The Samoan star loved having a real mother figure on the Shortie Street set.

 

Robbie Magasiva and his mum Faasalafa have always been a tight team. Growing up the eldest of six children, the Shortland Street actor was the rock his mum could constantly rely on.

‘Robbie was the eldest and the leader of his brothers,' says Faasalafa, smiling at her eldest son. ‘Naturally he was quite confident. He's good at looking after people.'

The pair are like two peas in a pod. Robbie says they've been close ever since he was a lad, and he's proud to have inherited many of her habits.

‘She's so hardworking and always has been,' he says, admiringly, adding, ‘I know that I get that from her... as well as her stubborness.'

It's this strong work ethic that Robbie's had to call upon while cutting his teeth as Dr Maxwell Avia on Shortland Street.

From stage to screen

Already an accomplished actor and well-known as a member of the Naked Samoans theatre troupe, the star had never graced the hit TV2 show's set until this year. He loves the challenge of juggling his acting career with life at home with his wife Anna.

When Shortland Street was searching for Samoans to play roles in upcoming episodes, Robbie was quick to suggest his mum. Cheekily, he never actually asked 57-year-old Faasalafa whether she'd want to appear in an episode of the hospital drama, but he knew that, like always, she would do anything to help him out.

‘Casting director Andrew Kelland had asked me to think of some people we could approach, and when the time came I hadn't asked anyone. So I suggested mum,' 37-year-old Robbie says.

Unbeknownst to Faasalafa, what Robbie had offered her up was the role of Sosphena. She had previously appeared as Robbie's character's mother in the hit film Sione's Wedding, but this was her first speaking role.

‘It was only three lines. But I was so worried. I had to keep thinking "Just be strong",'
says Faasalafa, whose first language is Samoan.

Robbie worked with his mum after hours, highlighting her lines and helping with dialogue.

‘When she came to the rehearsals I just saw the fear in her eyes,' Robbie says.

‘She knew the dialogue and the lines, but she didn't learn the cues. I totally forgot to
tell her about those.'

Star in the making

However, on set Faasalafa - who looks after Robbie's nephew Indie and works part time on weekends caring for the elderly - was the consummate professional.

‘It was OK because I was working with Robbie,' she says, catching her son's eye.

‘I felt really good when I'd finished filming. It was a great experience and now that I've done it, maybe next time I won't be so nervous.'

Robbie says he was so worried during her first appearance on the show that he hopes they'll have another chance to share the spotlight so he can enjoy it more.

‘It was nerve-racking andI think I was more worried about it than her, because I know on my first day at Shortland Street I was a nervous wreck.'

Indeed, it was Robbie who paved the way for not only his mum but also his brothers to realise their acting dreams. His younger sibling Pua spent two years on Shortland Street and recently appeared in Outrageous Fortune.

According to his mum, she knew Robbie would be an actor from age five.

‘With his cousins, he was always the one who stood out as a performer,' she says.

Robbie was born in New Zealand but the family moved back to Samoa to live in a small village until Robbie was 10.

‘When I got back to New Zealand, I stood up in front of my class at Strathmore Park Primary and I realised then I loved the feeling.'

By Kylie Bailey

• The Naked Samoans are coming out of retirement for a one-off performance of their Go Home show, with funds going to the Oxfam Tsunami Appeal. It's on at The ASB Theatre in Auckland's Aotea Centre on Saturday November 7. Tickets
  are $20 via www.buytickets.co.nz.

 

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