Photography: Andi Crown Photography.
Kiwi actor Dominic Ona-Ariki had two major reasons to celebrate when he landed a role in hit Hollywood comedy Spa Weekend. Not only was he about to work alongside Leslie Mann, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau, but it gave Annie, his partner of eight years, fresh material for one of her favourite jokes.
“I always get matched up as the husband, lover or boyfriend,” laughs Dominic, 36, who plays Michelle’s onscreen husband.
“Annie gives me heaps. She’s like, ‘Here we go. Who’s your new work crush?’”
Fortunately, Annie Sainsbury-Canham, 33, understands it’s all part of the job. A former florist who now works in interiors, she’s supported Dominic through the highs and lows of his career.
She even makes him watch his performances when he would rather hide.
“She tells me, ‘You’re not going to learn if you don’t see what you’re doing!’”
Dreaming big
Dominic was filming The Family Next Door in Melbourne when he found out about Spa Weekend. He got a call from his agent while sitting in a makeshift green room opposite Aussie star Teresa Palmer.
Nabbing his first role in a major US production, he had to stifle a scream since cameras were rolling.
“I whispered to Teresa excitedly, ‘Holy shit. I’m working in Australia and I’ve just booked my first American project. This is amazing!’”
It was a pinch-me moment for the Cook Islands actor, whose career began more than two decades ago in an after-school drama class in South Auckland. Dominic credits his dad Kevin Hartley for guiding him in the right direction. Kevin decided his extroverted son needed somewhere more constructive to perform than the classroom.
“I was a bit of a clown at school and Dad noticed that. He enrolled me in after-school classes at Nathan Homestead in Manurewa.”
Spotted for stardom
The drama teacher spotted his talent and put him forward for an audition for the 2002 film The Legend Of Johnny Lingo. While Dominic’s part was tiny, it convinced his parents their son might need an agent.
“They were like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe we get you an agent.’ We went through the White Pages and found one.”
The jobs followed quickly. Dominic landed commercials, then booked his first TV show, PET Detectives, at 14.
“I took it for granted because I was just getting work,” he admits.
“I didn’t even think it was work. I was like, ‘Man, people pay you to do this stuff. This is cool.’”
A dream worth chasing
His mum Mii-Metua Ona religiously taped his earliest appearances on VHS, then insisted a teenage Dominic take the tapes to Australia to show his aunties and uncles.
“It was so cringe,” he laughs.
“But she was super-proud. She still is!”
In his early twenties, Dominic completed a Bachelor of Business just in case acting didn’t work out, then found himself working in a call centre. He says those years made him realise how badly he wanted it.
“That’s when I truly started dreaming of being an actor. Even now, I pinch myself. Once upon a time, I dreamt of doing this and honestly wasn’t sure if it would happen.”
His former Shortland Street co-star and best mate Scotty Cotter convinced him to give acting another crack, and he has since become a familiar face on our screens, with roles in One Lane Bridge, Secrets At Red Rocks and Crackhead.
He enjoyed working on new Whakaata Māori drama series This Is Home, but if he had to pick a favourite role, it would be Kiwi comedy Double Parked, starring Madeleine Sami, Antonia Prebble and Kura Forrester.
“I learnt so much just by watching those three. They taught me to stay loose, be playful and not be so serious.”
Love on the horizon
Something he is serious about, however, is his relationship with Annie. He describes it as a slow burn that began on Tinder. The pair matched two years before she finally replied to one of his Instagram stories with the words, “You’re funny.”
Dominic says, “I remember thinking, ‘Yes! She knows I’m alive.’”
They arranged to meet at Auckland’s night markets, but a nervous Annie cancelled. Hours later, when Dominic was “a bit half-cut” and almost home in an Uber, she messaged to ask if he was still in town.
“I was like, ‘Yep!’ Turn the Uber back around,’” he grins.
“We caught up for a drink and the rest is history.”
The pair recently moved to Sydney to explore new work opportunities. Dominic hopes Spa Weekend, which was filmed on the Gold Coast, will open more doors, but his idea of success isn’t Hollywood fame. It’s getting to travel overseas with Annie.
“To me, that says I made it. Getting to do what I love with the people I love, that’s success.”
Spa Weekend is in cinemas now.
This Is Home screens 8.30pm Wednesdays on Whakaata Māori and streams on Māori+.
