Kiwi star James Rolleston is determined to get back to where he was before his life threatening car accident. In a documentary, Wait for me Hollywood, that airs on Sunday, he shares his journey back to recovery so far.
The Boy and Pork Pie actor was headed directly for Hollywood, but the car accident that not only left him with a brain injury and fracture to his leg, also put a stand still to his acting career.
However, Rolleston is on the road to recovery. He has just finished his speech therapy and is still remaining in occupational therapy, to ensure he is guided back into an independent lifestyle.
Rolleston told the Weekend Herald that he thought his acting career was over.
“When I thought I wouldn’t be able to act again it was very hard for me. Acting is all I know really. I’ve been doing it since I was 10 years old,” he said.
“My focus was only on [acting], I didn’t have anything else to fall back on. There was no plan B.”
The star was determined to continue on with his acting career and spent his time following the crash relearning to walk and talk.
Rolleston faced a tough struggle with his memory following the accident, however he says the one thing he didn’t forget was learning the lines in scripts.
“That was the one thing that I didn’t lose. I’d forget appointments; I’d forget a lot of things … but [not] learning lines and scripts,” he said.
Rolleston wants his documentary to display a strong message.
“I wanted to do this doco because I thought this was an opportunity to speak out to youth and the public about road safety, about the risks of dangerous driving,” James said.
Wait for me Hollywood is to screen on Sunday on TVNZ 1 tomorrow night.
