Rhys Darby has a seriously wild imagination. We’re drinking coffee on Hollywood Boulevard and he’s telling me all about his forthcoming book, This Way to Spaceship. The book is an autobiographical romp through his 38 years, coupled with how-to guides for success before the world ends.
He also discusses how to secure an invite to one of the evacuation spaceships when – rumour has it – Armageddon demolishes the planet later this year. Sometimes it’s hard to tell when the wacky comedian, who’s made an international name out of playing it strictly for laughs, is joking. With a straight face, he explains there’s a remote chance the planet will explode on December 21, 2012 – and he’s intent on having his escape route planned well in advance.
“I started to realise after the crazy earthquakes and stuff that was happening in the world, maybe there was some truth in things coming to an end,” he reflects.
“It definitely felt like that after Christchurch collapsed, then Japan had a tsunami and it corresponded with the exact time that I was going to start writing a book. So I decided to put the two elements together – an autobiography and the end of the world – and let my imagination do the rest.”
So does he really believe the world is going to end in December? “I’m 50-50,” he admits. “I think a lot of it for me is the excitement – the idea that as explorers we don’t really know what’s going to happen next, and we shouldn’t just take life for granted. Do I really think something’s going to happen? Probably not – but the idea of it excites me.”
Rhys keeps his fascination with the end of the world contemporary by absorbing a ton of National Geographics and being an avid watcher of the History Channel. But apart from his concerns that it’s all going to end in a few months, Rhys reckons he’s nothing like people’s perception of your average comedian – surly, with a secret penchant for dark depression.
He’s happily married with two kids, is close to his mother and has always got on well with his dad, despite growing up without him around. Both his parents are keen supporters and turn up at his shows and watch his movies.
It’s boiling hot on this Californian spring day, but Rhys is managing to look cool and relaxed. Out of place in this heat is an orange fedora perched on top of his fuzzy mop of hair, which gives him an impish look. He bought it in London’s Portobello Market.
He loves hats and collects them. He’s got 20 and wears them constantly. He’s fascinated by the tourists milling around Hollywood Boulevard, and is clearly at home there now. But shifting his working base from New Zealand to the US was a major culture shock for the comedian.
“It was as if I had come from a small village where everyone knows your name to being dropped in a giant world that seems familiar because it’s all written in English, but it’s kind of askew,” Rhys remembers.
With the help of his wife Rosie – who has been his greatest supporter since the early days – Rhys’ success in the US means he has finally achieved international acclaim, but he recognises the pitfalls of fame, and insists arrogance is not in his nature. Success, after all, did not come overnight.
Before landing Flight of the Conchords with Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie in 2007, he spent years playing comedy clubs. “By the time I got somewhere I was in a very stable position, but I’ve always been very grounded.“
“There are touches of familiarity when you get over here, but it’s just the sheer vastness, the hugeness of this country, that you’re a tiny teardrop in an ocean of swirling humanity.”Having two kids, Theo (2) and Finn (6), also helps.
“It’s amazing for me. There’s a lot of hard work involved but I’ve got two boys so I’ve never had to grow up,” smiles Rhys. The star says he enjoys being a typical dad – one that is “constantly playing Lego and going on adventure rides with them”.
“It keeps the child in me ticking away. I’m looking after them exactly like any other parent – hardly getting any time to themselves, concentrating on their children, and when we finally put them to bed, I fall asleep in front of the TV.
“I want their childhood to be everything that I had wished for me. That means being close to them, playing with them and experiencing life with them, telling them how to joke. I’ve put a lot of effort into making sure I’m there for them.”
Doting parents Rhys and Rosie are determined to give Theo and Finn the best childhood possible. For them, that means keeping them away from the public eye. “Behind closed doors, it’s just us and the kids. We want them to grow up without anyone peeking through the metaphorical window.”
Rhys is fully appreciative of all his new life has brought, but still his heart is embedded 10,460km away.“I see New Zealand as a village and the most beautiful country in the world,” he says passionately.
“I miss its essence. It’s the fact that it’s only a few people. It’s the fact that there’s always two degrees of separation between everyone. That’s my true home. That’s where my friends are. I’ll never go a year where I don’t go home and enjoy the essence of being a Kiwi, which is unique to anywhere else in the Western world – and I’m very proud of it.”
His praise for New Zealand is despite his admission that he has been a victim of the “tall poppy syndrome” that afflicts so many successful Kiwis. “I hate it,” he states vehemently. “It’s where you’ve been successful in a small infrastructure of people, you’ve stuck your head out and gone ‘look at me’, and people say ‘No, we don’t want to look at you because all the rest of us haven’t succeeded.’ So they’ll start to bring you down.
It’s part jealousy. If you stay outside of the country, you’re championed for doing really well. As soon as you go back, you tend to get a bit of ‘Oh, what are you doing back here, I thought you were supposed to be so successful over there.’ It’s a sort of no win situation and you’re not allowed to boast because that’s where you get brought down.”
But this hasn’t stopped Rhys – who starred alongside his hero Jim Carrey in Yes Man – adoring his home country. He’s looking forward to taking Rosie and the kids home for the NZ International Comedy Festival this month, where he’ll perform the live show he’s written to go with his book. After that, he will embark on a UK tour in July.
He can also be seen in the UK panel show Mad Mad World, and a couple of projects are in the offing, but still in the “hush hush” stage. In the meantime, Rhys enjoys the one toy that his wife has allowed him to splurge on – a Sealegs (a boat with wheels) on which he enjoys fishing. “I’m very careful with my money. Rosie controls it,” he says with a smile. “She’s the brains, I’m the brawn!”
Rhys also admits he has an addiction to social networking site Twitter. He now has more than 80,000 followers. “Twitter is perfect for comedians,” he enthuses. “It gives us a platform to launch our daily – or even hourly – witty observations and comments about life as it happens before our eyes.”
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