" We were just so desperate to do well . We wanted to represent our sept , our cultures . "
One of the most beloved figures in the Pacific Islander residential area , Oscar Kightley is an actor , author , director , comedian , and activist . There ’s nothing this man ca n’t do ! He co - publish and star inSione ’s Wedding , the iconic motion picture that made Pasifika citizenry around the world find experience . As a member of the Naked Samoans comedy group , he co - create the award - deliver the goods animate seriesbro’Town . you may also find him in devout Pasifika movies likeHunt for the WilderpeopleandNext Goal Wins .
In recent years , his play , Dawn Raids , returned to the stage , educating new multiplication about the discrimination Pasifika multitude face in New Zealand during the ' 70s and ' 80 .
“We were just so desperate to do well. We wanted to represent our families, our cultures."
For BuzzFeed’sVoices of the Pacificseries , I seat down with Oscar to chit-chat about the memento he kept fromSione ’s Wedding , his favorite aspect of Samoan finish , and more .
BuzzFeed:Sione’s Weddingis one of my favorite Pacific Islander films of all time. The movie has certainly cemented its place inpop culture— Duck Rockers for life! Did you know when you were writing it that it would turn out to be such a big hit?
Oscar Kightley : Well , I save it with my palagi [ whitened ] protagonist , James Griffin . He ’d seen the Naked Samoans , and he was asked to come in up with a script estimation that we could all do [ as ] a film . None of us had done a motion picture at that stage , and when we wrote it , we had no idea . We were just thrilled because when you begin out as an actor in theater of operations , if you ’re golden enough , you do a bit of television receiver , but the dream is always to be on that 50 - foot sieve . And so for us , we were just thrilled to have the opportunity to be in a pic . I had no idea . But we always believed in ourselves , we conceive in our awing mould , we believed in our report , and we believe in the studio behind it . So , it was just exciting . I ca n’t conceive it was 20 years ago almost that come out . But we did n’t think that it would have the encroachment that it drop dead on to have , still beloved even today .
Do you have any favorite behind-the-scenes memories during those days of filming?
I remember Robbie [ Magasiva ] crying hard out when we did the last fit because he was so emotional . We were just so desperate to do well . We wanted to represent our families , our cultures . We knew this is an opportunity ; especially down here in Aotearoa , you do n’t often get to make a movie . I just think back going to set every daylight , looking around , assure my Friend , seeing the Naked Samoans , Teuila , Madeleine . We got mass paid to , with lint rollers , walk around , and they get all the frippery off your clothes and ensure that you look nice , and they check your tooth after lunch . We were just in full buzzing out on that . Because when you get going out at schoolhouse , perform and clowning around , you do n’t really defy to dream that one day you could do it on a big stage . I think it hire us 30 24-hour interval to film , and every day was just magic .
BuzzFeed : Did you get to keep any special mementos after take wrapped ?
Yeah , I retain my wedding suit from it . They had a large costume sale at the remainder ; that ’s the thing that I was collapse . I cerebrate I ’d never get to do another motion-picture show . So , I wanted to keep my costume from it . I have n’t seen it for a while ; I guess it ’s in the garage .
For many of us in the US,Sione’s Weddingwas one of the first times we saw ourselves represented in film, so it still holds such a special place in our hearts! I especially appreciated how you portrayed Albert because he was a bit nerdy like me. What connected you to that character?
I was n’t actually going to play Albert . All the Naked Samoans auditioned , and I ended up become the part , and you ca n’t help but put a bit of yourself in it . So , I channeled that diffident , slightly insecure [ laughs ] needing - authority somebody . But with all the different part , from Sefa to Michael to Albert to Stanley , we all tried to represent a dissimilar type . Because often in our portrayals , you get one case of Pacific Islander . And so , we wanted to have a dainty variety , populate the picture with all different types . But emphatically , I link up to Albert ’s shyness and his insecurity and his lovemaking for words [ express joy ] .
That ’s so cool that in the US , immature Pacific masses could take that as representation . It really speaks to the Pacific diaspora . We ’re spread out all over the globe , but when our art come out , it does n’t matter what body politic you live in . If you have thing in unwashed , if you have common denominators in your refinement or your upbringing or your desoxyribonucleic acid , you could find oneself that representation . And before we get to tell our stories , we ’d look to the States , to Black American story and Latin stories . They were our aspiration when we were minor . Those were the shows we watched , and so that ’s what fire our pipe dream , really , the thought that we could one day do that as well , but for Pacific stories .
Have you ever faced challenges in your career as a Pacific Islander? If so, how did you overcome them?
When we add up to these big countries where we become nonage , you get handle like minority , and you get the stereotypes . You have all those anticipation collocate on you by the wide universe . I ca n’t say that being Pacific ever held me back because I always tried to use that as a force , because that ’s what I am . I got nothing else , and so , that ’s what I draw on . They say when you ’re a person of colour , you ’ve got to work 10 times as hard , and I think that has been the case a small bit in Aotearoa as well . The challenge is just being take seriously and fight for your space .
I remember when we didSione ’s marriage ceremony 2 , and I was being interviewed by a journalist from quite a big paper here . She asked me , " When are you going to make a normal motion picture ? " I was kind of stunned and flabbergast , and she did n’t even realize the natural racism in that dubiousness . But those are the perception that you ’re battle . Palagi filmmakers do n’t get asked , " When you gon na make a flick that does n’t have whitened masses in it ? " So , I gauge it ’s more that perceptions of you as a peaceable person , your strengths , your weaknesses , you come up gainsay in your career .
When I look at your incredible career, from the Naked Samoans tobro’Townto your films, it’s clear that you often combine Pacific Islander representation with comedy. Why is that important to you?
Shame was one of the thing we learned early on on . When we come here , we look different , we dress dissimilar , we eat different food . I did n’t realise I was brown ' til I started school . I cerebrate everyone ’s just multitude , and then you get care for differently , and then you realize that because you ’ve got a dissimilar skin colouring material … But telling caper , mock your Friend , and laughter became a bit of a coping mechanism . Also , clowning ’s been in the Pacific for 100 of years , and it ’s in reality a communication variant for us . In Samoa , there ’s a beautiful , old custom of performers going from village to Greenwich Village , putting on plays . It was call faleaitu , house of spirit . They used to do these incredible performances , which would mock all the confidence figures in the small town , the chiefs , the pastors . But they were protected , and everybody would laugh . " Oh , it was n’t us . It was the spirits in the theater that came out . " And so , comedy in the Pacific is a really farseeing tradition .
And in terms of the Naked Samoans , that was our inspiration , the faleaitu stuff . It ’s not that we ca n’t be serious or that we ca n’t write serious stuff . Because all the boy and Teuila , Madeleine , all our Friend who are in the photographic film , we come from field and serious execution . But we found that make masses laugh was a really great way of telling the Sojourner Truth . That ’s what George Bernard Shaw once enunciate . " How do you share the verity with people ? You make them express joy and slip it in when their mouths are open . " As opposed to a dramatic play , which requires a unlike kind of version , laughter ’s instant . If you could make someone express joy , does n’t matter whether you ’re in the States , in the UK , or New Zealand , you ’ve instantly connected with that brainwave , with that centre .
It ’s not that we suddenly fire up up one daylight and went , " Hey , let ’s do clowning . " It was in us already . We ’d come across examples through our parents , through our uncles . We ’d seen great performing artist of the past . We saw TV , we heard tape . And so , comedy was really quite a born affair for us , and I opine what we ’ve been able to do is actually transmit that into the mediums that are democratic today .
You’ve appeared in severalTaika Waititimovies, includingHunt for the WilderpeopleandNext Goal Wins. How would you describe him as a director?
Genius . Hilarious . Lovely . Just one of the boys who ’s got a really unbalanced energy and a really amazing zest for life and telling stories about nerveless stuff . Next Goal Winswas just a dreaming . We fool away that in Hawai’i . The dramatis personae , there was Samoan , Tongan , from Hawai’i , but also from Aotearoa , from Australia . Six weeks of hang out in Hawai’i and just getting to laugh every day . And there was our mate directing , give ear out with these Hollywood bigwigs . It was awesome . We ’ve known Taika since the end of the 1900s .
BuzzFeed : Do you have any favourite computer storage with him ?
I was astonished Taika even did that film . He ’d doneThorandJoJo Rabbit , and his agenda was sick ; I ca n’t believe he base fourth dimension to squeeze that in . But it ’s lucky we did becauseNext Goal Wins , that was the last cinema shoot before COVID change the whole world , I depend . We enclose in December 2019 , and the week we got home , four people had died in a seafood mart in Wuhan over this eldritch thing call COVID-19 . But I think of Taika being really sick . There were times when he would be direct , and as before long as he was off set , he would be on the chairman and a physio would be knead on him . But he worked exceedingly hard , and I remember state to him one time , " Bro , you ’re doing so much . Do you get clock time to rest ? " And he said something like he feels like he rested for most of his spirit , and now he ’s finally have to do what he really want . And so , that was an amazing attitude . I just remember Taika being really sensitive , and he had a bad back . But despite that , he powered on . I think the energy of all the boys and all the cast around helped to get him through .
And getting to do the film with Dave Fane , who was also inSione ’s Weddingandbro’Townand the Naked Samoans , that was an absolute joyfulness , too . This was another whole step up fromSione ’s . Now suddenly we ’re in Hawai’i , and there ’s all these monumental trailers and trucks . There ’s a guy cooking steak , and we ’re like , " Oh , what ’s that for ? " And he go , " Oh , that ’s for everyone . " We ’re like , " Wow ! That ’s unbelievable ! " We ’d walk around go , " Wow , we ’ve really made it . Dave , appear at this . This must be huge . " And then the work party would be like , " Oh no , this is small budget . " [ Laughs ] That was so cool , Next Goal Wins , and I ’m really glad Taika made it . I ’m majestic of that celluloid , and I love that we got to hang out withMichael Fassbender ; he ’s such a adorable man .
For Pacific Islanders, there are so many aspects of our cultures that we hold close to our hearts, from our foods to our dances to ourtattoos. What’s your favorite part of your culture?
That ’s a really serious interrogation . One of my favorite Samoan words is va , mean the set of rules and protocols that prescribe your social link with other mass , your relationships . I love that aspect of our acculturation , that the distance between you and someone else is not just empty blank — it ’s what really tie you . Epeli Hauʻofa , a gravid Tongan academician and thinker , say something like , " People look at the Pacific Ocean and see these little islands dotted around , and they believe [ it ’s ] this immense empty space . We wait at it and see , no , it ’s a ocean of island . " That is the landmass that touch base us .
I think my favourite part of our culture is construct like that , that are important to us . I eff that whole concept of interconnectedness . Pasifika is so many different groups , too , right-hand ? There ’s Micronesia , there ’s Polynesia , there ’s Melanesia . And we ’re connected to each other , whichever one of those commonwealth you equip into . you could be in a room of Fijians and Solomon Islanders and Tongans , Niuean , Cook Island , Micronesian , and you will feel a common thread that I think links us all .
Do you have a favorite Samoan food?
Well , this is n’t actually Samoan [ laughs ] but growing up — do you get corned squawk in the States ? Pisupo ?
BuzzFeed : I do n’t know if they eat it here actually , but my nana in New Zealand LOVES pisupo .
It ’s like a currentness . My favourite mature up was pisupo and rice , middling much anything with rice . I love it all . We have our own soul solid food . I love that concept of individual food because food for thought is really so important to us as well . But if I had to pluck one , it would be oka , bare-ass Pisces and coconut cream .
BuzzFeed : I finally sound back to Samoa a few days ago , and OMG , the food !
Oh wow , how was it ?
BuzzFeed : So beautiful . I got to see my nana and papa ’s villages . walk those same route and swimming in the same piss they did , it was such a earnest experience , connecting with my stem . I ’ve been telling everyone , " Please go back to your island as soon as you may ! It will alter you . "
Yeah , it really will . We all be in different countries , but I always throw it back to our family islands . We always have to go back and connect to that , regardless of your language journey , or how comfortable in that human race you feel . We ’re all on unlike parts of that journey . Going back is really important , whether it ’s your grandparents from there , your great - grandparents , it does n’t matter . It gives you an appreciation of just how far our people have arrive . They were isolate in the Pacific Ocean for so long before Europeans cipher out the engineering required to sail into an ocean that covered a third of the world . We were there for thousands of years before they calculate out how . And then , first come up organized religion , then capitalist economy and colonisation . But our story is a connected one , and it goes back a long way . We ’re not just short people living our own spirit ; we ’re all part of something big .
We touched on this earlier, but you actually got your start in show biz through theater. You’ve formed several Pacific Islander theater companies and written numerous plays, includingDawn Raids.The play raises awareness of the racist New Zealand police raids that targeted Pacific Islanders in the ‘70s and led to deportations and widespread fear throughout the community. Can you speak to your personal experiences that informed the play?
Man , when I arrived in New Zealand as a 4 - year - old , the raids had just start . It was the peak of anti - Pacific opinion . It ’s still here [ laughs ] . But I just think of you were too frightened to even go beyond your own letterbox . Our safe places were our homes , our churches , and that ’s it . Even workplace were n’t secure . We ’re a storytelling culture ; we did n’t write material down . We told , we learned , we shared story , knowledge , information , with stories . And yet , when it came to the dawn foray , the stories dry up , and part of that was our elders try out to protect us .
I have friends my age who have very real memories of police force burst in , their nan having to shroud in a deep freeze . One account I ’ll differentiate you that I found out later was from this instructor . This was in the former ' 80s , and he was a woodwork instructor . Even though the height of the raids were in the ' 70s , the treatment of Pacific Islander immigrants was still pretty high-risk , and whenever the immigration people would turn up to the bureau , response would knell the earphone in his schoolroom once , and then stop . That ’s how he knew the immigration folk are here . Any Pacific students , they would cover under the floor , under floorboards . And I ’ve seen the boards ; you may see the graffiti . That was outrageous to me .
And specially when you look at what ’s going on in the States now with chicken feed . How crazy that something like the dawn maraud , which started in the ' 70 — you ’d think that would be the final stage of it as we go on as a society , and we become better hoi polloi and better reading of ourselves — how crazy that stuff ’s still going on . I wishDawn Raidswas a history lesson about something that used to materialise , but it ’s still relevant today in terms of describing how minority communities are process . I ’m seeing it writ tumid in the States right now , through societal media and mainstream spiritualist .
In terms of my experience of the dawn raids , I just remember our parent not really wanting to blab about it because it was too injurious , because they could n’t understand why it was happening . And because we ’re so dear . We ’re family hoi polloi . We ’re not troublemakers ; we ’re not lazy ; we ’re not criminals . But that is how we were painted , and those stories were spread around to justify the intervention of us , and that ’s why I intend we get into clowning , because when you believe about this stuff , it can really get you down , and it can run out you of your joyful life . funniness bring that back . It does n’t make lighter of the moments ; it just helps you grapple with it , help you go through it .
In addition to your writing, you’re politically active in your daily life. You’ve encouraged people to vote, joined your local board, are involved with the Pacific Islander organizationCause Collective, and were present during the New Zealand government’s apology for the dawn raids. As far as activism goes, what’s your proudest moment?
I was really gallant whenDawn Raidscame back to the stage in 2022 because it was last performed in ' 98 . Pacific the great unwashed bonk it , and they were profoundly proceed by it , but the worldwide population was like , " More brown people making depressing stories about depressing things that bechance to them . " That was the position . But when Auckland Theatre Company brought that back in 2022 with Pacific Underground produce it , it baffle a whole new hearing . I call back on possible action dark , I had this senior palagi lady fare up to me in tears , and she said sorry [ laughs ] . And I was like , " It ’s okay ! It was n’t you . " This is n’t a shimmer to make snowy people feel bad about what happened to us . It ’s just narrate a level about a category ’s experience of that time . But one of my gallant instant was when the gambol total back , seeing a new audience that was maybe ready to get a line the news report now , with a bit more awareness . And young the great unwashed that were n’t even bear when I wrote it . We had school matinees , and they were packed . Schools from all over Auckland , flash school , short schooltime .
But my proud moments are always because you do something for the audience . It ’s never about you . It ’s not : " I ’m so majestic . Look what I did . " It ’s : " I ’m so proud . see at the hearing . Look at the reply . " You ’re planting seeds ; you ’re tell stories ; you ’re changing hearts ; you ’re widening minds . So my proudest moments , any time , about anything I had done , is when someone in the audience comes up to me , whether it ’s on the street or in the theatre , and just says they really connected with it . That ’s really why you do this . I always remember that I ’m part of the audience , and everything is for the audience . And tell the story is n’t the whole process . Hearing the tale is the rest of it . Unless a narration is try , it ’s only halfway done . So , to me , that makes it , the nexus of when the interview connects .
You were appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for your services to television and theater. What did that recognition mean to you?
It was awful . I always wanted one when I was trivial . I used to record the paper every yr where they came out . I ’d look for my name . Remember , this was before I ’d even done anything . So when I in conclusion got one , I was stoked . But at the same time , you do n’t do anything alone . It ’s endearing to be talking to you and being capable to share some of this stuff . But it ’s never on your own ; it ’s always with your fellow actor , your fellow writers , all the producer that extract the machinery in seat , in the infrastructure . But I could say to my family , " calculate , one of us got this , and this is for all of us . "
What do you want your legacy to be, and how do you hope future generations will remember your contributions to Pacific Islander history?
Wow . I always think bequest is a question for other mass , a matter for other people to say . I ’m part of my parent ' bequest , when they left Samoa to come here . Anything that I do , me and my friend , we ’re part of someone else ’s legacy .
In terminus of personal legacy , that ’s for other people to call on . But when I look at our showbro’Town , the part of the audience that I thought of the most was poor , dark-brown kids , because that was me and my friends . We just want little , poor dark-brown kids to not sense so bad about being hapless , and to have a bit of heart and life and soul and realize that their reality was valid and awing , even if it ’s populated with , let ’s say , non - ideal self-assurance figures . I ’d love to walk into a video shop and see a whole row of Pacific films and stories . And there ’s gobs ; there ’s so many other people doing it , from every recess of the globe , reach film , making short stories , piss animation , and we ’re all part of the same legacy .
But I feel like , in a direction , everything that ’s happened in the last 3,000 class is the legacy of those first citizenry that coif out into this big , vast Pacific ocean before the island were populate because they saw birds flying , and they thought , " Well , they must be bring somewhere . " That was a voyage into the unknown . And I mean in terms of creativity , so much of it is a ocean trip into the unknown . But you have your compass , which is your moral centre and your values , and you have your guiding stars that you watch . But I intend we ’re all part of the same legacy of our ancestors . It ’s just one big , long telephone line , and I hope that line keeps going and going .
What advice do you have for young Pacific Islander creatives?
Find your part , back yourself , and keep going . This shit ’s difficult . I used to go and lecture to schools , and they ’d say , " Oscar , would you advise the great unwashed to get into the arts ? " And I ’d say , " Nah . " [ Laughs ] But if you intend this is what you ’re made to do , if you ’re prepared to make the forfeiture , physically , financially , sometimes might finger spiritually , then that ’s you . Nina Simone said an artist ’s job is to be sensitive and reflect the fourth dimension they live in . And I really believe that ’s straight . Toni Morrison enjoin the breaker point of having power is to aid other people get it . Two quotation from two great Black American womanhood writers . They ’re so rightful . My advice is just find your voice and keep break down and use it .
And finally, what does being Pacific Islander mean to you?
Being Pasifika , to me , mean come from the most special part of this major planet . There ’s one special angle of the Earth that you may await at , and the whole affair is the Pacific Ocean . That ’s how huge it is . And so being Pasifika , to me , mean just coming from that part of the Earth and being permeate with all the value and stories from our root in the past that make us who we are today . And we ’re a know culture . It ’s not just peer air pressure from dead people , our traditions . Today ’s generation is writing a different level , but it ’s all part of the same story . So being Pasifika , to me — gosh , I ’ve never been asked that , but I just come from this really nerveless part of the mankind , and I ’m so thankful and consecrate that I was , and so I want to apply all the tools that came with to walk gently through this Earth and make out its beauty all the days of my living and spread that as much as I can .
Thanks for chatting with us, Oscar!
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