The Star: December 08, 2016

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Thursday December 8 2016 27
Byron Coll
Our People
Meet Richie and Dan’s little mate
Actor Byron Coll, best known as All Black
super-fan Tim in the Mastercard ads, is a
Cantabrian who once played rep rugby as a
schoolboy. He talks to Jennifer Dann
Making those Mastercard
ads, did you find it hard to be
a total dick in front of your
childhood heroes?
No, Tim might be annoying
as hell but he’s such a positive
character. And to make someone
like Richie McCaw laugh at
you is pretty awesome. After we
made the first ad, Dan Carter
phoned me and said: “Some of
the guys have been giving me
s**t about being your roommate.
Could you help me get them
back by busting into our team
meeting and embarrassing the
crap out of them?” I couldn’t
turn Dan Carter down so I
turned up at the Heritage Hotel
where a huge security guard took
me through all these corridors
and then pushed me into a room
and shut the door. I found myself
staring at all the All Blacks, the
coaches, the medical staff. I s**t
myself. I had no idea what to do
so I just yelled “fellas!” at the
top of my voice. They all turned
round and gave this massive
cheer. I went round hugging
everyone.
Did you manage to embarrass
any All Blacks?
Dan told me to ask for
Shag, which is apparently the
nickname for Steve Hansen.
I don’t know why, I think it’s
a little bit dodgy because not
many people are allowed to call
him that so I yelled out “where’s
Shag?” He stands up at the back
of the room and goes, “I’m Shag.”
I sprinted up and jumped on
him from about 2m away. He
gave me a huge bear hug, carried
me on stage and thanked me for
supporting the team. Everyone
was going nuts. They gave me
a signed World Cup jersey and
pint of beer to skull. I couldn’t
stick around because the joke
wouldn’t last so I pretended I
was drunk and staggered off.
The whole thing took about
15 minutes. It was such a great
feeling.
Do you think the All Blacks
liked your character?
“FELLAS”: Byron Coll appeared in several Mastercard ads with Richie McCaw and Dan Carter.
They did on the first ad. By
the third and fourth he probably
got a bit annoying. Too upbeat, a
little bit crazy. It’s such fast work,
it’s hard to pick at the time. It’s
not until it’s up and running and
people are responding that you
think “maybe that was a bit too
full on.”
Have you ever played rugby?
Yes, I went to a very rugbyorientated
school, St Bede’s.
I actually played for the
Canterbury under-13s as a
hooker. I was small then too.
Then I shifted to halfback until it
got too dangerous. I loved music
and drama but you couldn’t take
them as a subject at St Bede’s.
I had to do 7th form music by
correspondence. The Sheilah
Winn Shakespeare Festival in
Otago changed my path in life. I
found out about it and, with no
formal training, somehow got
selected to go to The Globe in
London.
You’re 32 and have worked
full-time as an actor since
graduating. Has it been hard?
At times. I’ve found more work
since shifting up to Auckland.
There’s more TV being made
here than Wellington. I do a lot
of commercials.
•Turn to page 28
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