Victor Rodger - Funny As Interview

The work of Samoan-Kiwi writer Victor Rodger includes Shortland Street and This is Piki, and onstage explorations of sexuality, identity and race. In this extended Funny As interview, Rodger discusses a variety of topics, including:

• At a young age choosing to focus on writing rather than acting, after reading a comment by Kirk Douglas that there were no roles for "fat leading men”
• Getting into drama school with no acting experience, the same year his first play Sons premiered
• Getting a job as a trainee script editor while he was broke, and later becoming a scriptwriter for Shortland Street
• Combining comedy and "a reasonably strong dark undertow" in his plays
• The changes he has seen over 20 years of "minority writers taking control of how they are represented"
• How his heritage and sexuality influence his writing, but he doesn’t like those labels putting him into a box

This interview was recorded for 2019 TV series Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy. All audiovisual content is copyright to Augusto, and may not be reproduced. Publication of Funny As extended interviews made possible with funding from the NZ Lotteries Grants Board.