Bob Maclaren
Actor, Director
Invercargill-raised Bob Maclaren started acting while studying architecture at Auckland University. After touring a stilt-walking theatre show globally and hosting 1993 Discovery Channel travel show Bob's World he settled in Amsterdam, where he has largely been based since. As an executive for Dutch broadcaster BNN he produced a local version of The Daily Show, and wrote and directed comedy (and performed stand-up off-screen). In 2005 he returned to Aotearoa to star as hapless MP Dennis Plant in acclaimed political satire The Pretender. After reprising the role in 2008, he was nominated for a Qantas Award.
Playing Dennis was everything but one dimensional, he was petulant, vain, stupidly overconfident and grating and annoyingly dorky. In fact writer Peter Cox created a character more dimensional in his flatness than most dramatic characters are in their emotionality. Bob Maclaren on playing fictional MP Dennis Plant, The Throng, Sep 2009
