You can’t get a more classic Home And Away welcome than filming with veteran star Ray Meagher (the iconic Alf Stewart) on day one. You also can’t get more classic Kiwi humour than the prank New Zealand actor Jordi Webber pulled to break the ice.
“We rehearsed a scene where we were eating ice cream and I wanted to joke with Ray because he’s a funny guy,” tells Jordi, 29. “I was like, ‘Hey, bro, can you hold this real quick?’ I handed him my melting ice cream, walked away and left him standing there, going, ‘Hey!’ It helped create a good jokey relationship with the guy who is Home And Away.”
It’s that fun approach which helped Jordi settle right into Summer Bay, playing Tane’s cousin Kahu. Jordi is no stranger to our screens having starred in Head High, Power Rangers and as Jake in Shortland Street. And while he first rose to fame in NZ boy band Titanium, it’s only natural the Rotorua-born Māori star gravitated back to acting.
After meeting Tane’s cousin Kahu, Summer Bay’s cranky resident Alf has only one thing to say – “Ya flamin’ galah!”
As a child, he loved theatresports, Shakespeare and performing at home for his three siblings, and parents Jacque and Chris.
So after realising his height thwarted any NBA dreams, he auditioned for a high school production of Grease. Cast as Roger, the musical cemented Jordi’s showbiz dreams. “I loved the preparation and the community, then fell in love with performing.”
While kapa haka was popular in Rotorua, Webber says artistic opportunities were limited. “There wasn’t much outside of school, like musicals and clubs, and not many kids wanted to be actors. They’d do it at school but study something academic at university.”
Jordi credits fellow Rotorua stars Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis for showing acting could still be a viable career. However, he veered from those ambitions after winning a role in Titanium, a boy band formed by The Edge in 2012. Jordi loved performing and touring with the Come On Home singers, but his heart lay elsewhere. Leaving the band, he landed Power Rangers, then Shorty.
Our local soap’s speedy turnaround proved fantastic training for Home And Away, which unexpectedly came up while Jordi was travelling around Australia in a van after leaving Head High and splitting with ex-girlfriend Holli Hughes.
“She wanted to travel Europe and I wanted to travel Australia, but we’re still good friends. It prompted a change and stage I needed to go through. Time off was something I’d always wanted. In this job, you can’t sit around waiting for the phone to ring. The more you chase acting, the more it runs away, so I’ve learned to prioritise other things.
“Travelling and being by myself was one of thebest things I’ve done. Your perspective changes and it adds a different layer to your work.”
Fitting jobs into his travels, Jordi was thrilled to land Home And Away, having auditioned for the hit show previously.
“I didn’t have to audition this time because I was living the lifestyle. Kahu’s free-spirited, surfs and is everything I was while living out of a van last year, so they were like, ‘This is our guy!'”
Becoming besties with fellow Kiwi Ethan Browne (Tane), the two have loved bringing more Māori and New Zealand culture to the soap, something producers welcomed.
Busy Jordi’s also working on new music and appears in upcoming Australian series Prosper, opposite Rebecca Gibney and Richard Roxburgh. He’s also in the film Nomad, plus Netflix’s first interactive rom-com Choose Love – a “milestone” that showed him his potential as a leading man. But don’t expect Jordi to follow other Ferndale and Summer Bay expats to Tinseltown.
“I spent my younger years going over for auditions and learned I don’t want to chase this in Hollywood, but actors can be based anywhere now,” says Jordi, who’d love to work opposite Brad Pitt. “If you’re the right person for the job, they’ll bring you over.
“Right now, I’m surrounded by ocean, nature and closer to family, which is amazing for my wellbeing. But if Hollywood says, ‘We want you’, my answer would be, ‘Let’s go. You pay for the plane tickets!’
“But I’m actually looking forward to working towards getting my own place by 30,” adds Jordi, whose biggest challenge in showbiz has been not having a base. “Setting up
a house, then cruising to and from jobs would be great.”
Of course, personal travel will remain on the forefront, with Jordi describing globetrotting as “magical” for wellness, clearing his mind and “refilling the cup of life” between jobs. Friends and family also keep him grounded.
“My parents are super-proud but super-chilled. I’ve seen actors whose parents didn’t believe in acting as a career, but mine were like, ‘If you want to go to space, go. You want to play rugby? Cool. If you want to act, act. Just be a good human along the way.'”
Home And Away screens 5.30pm weeknights on TVNZ 2.
