Wild ride into the west: Kirk Torrance opens up about acting and the ‘embarrassment’ of being unemployed.
Former Outrageous Fortune star Kirk Torrance tells Sarah Nealon about his latest role in another west Auckland drama Wilde Ride.
Starring in another drama set in west Auckland may seem like familiar territory for Outrageous Fortune’s Kirk Torrance.
But his latest TV series has little in common with that show where he played Detective Wayne Judd, the love interest of Cheryl West (Robyn Malcolm). In a scandalous storyline, Judd romanced Cheryl’s daughter Pascalle (Siobhan Marshall).
In Wilde Ride, Torrance plays Tom Wilde, a motocross mechanic who is happily married with children. The storyline revolves around Tom’s teenage niece Georgia (Molly Leishman), who moves in with the family when her parents are killed in an accident. The Wilde children are avid motocross riders and, before long, Georgia takes up the sport too. Leishman says Torrance was a mentor to her during the filming of Wilde Ride. “My parents’ favourite show was Outrageous Fortune so I had seen his friendly face on TV when I was younger. But I think working with him was a real shift. I learnt so much from him. He really set the tone of the set and I often would watch his scenes and take note of what he was doing,” she says. The role of Tom Wilde could have been written especially for Torrance. “I used to be into motocross,” he says. “Not competitively, but back in the early 80s in Glen Innes (Auckland) there used to be this massive industrial wasteland where
everyone used to ride motocross bikes. We used to call it ‘The Track’. I had three or four bikes and I used to love doing motocross stuff until I was in my early 20s. When they said there were bikes (in Wilde Ride) I was like, ‘Yeah I’m in’.”
Unsurprisingly, there was criticism about basing another local drama in west Auckland.
“When the (NZ On Air) funding round got announced there was a little bit of a hoo-hah about another Westie, bogan show,” says Torrance. “But it’s nothing like Outrageous.
“You mention ‘west’ and that’s what everyone thinks, but there is an entirely different beating heart to this particular monster. No one is beating anyone up, no one is getting it on with anybody.”
Since leaving Outrageous Fortune, Torrance has appeared in a range of productions including The Dark Horse, Wanted, Filthy Rich and High Road. Despite his experience, finding work in his chosen profession is still a challenge.
“It’s as hard as ever to get acting gigs,” he says. “We only do a certain number of shows every year.
“Once you hit that notoriety like Outrageous, unless you’re prepared to go overseas and ply your trade there, you’ve just got to accept that you’re going to be in actor jail for some time and cope as best you can with it.
“I’ve got young kids as well as a big family. It’s too hard to be away for months on end, starting at the bottom and knocking on doors in a foreign country, sleeping on people’s couches. Ten days away from my family and that’s about it. I’m a bit of a wreck.”
He has five children plus two grandchildren. In between acting gigs, he works with unemployed youth in south Auckland and east Auckland’s Glen Innes where he did much of his growing up.
Torrance, who began studying drama at tertiary level in his late 20s, says he left high school, “With no qualifications and no idea”.
And he knows what it is like to be unemployed. “I’ve been on the dole numerous times in my life with my career as an actor,” says Torrance.
“I understand the shame you feel, the embarrassment you feel walking in there (an unemployment office).
“And I also know when you walk into the same place and you actually find someone willing to help you what a relief that is. You’re almost ready to marry that person.”
Before getting his drama degree, Torrance represented New Zealand in swimming at the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games.
“My two boys, they are right into their water polo so very occasionally I will get in (the pool) with them and swim with them or train with them. But also I’m a keen surfer and the boys do surf lifesaving.
“I’m part of the surf lifesaving out at Karekare. I’m active enough that I don’t want to go training, do triathlons or anything vomit-inducing like that.”
“I’ve been on the dole numerous times in my life with my career as an actor. I understand the shame you feel, the embarrassment you feel walking in there (an unemployment office).”
– Kirk Torrance