Oliver Driver: Theatresports, Shortland Street, and beyond...

Even as a schoolboy, Oliver Driver knew he wanted to be an actor. Since leaving school he has had a varied career in theatre, television and film. Playing the role of male nurse Mike Galloway in Shortland Street made Driver a famous face in New Zealand, but he has also appeared in other homemade TV shows such as The Strip, Serial Killers, and Letter to Blanchy, and the films Topless Women Talk about Their Lives, Magik and Rose, Black Sheep, and A Death in the Family. Driver appeared as the villainous ‘Mr Wilberforce’ in the feature film Under the Mountain.

In this ScreenTalk, Driver talks about:

• How he left school and jumped into theatresports
• The love he has for directing theatre, and the creative process involved in getting a script to the stage
• How City Life gave him his first and most memorable TV experience
• Hosting Sunrise and the pressure of live television, and whether or not he 'sold out' by taking the job
• Playing the role of Mr Wilberforce in Under the Mountain and how a prosthetic face brought him to tears

This video was first uploaded on 25 July 2009, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing - Andrew Whiteside