Who is Gareth Reeves?
This guy on some kind of crazed hunt to know everything about the world and how people live on it. Acting, it transpires is the best way he has found to go about it.
What would you do differently to what you do now?
If you mean, there was no theatre or film industry and I had to work elsewhere… I guess I’d be a gardener, teacher or work at the zoo.
Who inspires you and why?
Maybe it’s this play I’m working on, maybe it’s the amazing women I’m working with, or the awesome ladies in my life but I’m really finding women artists so inspiring at the moment. There’s a lot of discussion in the arts sector about what we see on our stages and screens and I’m reading and hearing some very thoughtful, articulate and downright brilliant argument for a more fairer representation of the sexes. Also, when I come home from work I mainline Amy Schumer and Transparent episodes to relax. I’m starting to suspect that I might actually be comfortable calling myself a feminist.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
“Would” I do? If what, exactly? You mean, could? Or should? I don’t understand, maybe I’m overthinking this. That would be pretty typical of me. It’s late, I’ve had a big day of rehearsals, my baby boy is finally asleep and I have a full run of the show in the morning. I really hope the great plays I work on make some kind of difference to someone watching. I like to imagine a little, young me is out there being changed forever by seeing some amazing theatre. Also I am a father, so I’m full-time in the business of making a difference in the world. And I recycle. I pay my taxes. I can’t vote though, I was born in New Zealand. That sucks.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
I did this show War Horse for a year. Afterwards my wife and I self-chartered a yacht in the Whitsundays. It was hands down the greatest holiday ever. The perfect mix of relaxation and adventure.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take then to, and why?
I would get them on a ferry. The harbor is so beautiful, maybe to the zoo. Hit a couple of my favourite eating spots, snorkel with the gropers at Clovelly and walk over the cliffs to Bondi. Manly to Spit walk the next day, more excellent food and see what’s playing at the theatres.
What are you currently reading?
It’s all work related. Greek Tragedy, BDSM, Feminist Theory, Gender Studies, Masochism, The Austro-Hungarian Empire… all sorts. I did read Helen Garner’s This House of Grief before rehearsals, which was traumatic.
What are you currently listening to?
What my character listens to. Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite and whatever my wife has playing on her phone in the mornings. On the bus I listen to Marc Marron interviewing amazing creative people on WTF.
Happiness is?
A 14 month old blond cherub blowing you a smiley kiss goodnight. A moment of connection with another actor when the play between you is so alive time stops and no-one watching dares breathe. Staying in a house with a dishwasher. My wife laughing so hard she wees herself. A good meal with a well matched wine. The All Blacks defending the Rugby World Cup.
What does the future hold for you?
Financial hardship, exhilarating artistic practice, deeper levels of loving, grace and understanding and one almighty amazing tv/film job that gets my family on the property ladder.
Gareth Reeves has worked on stage and screen throughout Australia and New Zealand over the last 20 years. Sydney appearances include Julius Caesar and Macbeth for Bell Shakespeare and a national tour War Horse. He’s appeared in films A Song of Good, Under the Mountain, I’m Not Harry Jenson, Tracker and the upcoming Pete’s Dragon.
Television work includes Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, The Cult, Go Girls, Legend of the Seeker and The Insiders Guide to Love, for which he won a New Zealand Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Television Series.
Gareth will be appearing in Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s production of Venus in Fur at the Eternity Playhouse from 2 June 2015. For more information, visit: www.darlinghursttheatre.com for details.
Image: Gareth Reeves