For Lukas Whiting, returning to Shortland Street after almost a decade away meant reuniting with family. At the heart of stepping back into his role as Dr Finn Warner was spending time with Ferndale legend Michael Galvin, who plays his on-screen dad Chris.
“He loves new faces, but he also loves it when people come back,” grins Lukas, 33.
“You can see the joy in his eyes.”
Just 23 when he first joined the hit soap, the Sydney-born actor says reprising his role as Finn felt remarkably natural.
“It was just like riding a bike, being with people that I’d worked with in the past, like Michael and Ngahuia [Piripi, Shorty’s Esther Samuels], and being able to bounce off them like those 10 years were nothing.”
Lukas reveals reuniting with Michael, 59, was a big factor in deciding to return to the long-running Kiwi soap.
“I called him Daddio the first few times I saw him back home,” he laughs.
“I said to him, ‘You’re half the reason I came back. If you weren’t here, I probably wouldn’t have made the move.’”
A family reunion
During his original stint on Shorty, Lukas also formed a tight friendship with the actors who played his on-screen triplets – Luke Patrick, who starred as Frank, and Lucy Lovegrove, who was Sass – and the three have stayed close.
“We got on like a house on fire, so yeah, we speak a lot,” he tells Woman’s Day.
“We’ve helped each other with audition tapes and all that fun stuff.”
Asked if his fellow triplets are also making a comeback, Lukas can’t confirm or deny. All he’ll say is, “You’ll have to stay tuned on that one. This season is called Reunion for a reason, so take that as you will, but you’ll see some familiar faces.”
For Lukas, returning to Shorty has also been an opportunity to reflect on just how much both he and Finn have changed since they first arrived in Ferndale. Then, Finn was an ambitious young guy whose ego got the better of him.
“He left his relationship with Esther in quite a bad place and the stuff with Dad was not in a good spot either. Since then, he’s had time away and matured massively as a surgeon but also as a person.”
A new chapter
The same can be said for Lukas, who first joined the show as a young actor under pressure to prove himself. After a decade of work and life experience, he’s back with a different attitude.
“I definitely felt a lot more mature coming back into the role and much more calm.”
While acting has been “hot and cold” since he left Shorty, Lukas has built up some impressive credits, including the acclaimed Aussie comedy Frayed and the Disney adventure series Nautilus.
“I was pumped to get a couple of episodes on Nautilus, playing quite a similar role to Finn but in 1800s England. It was lots of fun to play around with that role and do some stuff on a bigger scale.”
Lukas has taken a day job in the tech industry, giving him stability while he explores other creative outlets, like directing.
“I directed an episode of a friend’s web series a couple of months ago, which was great fun. I really enjoy being able to bring together the technical worlds and the actors’ world.”
Settled in love
And though Finn once seemed to be following in his father’s philandering footsteps and was dubbed Ferndale’s “Dr Love 2.0”, these days, Lukas is happily settled in Oz with his partner Casey, 31.
“She’s the best,” he says.
“I’m a very lucky guy. She’s stunning and a great partner.”
Casey works in government education and is a welcome contrast to his acting life.
“She’s very settling and calming, something I probably needed in my life.”
Casey accompanied Lukas to New Zealand for filming, so he could introduce her to the places and people that shaped him. They rode scooters around Waiheke Island, attended his cousin’s wedding in Akaroa and visited his real dad’s South Island hometown of Waimea, where Lukas still has family.
Back to his roots
They also took on an important mission – finding Auckland’s best pie.
Lukas smiles, “I’m a firm believer that New Zealand has the superior meat pie to Australia. We don’t do the funky flavours you guys do well. I had fish pies, I had
a hāngī pie… You put some weird stuff in there and I love it!”
Lukas says the trip back to Aotearoa gave him a chance to reconnect with a part of his life he’d left behind.
“It was a fun ride being back, reigniting relationships and friendships, and making some new friends.”
Shortland Street screens 7pm Monday to Wednesday on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
