By Frances Morton "Get another profession first." That's actor Erik Thomson's advice to budding young thespians. The 38-year-old Sydney-based actor grew up in Tauranga attending Tauranga South School (now Gate Pa School), Tauranga Intermediate and Tauranga Boys' College. Mr Thomson is now appearing on our televisions as charismatic former rock star Jack Jaffers inthe Australian drama The Alice. But he cautioned anyone with aspirations of following in his footsteps to get a degree and go to teachers' college before embarking on an acting career to ensure a fallback income during tough periods. Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times by telephone from Auckland, Mr Thomson laughed at how sensible he sounded - because he has not followed his own advice. After finishing Tauranga Boys' College in 1985, he studied for a BA at Victoria University but left before completing his degree to take a position at New Zealand Drama School Toi Whakaari. He acted at professional theatres the Fortune Theatre in Dunedin, Court Theatre in Christchurch and the Auckland Theatre Company for five years before moving to Australia. For the past 10 years he has been based across the ditch and acted in a range of television shows. He picked up a Silver Logie award for Most Popular Actor in 2003 for his role in the hospital series All Saints. Mr Thomson was disappointed ABC pulled his latest show The Alice after only one series. He felt there was still an element of cultural cringe among Australian and New Zealand audiences and viewers had to adjust to watching their own culture on screen. "I hope we get better at looking at ourselves in the mirror," he said. Mr Thomson predicted a bright future for the screen arts in this country and is talking to industry players during his visit about working on local projects. "New Zealanders are incredibly innovative and resourceful. That's why we can make Hercules and Xena and Lord of the Rings here. Once we start applying that innovation to our own stories, there's going to be some great stories on screen." Mr Thomson is looking forward to coming home to Tauranga for a holiday at New Years' with his wife and The Alice co-star, Caitlin McDougall. He still regards Tauranga as his home town and regularly visits his parents, who still live in his childhood home in the Avenues. Mr Thomson was nostalgic about the old days when "Papamoa came nowhere near Te Puke". He lamented that rapid growth in the city had caused it to become "Hamilton by the sea".
