As Westside returns for its fourth season, Sarah Ell talks to David De Lautour about becoming 'casual Grandpa'.
In Kiwi comedy drama Outrageous Fortune, Grandpa Ted West's classic tracksuit was almost a character in its own right. And how that tracksuit became part of the West story - and how Ted West went from black leather to cream velour - is about to be revealed in the new season of Westside.
The early 1980s have been a roller coaster for the younger Ted West, played by David de Latour, and in season four he faces more tough times, as he struggles to keep the gang together while becoming a grandfather.
In person, 35-year-old de Latour is much more boyish and outgoing than the often taciturn career criminal he plays in Westside. There's less facial hair in evidence too, though a shadow of a goatee remains, for a drama series he's currently shooting over the Ditch.
He's been spending a sunny winter's day locked in the darkness of an edit suite at Flying Fish studios in Ponsonby, working on putting together a new web-only series for TVNZ OnDemand. A murder mystery, Alibi, he developed it with his wife Hannah Marshall and fellow actor Gareth Williams.
"Ah, the tracksuit. Oh yeah!" he laughs, as conversation turns to Outrageous-era Ted's sartorial trademark. "It was a really big thing - it's like a character unto itself. Frank [the late Frank Whitten, who played Grandpa Ted in Outrageous Fortune] made it so famous.
"I loved turning up every day and putting it on. I even wore the one they based it on to the wrap party, just to keep that comfort going."
De Latour had his own bespoke tracksuit made by wardrobe for the new series, and it becomes a bit of a go-to as Ted turns to casual clothing, staring down the barrel of middle age. It's another era in the evolution of Ted; over three series we've seen him become a dad, watch both his wife and son go to prison, rob, be robbed, and gain and lose (outrageous) fortunes. We've also seen him go from mutton-chop sideburns to increasing amounts of facial hair - another trend which is set to continue. And let's just say that wife Rita (played by Antonia Prebble) is not that impressed.
"Ted goes on a bit of a journey this season, and grooming is not high on his list. The beard gets pretty rough this season," de Latour says. "He realises that the world around him is evolving and moving pretty quickly. His struggle this season is to either choose to move with the times and adapt to them, or not, and let everything just pass him by.
David de Lautour.
"Ted is also growing as a husband and having to change as a husband because of the changing times. As head of the gang he is also struggling to keep this group of five guys together through tough times, and with all this new technology coming along."
De Latour never met the original Ted West - Frank Whitten, who died in 2011 - but he has studied the veteran actor's portrayal of the older Grandpa.
De Latour was working overseas during the original run of Outrageous in 2005-10, so missed out on following the unfolding fortunes of the younger West family at the time.
"There are so many of the same cast and a lot of the same crew from Outrageous working on Westside, so I have heard a lot of stories about Frank.
"Before we started on season one, I went through and watched every episode of Outrageous Fortune - I'd seen bits of it, but never watched it beginning to end," he says.
"It was a hard one - I did initially feel pressure because Grandpa was such a beloved character, but I also realised that I came to a point where I had to make the character my own, so I wasn't just doing a caricature of what Frank did. It's a different role: Ted was more of a comic relief character in Outrageous, so when you're the lead of the show it's a different thing."
The West family's return to the screen for another round of tragicomic shenanigans, crimes and family dramas is also another trip down memory lane for those of us old enough to remember the New Zealand of the Muldoon era.
De Latour himself wasn't born until 1982 but says that many of the events which have featured so far are things his parents lived through.
The late Frank Whitten as Grandpa West in Outrageous Fortune.
"It's actually one of the major parts of the show that means it can connect to a large group of people. It's not only the Outrageous fans, who love it, but also a younger group looking for a new New Zealand show to watch, and the older group who were living through that time in the late 70s and early 80s.
"The writers have done a beautiful job working these things in so they come and go but don't dominate - they weave them perfectly around the Wests' world."
So why do Kiwi audiences love the Wests - in all their rough, criminal, bogan glory - so much?
De Latour thinks its because people like following the fortunes of flawed characters.
"Nobody's perfect and it's nice to see imperfection on screen. The Wests do things that we ordinary people would like to do in real life - Ted will punch someone in the face if they've ripped off the little man or rob from a rich dickhead," he says.
"A character like Rita might be unlikeable, but you're rooting for her. We'd all love to throw a drink in someone's face or tell them to f*** off, which Rita would do in a heartbeat.
"We identify with them to a certain point, and past that point we admire their balls."
