Robbie Magasiva Sione's 2: Unfinished Business Interview

Robbie Magasiva Sione's 2: Unfinished Business Interview

Cast: Oscar Kightley, Robbie Magasiva, Shimpal Lelisi
Director: Simon Bennett
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rated: M
Running Time: 92 Minutes

Synopsis: Five years ago our heroes the Duckrockers thought they had figured it all out - they had found themselves girlfriends to take to Sione's wedding and the future was looking bright: Michael had come to accept that commitment wasn't for him and he was always going to fancy white girls; Albert had finally hooked up with his co-worker Tania; Stanley, always the weird one, had managed to find himself a nice girl one of the catering staff from the wedding; and Sefa had even got the courage to propose to his long term girlfriend, Leilani. And Bolo? Well, apparently his name is actually Paul.

Fast-forward five years and things haven't quite gone as the boys might have planned: Albert is now married to Tania and they are living in suburbia, both working in insurance and also trying (unsuccessfully) to have a baby; Sefa and Leilani are still together and now have two kids although despite Sefa's proposal, they're still not married. And while Sefa's business is falling apart, Leilani seems to be living life to the full; Stanley is now a trainee Deacon in the Future Church; Michael has moved to Australia but the boys don't hear from him often; and Bolo has thrown in his job with Sefa and taken up work with Sione, Michael's younger brother.

Growing up appears to be driving the Duckrockers apart but when they're confronted with one of life's unexpected turns and Bolo goes missing, their Minister once again brings them together and sends them on a quest. Their mission: to find Bolo. Where do you start when you are looking for this one Samoan in the worlds largest Polynesian city?

As they set off on the physical search for Bolo, each of the Duckrockers is also on a personal journey of sorts. But of course, the Boys being the Boys, the way they deal with things can only go wrong.

Release Date: March 1st, 2012

Interview with Robbie Magasiva

Question: How would you describe Sione's 2: Unfinished Business?

Robbie Magasiva: Sione's 2: Unfinished Business is five years on from the first film and the boys have taken their own direction, as you do. There is one event that happens in the film that makes the boys stand still and face what they're running away from whilst at the same time they're on a quest to find Bolo.


Question: How has your character changed?

Robbie Magasiva: I don't think he has changed at all, in the end of Sione's 2: Unfinished Business he does change though and he realises that he likes girls (laughing).


Question: How similar are you to your character, Michael?

Robbie Magasiva: I like girls (laughing) that is our only similarity which could be why Oscar Kightley wrote the part for me. Other than that Michael's journey ends up being in Australia because last we saw him he was a cycle courier and then he became quite a good Real Estate Agent in New Zealand where he slept with the boss's wife and was fired and banned from Real Estate Agent in New Zealand. Then, Michael went over the ditch, to Australia and did exactly the same thing which is why his career didn't work out in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and he was in Toowoomba when he received the bad news to go home because of his brother.


Question: What was your reaction when you were told there was going to be a sequel?

Robbie Magasiva: There was always going to be a sequel. Not long after the first film was released, John Barnett our producer approached Oscar Kightley and James Griffin to write a second film, it was always on the cards. It took a while to begin production because Oscar Kightley and James Griffin had other commitments and they didn't have time. Oscar Kightley and James Griffin were playing with ideas such as using the same actors but having them play different characters - that never came about and they revisited and investigated going back to the Duckrockers! It only took two months of writing and they were into production.


Question: How did this shoot differ from the previous film?

Robbie Magasiva: In the first film our director was Chris Graham and Simon Bennett directed this sequel.

Aaron Morton was the director of cinematography in Sione's Wedding, he was very highly regarded and he had worked with Chris Graham before and the whole film looked spectacular, I thought.

For the sequel, Sione's 2: Unfinished Business we had Simon Bennett who is a fantastic storywriter and his background is in theatre although he had worked on a lot of television shows in New Zealand; this was Simon Bennett's first film and I now see why he is such a great story teller.


Question: Can you talk about the experience of being on set, again?

Robbie Magasiva: To finally sign my contract and to know when the starting dates are - woohooo! All of the boys were amped when we received the calling sheet. We had two weeks of rehearsals prior to shooting and when we were having the first read through with the guys again, you could see the excitement in everyone's eyes. It was great that we got to make a sequel.

It took about four days of rehearsal but we managed to get our chemistry back and after that everyone was ready to 'bring on' the first day of shooting. Everyone was excited about turning up to work.


Question: What was the most memorable moment of filming?

Robbie Magasiva: There wasn't one moment that stood out for me. It was a short shoot and I think every day, for the whole cast, was awesome because we were all happy to be there. The fact that we could turn up to the set of a feature film every day was great because that hardly ever happens especially because Polynesian aren't told very often we were honoured to be a part of that.


Question: Do you have a preference between acting for TV or movies?

Robbie Magasiva: Film definitely.


Question: What originally inspired you to begin acting?

Robbie Magasiva: I got the acting bug when I was at primary school and I would get up and do little skitz on stage in front of the school. On my first time, when I was up on stage, I got up there and the whole school laughed at me, I don't remember what it was that I did and they could have been laughing at my accent but that planted the seed for me in regards to acting. Finally once I left school I decided to pursue acting as a career.


Question: What are you currently working on now?

Robbie Magasiva: I am working on a New Zealand soap opera called Shortland St which is similar to Home and Away. I will be doing a couple of theatre shows later on in the year and in terms of film I am not working on anything at the moment which is why I prefer films to television work and why every day is a special day when you're making a film, with your mates.


Interview by Brooke Hunter