Rhys Darby has ‘not an ounce of scaredness’ about son’s band dreams
NZ actor Rhys Darby and his musician son Finn interview each other. VIDEO CREDIT: David White/Stuff
Rhys Darby is proudly listing career moments - but they’re not his own.
He’s recalling watching his son Finn’s band, Great Big Cow, “absolutely rock” iconic LA venue Troubadour to sold-out crowds.
As a parent, “you worry about a bit of nepotism,” he admits.
“Are we just ‘yay, our boys!’ when really they’re dreadful?”
But, he says, the band’s indie folk rock is “brilliant”, and keeps getting better. And, he insists, people are paying attention.
“We’re shocked as parents a little bit,” he jokes.
The band, Rhys and I are nestled between a Street Fighter arcade game and a pinball machine, in a dark corner of Auckland’s Whammy Bar. The US-based teen band has been sound-checking for their first international show.
Rhys has donned weathered jeans and a plaid jacket - approved by Finn. His son is wearing Dad’s socks for the night. While Rhys talks, Finn pulls faces and shares quiet in-jokes with his band mates. There are plenty of laughs.
Finn, Paolo Pesce, Will Angarola and Wyatt Nash originally played together in a school jazz combo, and went on to form Great Big Cow in 2022.
Rhys Darby, left, watches his son Finn’s band dreams without “an ounce of scaredness”. DAVID WHITE/STUFF
Now, Rhys insists, they have a growing fanbase. Some of whom “[do] that thing where you dance really closely … Moshing”. He points to my notebook.
“Put down there that I did know what moshing is.”
Sure, Rhys Darby - one of New Zealand’s most well-known comedy exports - helped the band get bums on seats and lock in bigger venues, but they were also recently featured on LA public radio station KCRW’s Young Creators Project, can be found on Spotify and their mainstay is house parties.
“I think because I'm a bigger deal [in NZ], it might have been a little different. In LA, no-one really gives a shit about who I am,” he laughs, looking over at Finn who’s patiently had his hand raised while Dad spoke.
There are people and groups in LA that have helped the band too, says Finn, and he’s not sure those opportunities would have happened back in NZ.
“I would have got you on bFM for sure,” Rhys quips back.
He looks on at Finn’s creative path with, “not an ounce of scaredness”.
“Obviously as a child I had many different dreams, but at the base of everything was art and performance,” he says, describing his younger self as a “dreamer” who wanted to entertain.
Rhys Darby with son Finn before Great Big Cow played Auckland’s Whammy Bar. DAVID WHITE/STUFF
“When it comes to [my kids], I see different ambitions, but they have the artistic talent - I’m completely open to whatever they want to do. I’ll always be there for them.”
Where New Zealand has a bit of a reputation for tall poppy syndrome and an air of negativity, LA is hugely positive, says Rhys - especially for fostering young talent.
And it was in LA, at a house party, that Finn recalls being caught up in the “electric energy” of playing live.
“The whole audience was moving. And I think two people got lifted up above the crowd and surfed around above the crowd,” he says.
Finn’s not the only Darby putting in some work while in Aotearoa. Following Rhys’s joint 50th celebration with wife Rosie, he’ll be returning to the local stage, performing his Rhys Darby 25 Years stand-up show at Waiheke Island’s Wild Estate on April 3.
It encompasses the best bits from his previous shows, but performing it at Waiheke is “just another excuse to put on a show, really”, and to show his US mates another part of Auckland.
Rhys Darby, following a stint in the army and then university, kicked off his career with stand-up, before becoming a household name with an impressive TV and film CV, including Flight of the Conchords, Yes Man, The Boat that Rocked and Our Flag Means Death.
As for whether he still loves stand-up, “love is a strong word”, he laughs.
“I still enjoy it. But it's it's less of a thrill than it used to be.”
What he’s really loving is throwing himself into acting, and challenging himself with more dramatic roles - different to the very physical, crazy “shenanigans on stage”, requiring more focus for the comedian and “not just being a silly bugger”.
Plus, he’s 50 now.
“It’s much easier to do the stuff where I'm just sitting down,” he laughs.
Still, there’s no denying he’s been part of a movement that threw New Zealand comedy into the wider world, and he speaks proudly about his own work, but also that of other Kiwis such as filmmaker Taika Waititi and actor Rose Matafeo.
It’s a type of comedy, he says, that “has a signature” and can’t be copied.
Rhys Darby and son Finn at Auckland’s Whammy Bar. DAVID WHITE/STUFF
“I think it’s that positivity thing, which is ironic coming from a place with tall poppy syndrome. We don’t like each other but you guys love us, eh?”
It’s one of the reasons Darby is still living in LA, “still waving the flag [and] not changing my accent”.
And while Darby’s big break may have been the role of band manager Murray, when it comes to Great Big Cow he and Rosie “don’t want to be helicopter parents too much”.
“We're there when they have a question.”
And while Rhys says he can’t talk about any of his own projects, Finn interrupts with a quiet word about vague plans for a comedy musical theatre show featuring Rhys and the band.
Looking back at his own career, the highlight was breaking into the US market - name-dropping X Files and Our Flag Means Death as highlights.
“What's next? It's all peaks and troughs,” he says - mentioning Hollywood is turning to AI, but “thankfully, there's no one that can do a better robot impression than me”.
Still, the changing industry is worrying.
“People are losing their jobs, and AI is having a lot to do with it,” he says - dropping the quips and gags for a moment.
“After the strikes, I know, it's taken a while to get the industry back on its feet, but I'm hoping that it will get there,” he says.
“But it is worrying. It's really worrying the moment.”
Source: Stuff NZ
