Jacob Tomuri : No Magazine : Interview Feature

Jacob Tomuri

by Melinda Williams. No Magazine. Issue 07.

A career in acting rarely proceeds with the predictable direction fluency of a train journey. It’s more like a trip taken by road, or even on foot – likely to branch off in unexpected directions, go round in circles, stop entirely in parts or require a switch to an entirely different form in order to continue.

Jacob Tomuri is a New Zealand actor who’s entirely comfortable with the haphazard path of performance work. Although most people will recognise him as the sweet, put-upon Norman Hanson in Shortland Street, his work on screen in New Zealand has ranged from long-running television parts to film roles, with a secondary career in stunt work that has alternated with and at times run parallel to his acting roles.

You’ve just gotta harden up, really. You can’t complain about how your bruises hurt. - Jacob Tomuri on stuntwork.

Born and raised in Wellington’s Titahi Bay, Tomuri was encouraged into acting as a kid by his mum, who could see his creative side. After landing the first four roles he auditioned for, he figured he’d hit the jackpot. “I thought, ‘This is easy! Once I received my first pay cheque, I was sold’.” While studying at the Performing Arts School of New Zealand, he decided to take on some holiday work as an extra on the Lord of the Rings films. “They were looking for 30 guys who could swing a sword and not kill anyone. I thought it was cool because it was a bit more hands-on than being an extra.”

Based on Tomuri’s work, the stunt coordinator suggested he should try for a role on the stunt team. In short order he found himself leaping off towers onto stunt mats for the Helm’s Deep battle scene. “I wasn’t much for heights at the time,” he admits, but he threw himself – literally – into it anyway. He had never dreamed he would be a stunt man. “I didn’t really know that position was around. I thought stuntmen were daredevils.” These days, however, his acting and stunt credits are split evenly, with one often leading to the other. “When I was on Shortland Street, I thought my acting career was all carved out and nothing could stop me,” he recalls. “But the reality is that this country is too small. Shortland Street almost killed my career because Norman was too popular a character.”

That career is thriving now. In 2007 he appeared in the vampire thriller 30 Days of Night, and last year he shot James Cameron’s 3D sci-fi extravaganza Avatar. Originally signed up on a short stunt contract for Avatar, when Tomuri turned up for his first day on set, director James Cameron singled him out with the words, ‘This guy would be great as our Dragon Navigator’. “I didn’t even know what that was,” Tomuri laughs. “It wasn’t even until I got there that I realised how big this film is going to be. It’s taking film making to a new level in terms of what has been done with 3D.” The role was a credited part large enough for Tomuri to be later flown to Los Angeles for pick-ups, although he can’t say much about it other than that Cameron is “an absolute genius. He’s very intimidating at first, but watching him work you realise why he has a reputation for being the best.”

Presently, Tomuri is getting scuffed up on the set of the 13-episode, mega-budget Spartacus series filming in West Auckland. As a core stuntperson, he was put on a five-week boot camp prior to shooting. “Getting a role that makes you look good is the kind of role you’d ask for!” he agrees. It’s not all fun and games though. “Being a stuntman is about being uncomfortable. Pretty much the majority of the time you have something that’s quite irritating to deal with and you just have to go into your happy place. I’m quite good at letting things go now. You’ve just gotta harden up, really. You can’t complain about how your bruises hurt.”

Next up, he hopes to travel and upskill, though he has no interest in trying to ‘break’ America by going to Los Angeles and joining the out-of-work-actor industry. “You’ve just gotta keep doing a good job. You never know what’s just around the corner. That’s the hard thing, but the exciting thing as well.” As much as it can be for an actor, Tomuri’s career seems to be right on track.

Avatar is due out in New Zealand cinemas on December 19.