Temuera Morrison. Photo / Doug Sherring
Hollywood heart-throb Temuera Morrison is the latest high-profile Kiwi counting the cost of the credit crunch.
The Star Wars actor, who has put his plush mansion on the shore of Lake Rotorua out to tender, told the Herald on Sunday the recession, the American writers' strike and lack
of business confidence have seen him fall on hard times.
"I've got to face realities," Morrison said. "I had a pretty quiet year, and the way things have stacked up I'm swimming against the tide.
"I really just need [businessman] Owen Glenn to give me $100,000 instead of Winston Peters, and I'll remember it quite vividly."
But Morrison, who shot to worldwide fame with his performance as Jake the Muss in Once Were Warriors, isn't quitting New Zealand, despite a "quiet year in terms of the acting business. I might have bitten off a bit more than I could chew thinking that the Hollywood movies would still roll on in, but the strikes we had earlier on means confidence is still low.
"I think that's the problem when you have your one skill being acting. You have to be a little more versatile out there, you've got to cater for those cold months."
Morrison says he has several opportunities in the wind.
But without "firm contracts" he isn't holding his breath.
"There's always Shortland Street but those doctors' hours killed me. I could go back to a reporting job or the Temuera Morrison show?"
But for now, he has to face reality and sell the property he bought in May 2004 for $1.7m.
It comes complete with a three-bedroom cottage, pool, twin changing rooms, bar, cabana and private jetty and two acres of flat land.
The previous owners wanted to turn the wooden-floor and ceiling beauty into a trout fishing lodge for visitors to the area.
Morrison planned to keep the place as a homestay, dividing his time between his hometown, and his property in Auckland's North Shore suburb of Devonport.
His favourite feature of the property is the pool area, which he built, followed by the bar.
The pool area is surrounded by lush tropical plants.
"I'm a bit sad. The pool is the best part where all my nieces and nephews go swimming.
"I've just got to face the reality - they have forgotten I'm the best actor in the world," he joked.
