Photography: Emily Chalk.
Having had a string of hits here in Aotearoa and then landing big roles in the US, Beulah Koale appeared to have it all – but the actor was hiding a heartbreaking secret.
When the Kiwi-Samoan star should’ve been enjoying his newfound fame on the hit series Hawaii Five-0, instead, he was struggling with overseeing his parents’ divorce and the closure from what had become a tumultuous relationship with his father since 2013.
“Dad went to work one day and didn’t come home,” Beulah, 34, candidly reveals.
“Imagine my hero and a role model my whole life – the person who I wanted to make proud – then that’s all destroyed in one day. He broke my heart and he broke my mum’s heart. “While on the outside, I was succeeding, on the inside, what happened to my family was pulling me down. I know what heartbreak looks, smells and feels like.”
Forced to grow up fast
Beulah – who played troubled teen Jared Afeaki on Shortland Street – was 22 when his father left the family’s South Auckland home and as the eldest of six, he had to step up and be the man of the house.
It impacted him and big brother James the most.
“Further down the line, there’s less scar tissue,” he says.
“My youngest brother was at primary school, probably my son’s age now – he was nine or 10.”
Making it in Hollywood
The heartbreaking situation was all unfolding when Beulah auditioned for Hollywood film Thank You For Your Service. Channelling his anger, his belligerent demeanour won him a part, with the movie’s writer convincing director Steven Spielberg to cast “this unknown actor from New Zealand” opposite Miles Teller and
Amy Schumer.
He went on to play cop Junior Reigns on Hawaii Five-0 between 2017 to 2020 – which saw him, his wife Georgia, 31, and their now-nine-year-old twins, Isaac and Xavier, based in the Aloha State – but he knew his four brothers and his sister back home were really struggling.
Desperate to support their new chapter, Beulah helped his parents with their divorce and paid the legal fees.
Learning to let go
Yet he says it’s only within the past year, with Georgia’s help, that he’s really been able to “let go” of the devastation from the loss of a father figure.
“Georgia helped me see I had to forgive my father for the sake of my kids, so he didn’t own my heart any more,” explains Beulah.
“He used to run rampant in my mind and it was just darkness. Last year, I realised I wasn’t being a great dad – my heart was just filled with tar. “I wish him all the best, but we’re not friends. The consequence of his actions – and things that were said – means he doesn’t get to have a relationship with his grandchildren.”
Georgia continues, “I don’t think Beulah knew it was spilling into his life. He used to bottle up all those emotions and then some days it would just come out. “When it happened again last year, his family and I talked with him, and since that day, he’s much happier. He needed to forgive his father to be the best version of himself.”
Finding love in family
The pair met in 2012, when Georgia was 18 and Beulah was 21. While they enjoyed living in the US, they moved home to Auckland’s North Shore as the twins neared five as they were keen for the kids to have a Kiwi upbringing and education.
They’ve since welcomed Mason, four, and live near Georgia’s family, a dynamic Beulah adores.
He says, “Polynesians don’t talk about love. It’s not in our culture to say, ‘I love you.’ We show it through action – cooking and working hard. But Georgia’s family says it. I tell them, ‘I came into your life so you can show me what love looks like’. “On Father’s Day, I told her dad I loved him. I hugged him and said, ‘I’m so grateful for you, Dad’. He’s Māori and a bit staunch. If I could be a little bit like him, I’d be a good guy because he’s the greatest father I could ever ask for. Her mum is the same – she’s beautiful.”
Breaking the cycle
Sharing aroha by talking is a trait he’s proud to have instilled in his siblings.
Beulah says, “We’re a Polynesian family that talks to each other about our feelings! I know that’s down to me. We needed to learn to have a conversation and not get angry. I’d always been defiant, refusing to say that I was wrong, even if I was. “Now I’m a different person. I’m a lot calmer. I have my moments, I need space and time, and I need to drop my ego, so I’m always checking that. My wife, my siblings and I are all very tight. I know people envy our connection, but it was built through fire.”
That united front has seen the older siblings help sell the family home and contribute to a larger house for them all.
Building a better future
Beulah tells, “We used to stare up at the horse paddock near us and say, ‘Imagine what those people are like,’ because it’s just beautiful property – and now we’ve bought a massive mansion right next to that paddock! “My mother and my brothers live together in this five-bedroom house with five bathrooms. It was tough saying goodbye to where we grew up, but we needed to move on. I’m so proud of the people my siblings are now. Our purpose is our next generation.”
His mum, Beulah says, is doing amazingly well and still works.
“She won’t say she’s proud of us. It’s not something Samoans say – she’ll just smile. But seeing her happy is all that matters to me.”
Choosing joy
Beulah confesses finding forgiveness has helped make 2026 one of his best years yet. It started with a role as a mountain-bike enthusiast on the Queenstown-based TVNZ series A Remarkable Place To Die, before he appeared on another local TV show, Settling, and the play A View From The Bridge, directed by his Tinā co-star Anapela Polataivao. Next up, Beulah heads to Samoa for a film.
“On 1 January, I told myself, ‘I’m going to pick God, my wife and my kids’, and my year has been amazing. It’s all about time with my kids and my wife, making memories. “Where I put my joy is to be a good father, a good husband and where my heart is happy. There’s been some dark days too. I’ve been to a couple of funerals with my bros, with their kids sitting crying. The only people who are going to care when I’m gone are my wife and kids.”
Making love visible
Finding quality time with Georgia can be hard, but Beulah says, “I remind my wife every day that I love her more than my kids. I always tell my sons that too. I never grew up seeing a picture of a man who just loved a woman so much. “I have to show my kids how to treat a woman and what love looks like – and that I can love them too.”
A Remarkable Place To Die screens 7.30pm Sundays on TVNZ 1 and streams on TVNZ+.
