raganivatu

It was only 10 years ago when Samoan actor Lamey Tupu lamented: “I have played German, French, Greek, Indian, Jewish, New Zealand Maori, English and American roles, but never somebody of my own nationality. There simply are not any parts for us.”

Thankfully, things have changed a lot in the interim and Samoan characters are regularly being created for television and theatre productions in New Zealand, Australia and USA due to those countries’

Samoan communities gaining in numbers and influence over the past decade.

Television director Hal McElroy recognised the relevance of modern Australia’s Samoan population when insisting last year that a star of his forth coming Water Rats series should be a member of it. He recalls: “The character was originally going to be an Italian. But then I realised that a high proportion of the workers in the Sydney fish market (where the programme is often set) are Polynesian and thought we’d portray one of them instead. Not only is it more real istic, but more interesting too.”

So, the persona of Senior Constable Tommy Tevita was bom and today Jay

Laga’aia, the actor who plays him, is a household name thoughout Australia due to the show’s popularity.

Laga’aia laughs when he is referred to as an overnight success.

A professional entertainer for exactly half his life, the 32-year-old has worked extraordinarily hard to gain fame and overcome numerous setbacks in the pro cess. A remarkably versatile performer, he has combined acting with singing, playing the saxophone, dancing and songwriting (a tribute to basketball great Magic Johnson is his best known composition) and it was a part-time, local council fund

ed job teaching some homeless Auckland children how to play musical instruments which led to Laga’aia’s first television role.

He featured in a documentary on the children and impressed the producers of this so much that they offered him a part in their next production, a drama series.

His versatility has kept him in good stead over the years.

Included in Laga’aia’s curriculum vitae are jobs as a television show host, the enter tainments manager of a

professional basketball

team and appearances in countless television advertisements.

Those on behalf of a chain of tyre retailers and a campaign

encouraging young

New Zealanders to vote in elections are the most memorable.

In New Zealand, where Laga’aia moved to when an infant, he is

best known for his depiction of Judas in the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar and spent 14 months touring the country with that show. He played Simon in its

Australian production.

However, for many years true stardom eluded him and Laga’aia must have often wondered if he was destined to be just one amongst the thousands of journeymen in the entertainment industry as disappoint ments mounted up.

Laga’aia failed to gain a lead part in the hit musical Miss Saigon because of a back injury, a television talent show he had been scheduled to host was cancelled at the last moment, a proposed Australian- French mini series in which he had won a starring role became a victim of an anti nuclear boycott, he was one of the very few Polynesian actors auditioned for the Hollywood fdm Rapa Nui not to appear in

it and the producers of the highly claimed New Zealand film Once Where Warriors decided against casting him because he “did not look sufficiently like a Maori”.

Then came Water Rats.

Laga’aia and 19 other Polynesian actors were screen tested by McElroy, who later exclaimed: “Jay was like a rock et, just the best. My boy, who is 12, said when he saw the audition tape, ‘Dad, that’s the guy, he’s cool.’ Most of Australia would probably agree with him now.”

Before Laga’aia took Australian televi sion by storm in Water Rats, his brother, Frank, was much better known on the island continent.

One of 10 siblings. Melbourne-based Frank is an entertainment personality with as many strings to his bow as Jay - being an acclaimed dance choreographer, as

I well as a singer, dancer

I and songwriter.

Today, Jay’s face is

known throughout

I Australia and he has acquired fans of all ages.

“I receive mail from 14-

year-olds right through to

70-year-olds,” he con- I cedes. “It’s all very flat tering and a little over

powering.”

“People just love Jay,”

Water Rats co-star

Catherine McClements

enthuses. “Everyone I talk to who watches the show tells me he is their favourite. He’s become a heart throb.”

But, Laga’aia is more than a mere sex symbol.

He has reminded Australians of their rela tionship with the Pacific, a fact McElroy conveyed

eloquently when stating:

“Jay Laga’aia says to Australia, ‘We’re part of the Pacific, part of Polynesia. These people are part of our stories and we’re part of their lives.’”

I If only our politicians

were as competent in building links between the

Pacific Islands and Australia as Laga’aia!

Laga’aia’s wife, Sandie, previously a teacher in Auckland, where the couple’s entire married life had been spent, recent ly moved to Sydney with their sons (Jeremy, aged 11, and three-year-old Matthew) and thereby ended Jay’s com muting across the Tasman Sea, which he had been doing regularly for over a year.

Jay still finds difficulty in coming to terms with his newly acquired stardom and pinches himself to believe he is not dreaming at occasions such as when he rubbed shoulders with Robin Williams at the Sydney premiere of the American comedian’s latest film. The Birdcage.

However, Laga’aia is adamant that success will never spoil him.

“I am, and always will be, a Samoan boy from South Auckland,” he says reas

suringly. ■

Jay Laga’aia of TV’s Water Rats fame... “I am and always will be, a Samoan boy from south Auckland"