Movies & mental health AARON & EMMA'S FULL-ON LIFE

The Pike River actor has the best therapy at home

- Fleur Guthrie

Becoming an actor was never on Aaron Jackson’s radar. But since being “discovered” by a talent scout while working on a Wellington construction site and becoming a familiar face on our screens, the father of three says it’s been “the ride of my life!”

It was in 2010 that a casting agent fortuitously walked past and spotted Aaron’s 1.9-metre stature, before striking up a conversation with the apprentice builder.

“Her line was, ‘You have an interesting face... would you consider doing an audition?’” recalls Aaron.

“I thought she was joking, so I turned her down. The next day, she returned, saying, ‘Seriously, I really want to see if you will fit in a role I have for a local film. You’ve got a look I’ve never seen before.’”

So during his smoko break, Aaron memorised some lines and agreed to do a screen test. “The other builders were all there watching me,” he laughs. “They couldn’t believe it. I must have looked like such a fish out of water, but I got that role as a postapocalyptic cowboy.

“It was an amazing experience. Coming from a single-parent family in Whanganui, with only a black-and-white TV, acting was something you could dream about but was never really attainable.”