Shortland Street
Craig appeared on this TV series from 1993-1997 as the character Guy Warner and will be guest starring for the 15th anniversary in May 2007.
Visit the Official Shortland Street website.
On May 4th, 2007, Shortland Street celebrated 15 years of the show with a party in Auckland which Craig attended.
Photos by Throng.co.nz
Guy Warner back on the Street
Craig talks about returning to Shortland Street after 10 years:
“After playing Guy for four years it’s locked in. No matter how much time passes, you remember. But I did look at my audition tape from 1992 the other day and that was quite scary. Lots of big hair, big shoulder pads. We thought we looked terribly cool back then but there was quite a lot of gel, quite a lot of height.”
Craig on how being in a soap opera affects his life
“When you work on this show you’re a whole lot of different creatures You’re the actor, the person, the character and the public persona. I think it takes a kind of multiple personality to do it. I still find it very hard to watch myself. I tend to see the things I didn’t do, rather than the things I did do. It’s painful. I end up in the foetal position sometimes on the couch going, ‘Why did I do that wrong? God, I’m the worst actor in the world’. I don’t know if any actors can happily watch themselves and go, ‘God, I’m good’.”
Craig on his work on Shortland Street
“Some directors block the scenes and you do the work, some get in there and try and direct every little bit. I think the best is a happy medium where the director will say, ‘Okay, this is the scene, let’s have a look’. They’ll have ideas and movements that help their cameras, so you fit into that and you work together. Because we are here every week I think we have a better sense of continuity than the directors, who come in every four or five weeks. They’ve done all their homework but sometimes they’ll be unsure of something – where a character is in a situation or how they respond to a situation – so you work together on that. If you think something isn’t working, as long as you offer something else you can work on it. The directors here are generally very good. It’s not hierarchical so there’s no fear, you’re not losing status by saying, ‘Look, I’ve no idea what I’m doing here’ and a director can say, ‘I’m sorry, but I have no idea what this is about, help me.’ It’s very cooperative. We’re all making it so fast we all feed into it, otherwise it would fall apart and it wouldn’t get made.”
From the Shortland Street Trading Card set:
“Sensitive New Age Guy” (Card #18)
The snag with this Sensitive New Age Guy is that he’s a Warner. Sure, he makes the right liberal noises; he’s a caring sharing feminist social worker. But he’s also Sir Bruce’s son. Warners are as liberal as the Band of England. They’re rich aristocrats and they use people. Guy does feel genuine concern for people, but he just can’t help those selfish Warner genes.
“That Warner Reputation” (Card #45)
Guy’s cool, laid-back, a real smoothie. But he’s insecure as well with that Warner reputation to live up to. He’s also kind of flaky; he can’t handle his emotions, a typical Warner trait. This sensitive New Age guy gets on the receiving end of some serious we’ve-got-to-sort-this-out assaults from his hot-blooded lady. He’s rather hen-pecked, actually. Good thing he’s so tolerant.