SHORTIE STAR: Actor Jarrod Martin at home in Whangarei. PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM
Advocate reporter Alexandra Newlove talks to Whangarei actor Jarrod Martin about being a good suction catheter salesman and getting into character.
It takes a few weeks to nail down Northland's new Shortland Street star Jarrod Martin for an interview.
He finally caves. After all, he has puppies to sell and needs all the help he can get after his great dane Wookie carelessly fathered seven "genetically diverse" children while the actor was away filming in Auckland.
"Don't leave these puppies with 'your worst nightmare'," Jarrod jokes, in reference to the opening line his character Gareth Hutchins delivers on his first night on the show.
A line Jarrod says is among his favourites but that he was "terrified of delivering".
"The unfortunate thing was that my father (William Walker ) got a job in Christchurch as a lead in a play. And I ended up getting [the Shortland Street role] at exactly the same time," Jarrod says from the now canine-infested Riverside home he shares with his dad.
"It was bad timing because our two dogs fell in love and had seven children while we were away. And now I've got seven adorable puppies looking for homes."
Caring for the unexpected arrivals during the down time he spends in Whangarei may have helped Jarrod foster some of the fatherly instincts he's had to cultivate since landing a role as solo dad of the wayward Millie on New Zealand's soap. In true tongue-in-cheek Shortie style, Jarrod's character Gareth is furious his 15-year-old charge has somehow acquired $7000 and bought herself a new set of boobs.
"As all dads would do, he's questioning, A, Why does she want a boob job and, B, where's she getting the money?" the 37-year-old actor says. "From there things go bad to worse for poor old Gareth. It's getting close to the last straw for him."
Gareth is in fact Jarrod's fourth stint on Shortland Street - his characters getting up to various unmentionable acts on set starting in 2004, where he played "a homeless guy for about six weeks".
Now, even though his character comes across as the soap's newest whack-job, Jarrod has been working hard to make him realistic and relatable.
"I did a lot of weird things. Because he's a rep for medical stuff and he does selling scenes, I had organised a meeting with an insurance agent and watched all of their sleazy tactics and took notes.
"And because he's a little bit older than I am, I spent a lot of time trying to be a bit more grown up. I spend my time making sure he's doing the right thing for him. Everything he does is because he's trying to do the right thing by his family."
Jarrod's real life family is riddled with theatrical types - both parents are drama teachers and his father is an award-winning actor and director both in New Zealand and abroad. Jarrod boasts past roles in Mercy Peak, Orange Roughies, Doves of War, Secret Agent Men, Legend of the Seeker, "another one where I was naked, which I can't remember", and a collection of onstage acting and directing roles. He was particularly prolific during his time with Northland Youth Theatre and now works on Shortland Street alongside former NYT student Reuben Milner.
He first caught the acting bug aged three playing Horton, in Horton Hatches an Egg.
Because of his time as a director - he directed seven shows with NYT - Jarrod says he can't help thinking about the cheekiness of the Shortland Street writers, citing a recent line of his as an example: "Do you mind if I leave some samples of our suction catheters? I'm sure your staff will be very impressed."
"He's got to be enthusiastic about catheters!" Jarrod says. "Because I've spent a lot of time as a director, I can't help seeing the naughtiness from a writer's point of view. The most difficult thing can be trying to cut off the sense of humour."
Off set, Jarrod works as a barman in Whangarei and puppy salesman who can be reached on jaztuck1978@hotmail.com. ."