Sun rises for James

BY CATH BENNETT

ALMOST a year after his shock departure from Sunrise, James Coleman is back on our screens.

 

The former TV star, now a presenter on Radio Live, appears in hit comedy The Jaquie Brown Diaries as ... a failed telly host trying to make it on radio.

Sound familiar? Coleman maintains it's all fiction. "They make out I'm some washed out ex TV guy that's trying to be a star on radio, I mean clearly that isn't me," he tells Sunday News, his voice laden with irony.

"I was a bit nervous, but having watched Jaquie in the first series and seen how endearing it is to watch someone take the piss out of themselves, I thought if she can do it, so can I." Coleman and former Campbell Live reporter Jaquie Brown both play themselves in the second series of The Jaquie Brown Diaries, a satire centred around Brown's frenzied quest to become famous.

Scriptwriter Gerard Johnstone parodies some of Brown's real life experiences, and Coleman was incorporated into the plot after she revealed the pair worked together on Channel Z radio and didn't exactly hit it off.

"We would clash and have arguments," Brown admits. "James was really hilarious but he had a propensity to get stressed out and a bit grumpy."

Coleman remembers he "over-analysed stuff and tried too hard" in his bid to make the pair's breakfast show work. But both he and Brown emphasise the storyline in The Jaquie Brown Diaries is grossly embellished.

Coleman's roots lie in acting. After a degree in psychology, the Marton farm boy spent two years at drama school before heading to Wellington. A minor role in Stickmen with Robbie Magasiva was followed by a part in Brita McVeigh's short film Thinking About Sleep. Viewers also saw Coleman in commercials, including one for Star Mart with Flight of the Conchords star Jermaine Clement. He auditioned for about five different Shortland Street roles, but failed to impress.

"I thought acting would be my main career and radio just a sideline, but it didn't turn out that way," he says when we meet in Auckland's Neighbourhood bar.

"I have enormous respect for actors who ride out those dark, low periods when you think you're hopeless. I just didn't have the stamina or guts to stick in there."

While plugging away at his dream of being a movie star, Coleman started to make waves in the radio world, scoring a job with Channel Z, later Kiwi FM, and picking up broadcasting awards. In 2000 he moved to Auckland and decided to ditch his acting ambitions. While flirting with television, on news show The Panel and C4's Flashbacks, it wasn't until 2007 that Coleman joined new TV3 breakfast show Sunrise.

There was shock when he walked out just under a year later, stating he wanted to "pursue some exciting new opportunities," while rumours suggested he had fallen out with co-host Carly Flynn. When asked about his resignation, Coleman pauses for a long time before answering.

"I left because I'd reached a point where it was time for me to think about doing something else," he says. "At the end of my time at Sunrise, it did feel there was a bit of pressure, everyone scurrying around trying to make it work. It wasn't as enjoyable."

Asked if he thinks he might have been pushed if he didn't resign, he shrugs. "We all thought anyone of us could go, it's TV let's face it – there's no loyalty. It wasn't the most exhilarating time of my life after Sunrise, but I soon pulled myself back together again. Part of being a broadcaster is to end up on the scrapheap at least once or twice, that's just how it is."

Over the past few years the "very ambitious" 40-year-old has seen his life focus shift with the birth of his two children with his wife of five years, music teacher Issy.

A doting father to Archie, four, and "the most beautiful girl in the world, " 18-month-old Sunny, he admits Sunrise's hours often left him "tired and a bit of a tyrant" at home, whereas now he has more flexibility. Working as a fill in host for Radio Live gives him more time with his family and he's happy with his life. "I think I'm good at what I do and I'm pleased about the way my career panned out," he says.

The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Fridays at 9.30pm on TV3.

- © Fairfax NZ News