Almighty character building

BY NICOLA RUSSELL

Screenwriter and actor Tim Balme tells Nicola Russell how he juggles acting and writing - and what he's learnt about fatherhood along the way.

 

IT IS fair to say Tim Balme knows his way around the industry.

He's spent more than half his 43 years acting in TV, theatre and film, spent the last five years writing with New Zealand's top television writers and is now head of development at South Pacific Pictures.

You might know him as sleazy biker Greg Feeney in Shortland Street or from roles in Mercy Peak, Maddigan's Quest and his debut film performance as Lionel in Peter Jackson's cult classic Braindead.

In 2005 Balme was invited to jump on the writing table with TV powerhouses Rachel Lang and James Griffin. He soaked up the new role and five seasons of Outrageous Fortune followed.

His current writing work includes a new series, The Almighty Johnsons, in which he plays one of the lead roles.

And in his spare time he's a father of two and husband (of 15 years) to fellow actress Katie Woulfe.

When I arrive at his office Balme is between shooting scenes for The Almighty Johnsons. He is on the phone to Katie making sure Edie, 9, takes her forms to class and debating whether to give son Nikau, 4, the Lego that has arrived now or for his birthday.

"Its all about the Lego at the moment – Power Miners and Lego Atlantis. He is absolutely obsessed. It's fantastic. When I was a kid Lego was so basic – roof tiles, a door, a window and a couple of wheels and you thought, wow, this is fantastic. Now there is no shape they haven't made, nothing you can't make," he says, his green eyes shining.

The remarkable thing about Balme is the calm he exudes while switching between his many work roles. Dressed in his Almighty outfit of a khaki vest, builder's boots and jeans, he is a picture of cool.

Balme and family live in Auckland, where Edie attends kura kaupapa, made possible by Katie taking a year off to fully immerse herself in te reo.

"The secret to our home life is we have a super nanny – Super Mandy – a woman who has been with us for nine years, and she makes our life possible."

Balme's oldest son, Sam, now 23 and on his OE in Europe, taught Balme to be true to his dreams.

"For more than half my life I've been a father and one of the things that teaches you is that... they leave. You have to be true to yourself through that journey.

"Katie and I are both quite clear that this time is about looking after our children and bringing them up as best we can, and giving them all of the opportunities we can but also honouring our own path in life as well."

Time with the family is best spent in their Mangawhai getaway, north of Auckland.

"We get there whenever we can to plant trees and be at the beach and disappear. A weekend up there seems like four days compared to two in town. Those weekends are worth their weight in gold."

In his new role in comedy drama The Almighty Johnsons Balme plays a typical Kiwi builder who is descended from Norse gods.

"I've got a cool power. I'm the god of the hunt. I can't lose when I play a game. But my god doesn't want to use his power. He's completely in denial because he doesn't think good things come from it, he just wants a normal old life."

But life has been anything but ordinary for Balme, who struggles to decide on his most memorable moment. There's the one-man show he did in Tel Aviv.

"I remember standing on the stage in Jerusalem and thinking, `wow what a cool job, I'm standing in a country that I probably wouldn't have got around to visiting doing a show in one of the most invigorating places in the world'."

Then there is his work in cult horror Braindead, which saw him recently flown to Germany to do a horror film scene in a morgue.

"Nearly 20 years later Braindead is still part of my life. In Munich I was having to speak a certain medical German, words that they didn't even know."

Sam has chosen to be a town planner but there are still two other members of the Balme whanau to carry on the acting gene.

Balme says Nikau and Edie have both shown a curiosity about it. His advice to them is to give themselves some choices.

"I didn't finish my English degree and went straight to drama school and worked for 15 years in the business so there wasn't anything else I could do. I think it's sometimes good for actors to be able to to do something else and not be compelled to take every job, which is why diversifying into the writing side has been so good for me.

"I have had lots of opportunities. I've done a great variety of things, and so I feel very satisfied, but I still feel like the best is yet to come."

The Almighty Johnson's will screen on TV3 – The date is yet to be announced.

- © Fairfax NZ News