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MICOLA KAWANA INTERVIEWED
Nicola Kawana plays Lollie in The Man Who Lost His Head for ITV1 Network
Nicola Kawana kicked off her high heels to return to her roots and play a single mum in a small Maori community in The Man Who Lost His Head.
Nicola is a soap star in New Zealand for her role as a ruthless businesswoman in Shortland Street.
She said goodbye to the bitchy, power dressing Huia Samuel last year when the character was killed off in a car bomb.
“My character in The Man Who Lost His Head, Lollie, couldn’t be more different to Huia in her high heels. I loved getting into sandals and shorts after the tight suits and heels, lip stick and coiffed hair I had for Huia. It’s good not to have to be nasty to everyone,” says Nicola.
Lollie is the local school teacher in the small Maori village of Otakataka. She’s a single mum, whose elderly uncle lives with them.
“She is very sweet, if a little bit guarded, and really efficient. She manages a lot of people; the kids at school, her own son and her uncle, and it seems she keeps everybody else under control.
“She knows the villagers really well, and she knows what a big deal it is for them to get the carved head back. She also knows how chaotic they can be, so she is hoping they are going to behave. She knows the face they need to show when Ian Bennet arrives.
“The villagers appoint her as their translator. If they were left to speak for themselves I don’t think they would have had a chance of getting the head back.
“Ian represents something quite exotic, someone different, exciting and knowledgeable, rather than the old pig hunters.”
Lollie’s background is very similar to Nicola’s.
“My home village is exactly like Otakataka in the film. It’s a tiny village of about 50 houses on the West coast of the North Island where I swear the locals are exactly the same as the characters in this story. It is amazing how realistic these characters are. People might think they are far fetched but they are not.
“I lived in that village as a single mum, so like Lollie. It’s like the twilight zone there, but because I grew up there it is completely different to anywhere in the world.
“My father still lives there. I live in Auckland now but I go back to see him three or four times a year. I’m treated as a bit of a celebrity in that I have to autograph children’s clothes and stuff, and get a few free drinks. And of course I’m everybody’s cousin.
“A lot of people never leave the village. You take them a bottle of Stella Artois and they say ‘what’s this, gay beer?’
“I associated the characters in this film with the people in my home town. I recognise every one of them and the environment, the way they interact with each other and how laid back it all is.”
Nicola admits she was nervous when she knew who her leading man was to be.
“I guess we were all a bit nervous when Martin was coming out here, wondering what he was going to be like, because we are all a bit laid back here.
“Martin is really kind and considerate and sweet and ridiculously funny. It was a pleasure to work with him. What a darling! The chemistry between our characters was easy.”
While Nicola shares some similarities with her character, she confesses she is far from being an accomplished horse rider. So when the story called for Nicola to ride a handsome white horse, she began to get apprehensive.
“I thought if I got on the horse enough I would be fine. I went for lots of walks on him, and I felt really safe.
“But on the day we filmed the scenes he was all geared up after a gallop. I was a bit nervous when I got on him and I didn’t realise I was squeezing him with my thighs. He thought it was a sign to go, and he shot off towards the camera. I was convinced I was going to fall off. I had to get off and take deep breaths. But by that time I was in panic attack land.
“So our first assistant director had to become the horse, doing horsey movements while we shot from the waist upwards, with a white wig and reins swishing in front of me to represent the horse’s mane. That was the most fun I’ve had, desperately trying not to laugh.”
Nicola made her acting debut when she was five, playing a chicken. She went onto the national drama school in New Zealand, before working on stage in Wellington, then landing a leading role in Jackson’s Wharf. She was in Shortland Street for two years.
“It was really hard work on Shortland Street, being a main character without a break; long hours and fast turn around. I’ve enjoyed being able to hang out with my kids, being mum and doing normal things, says Nicola who has a 17 year old daughter and a six year old son.
Nicola says she would love the chance to work in England.
“I love New Zealand, but the industry is so small there is only so much you can do. I would love to work out of the country. My husband and in laws are English, so we’ll have to see.”
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