Eds Eramiha set to soar on stage as Hatupatu in aerial theatre show: ‘I had a wild imagination about being able to fly’

Eds Eramiha will play Te Arawa ancestor Hatupatu on stage. Photo / Stephen A'Court.

You may recognise him from Lee Tamahori’s Mahana, TVNZ drama Vegas, The Dead Lands, or his recent stint on reality TV series Celebrity Treasure Island. But Eds Eramiha’s latest acting role is taking him to new heights — literally. Here he chats to Bethany Reitsma about playing ancestor Hatupatu on stage, the importance of telling te ao Māori stories, and what inspires the intense physical fitness he needs to succeed.

Model, Muay Thai fighter, TV presenter, kapa haka performer, actor — Edmund Eramiha (Ngāpuhi), known as Eds, is something of a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to the performing arts.

Now he’s adding aerial stunts to that list of talents, as he’s set to appear in upcoming production Hatupatu | Kurungaituku: a forbidden love, a live show combining theatre, dance, and flying above the audience while suspended from the ceiling. It’s a retelling of the Te Arawa tale of Hatupatu’s escape from the bird-woman Kurangaituku, set amid the hot springs of Rotorua.

It’s a story that Eramiha grew up hearing about in school, but it’s only now that he’s realising the responsibility that comes with playing Hatupatu.

“I was like, ‘Oh wow, that is a real ancestor, a real tupuna’. And I got really interested in that, and about his story, and about his genealogy, and what his backstory was,” he says.

“Before I got this role, I wanted to go and ask the actual descendants of Hatupatu in Rotorua if I can play him, am I allowed to play my mate’s tupuna. He said, of course it is — but it’s our job to uphold their name.

“I want [people] to know their story. I want them to know that we bring some life and more integrity to their names and to know who they were.”

And getting to tell a te reo Māori story on stage is a “huge opportunity”, he says.

“Especially [with] what’s going on now with our te reo Māori. I think it’s a great chance for us Māori to really, you know, show that our te reo — that’s our identity, that’s who we are. So this is another chance for us to express it, to showcase it, and to say, hey, it’s all alive and kicking, and you know, we do not want to let these gifts of ours go.

“It’s at this time, I’m feeling more proud than ever that, you know, this show’s in te reo Māori. For many generations, our reo has been taken away, but we’re here to keep it alive and strong.”

The father of two wants young people to leave the show inspired — to learn more about their language and ancestry, to pursue their passions.

“What I want them to do is go away and say, ‘Man, it was such a cool show. They brought those ancestors to life and they gave it integrity and justice and mana’. And to inspire kids as well. I know a lot of kids dream about flying and dream about these things, the lights, the action, the drama, the comedy,” he says.

“I want them to see them in me and go ‘Hey, that’s me, I can do that’. So these kids can go, I was inspired by that, I want to go out and do acting, or be an aerial artist, or dancer, or whatever it may be in the arts. To go, our language is awesome, I want to go learn it.”

As a child, Eramiha was inspired by seeing acting legends Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison on screen.

“When I was a little kid, I saw them on TV. I said, ‘I can do that’. And now I get to meet them. So I want to share that with other kids as well.”

Among his other inspirations, he includes his family — particularly his grandmother, who “instilled persistence and aroha and all these values” and a high school teacher who taught him kapa haka, which he says led him to who he is today as an actor.

Hatupatu production for Taki Rua, 28 July 2023. Photo credit: Stephen A’Court.

He’s a skilled kapa haka performer, but it was the novelty of aerial stunts that drew him to the role.

“That was a whole new space that I was willing to explore. Because I’ve done stunts, but not in a harness up in the air. So height was a factor I had to consider. You know, I wasn’t scared of heights, but just as a little kid growing up, I had a wild imagination about being able to fly,” he enthuses.

“And so I was like, this looks fun and amazing. I can imagine little kids watching it and seeing people fly in the air. It’s like, Oh, wow, look, they’re flying. And they bring that dream to reality.”

Eramiha is known for going to extreme lengths to get physically fit for acting roles, but this was on another level.

“You’ve got to get your body conditioned to hold on to your own weight in the pelvis area, so it’s more about conditioning your body and not being scared of heights and taking a risk and taking the chance to jump and to leap,” he explains.

“So it’s more of a mental and a physical game as well — there’s certain ways to breathe, certain ways to hold yourself in the harness, so you have to learn all these different techniques about how to hold yourself up in the air.”

For a production like this, “safety is paramount”, he says. “There’s a lot of trust going into it as well. So you can take that leap and that jump to fly freely.”

Eramiha, who trains up to four times a day, thinks “physical wellbeing should be mandatory” and notes the benefits aren’t just for the body, but for the mind.

“Physical wellbeing is huge for me. It also helps me on the mental side, so it’s really important,” he explains.

“Physical activity and training help me in my job a lot, whether it starts with it, looking like a certain character or a certain role ... but then, because this industry takes a lot of mental toll on you, I guess the physical training helps open and helps relax all that within me.

“It’s a way to be able to sort your emotions and sort whatever’s going on inside of you. Like if you’re out in the world and you get mentally clogged up, you know how to clear it out and how to weed out those areas in your thoughts.”

Eds Eramiha. Photo / Supplied

What’s his advice to those who want to step up their physical fitness in the new year, but might be too nervous to start? It’s as simple as taking that first step, he says.

“If you’re too scared to go to a public gym, or whatever the case may be, just start off by going for a walk. Call up a friend and say, ‘@ould you want to go for a walk?’” he suggests.

“Just make something happen, make something start. You have to want to come to it. No one can make you, it’s just something you have to come to the conclusion of. You know, it’s a new year, I need to get off the couch. Okay, how can I start doing that?

“Well, simply, obviously, get off the couch. Put those shoes on. Go for a walk, start doing press-ups, and start talking, start making a little team around you that you can trust. Just open up to people who you feel safe with. It’s just like, you have to come to it first. You have to make that agreement for yourself.

“No one’s going to push you. You have to be your own trainer, your own boss, you’ve got to let your mind lead you to it. Go to the gym at a certain time where it’s not busy, go in the off hours and do your own thing.”

He wants to remind those whose fear of embarrassment might hold them back from going to the gym that no one’s there to judge you.

“More than anything, they’ll be more encouraging and celebrate you turning up for yourself,” he declares. “And go, ‘far, you’re actually doing it’.

“As I say to people, you know, when they walk in the gym, they’re like, ‘Oh man, It’s hard getting out of bed’, and I say to them, ‘Hey, but you’re here aren’t you? That’s a win’. They’re like, ‘Oh, yes, I’ll carry that whole win on’.”

Simply getting out of bed is “the first win”, he says. “You’ve made it to the gym, now what are you going to do? Am I going to walk back out? Or am I going to keep fighting for myself? It’s a personal battle, don’t worry about anyone else.”

Listening to him talk, it’s clear just how passionate he is — but despite that, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. I joke that I need to start getting up earlier in the morning and he bursts into laughter. “New year, new me, aye!

“As I tell people, I do it with a smile, I do it with a laugh. It just breaks the ice. It’s all good, man.”

• Hatupatu | Kurungaituku: a forbidden love will debut at the 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts in Wellington from February 20-24 before heading to Auckland from February 28-March 2, Christchurch from March 7-10, then to Rotorua from March 14-17. Tickets for all shows are available through Ticketmaster and Q Theatre.

Bethany Reitsma is an Auckland-based journalist covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2019. She specialises in telling Kiwis’ real-life stories, money-saving hacks and anything even remotely related to coffee.