The stunning shores of Oahu, Hawai’i, are the kind of workplace most people can just dream about. Tourists flock for the spectacular sunsets, Hollywood productions film along golden, sandy stretches and couples get hitched with the magical backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. NCIS: Hawai’i star Alex Tarrant has a different perspective. When he gazes across the sun-kissed surf, the postcard-worthy scenes don’t represent holiday vibes, but instead, they’re about food, necessity and the fight to survive as the son in a low-income family-of-six.
After all, 7170km across that same ocean, a young Tarrant would regularly be found diving into Raglan waves to source dinner. “Raglan has an abundance of seafood, so if we were low on food, we’d just go to the beach,” the 31-year-old Kiwi tells Sunday. “It’s funny being in Hawai’i because I’m not used to going to the beach for sunbathing or surfing. I relate the beach to gathering. There’s something special about that because I know where to find stuff.”
These days, Tarrant need not worry about hunting for his family. He and actress wife, Luci Hare, and their 4-year-old son, Beau, are well-catered for by his work on the series, which searched the globe for the perfect actor to portray Hawai’ian NCIS agent Kai Holman. Tarrant was both thrilled and cautious when accepting the role. “It’s bittersweet, because it should’ve gone to a Hawai’ian actor and the moment I got there, I felt an overwhelming sense of, ‘I shouldn’t be here’,” he admits.
“What I’ve since realised is that Hawai’i’s still growing their industry, so if I’m a place-filler, I’ll gladly take that spot. But the moment someone comes along who’s ready to take a role, I’ll step aside.” Tarrant is both Māori, from his father Reginald “Hardy” Keepa, and Samoan/Niuean from his mother, and he knows that representation is important, because it was seeing Samoan/Tuvalese-Kiwi Beulah Koale on Hawaii Five-0 that made him realise his showbiz dreams were “possible”, he says. He hopes other Māori and Pasifika actors will feel the same way when seeing him on NCIS: Hawai’i.
Why he has a ‘deeper understanding of trauma’. Tarrant wasn’t engaged with his cultures when growing up, and the former Shortland Street star admits that he felt he had to choose one over the other. “It made me sit on the fence about what to represent. And my parents were taught to conform [to Kiwi culture], so I didn’t learn either language. But as I grow older, I can fill those gaps.” He’s now learning te reo alongside his son Beau.
His parents struggled to make ends meet while they were raising Tarrant, his older brother Levi and younger sisters Sunny and Simone. His father Reginald, a labourer, was constantly attempting to get a business off the ground, but that was hindered by a botched surgery, which saw him lose some mobility at 18. While Tarrant remains deeply inspired by his father’s drive, and despite his dad’s best efforts, finances were stretched for the family.
There was the time Tarrant was woken at 3am to accompany Reginald and Levi to a neighbouring golf course full of sheep. A recent car repair had consumed food funds, and after two weeks of catching seafood, they craved something different. “We hadn’t had meat in a long time, so my dad and brother jumped the fence…” he says as our Zoom cuts out, right on a cliffhanger, but you can guess how the story ends. Tarrant now views his youth as a blessing. “The way I tell the story now feels different to how I used to tell the story of my upbringing,” he reflects. “I used to relate it to being traumatic, and now I see it as a gift because my biggest asset in acting is having the experience to draw on emotions, which I owe to my upbringing, and a deeper understanding of trauma.”
The rollercoaster that is an acting career. Part of Tarrant’s early strife was school, where he didn’t find the right circle of friends and loved PE, but struggled with English (he was later diagnosed with dyslexia). So, he left his high school in Morrinsville, where the family moved when he was 8, to go to Hamilton’s Fraser High School, where drama class and portraying Zeke in High School Musical introduced him to life-changing pals.
Feeling like he could be as arty and alternative as he wished, Tarrant thrived, however he was so terrified about his stage debut that he actually contemplated smashing his hand on a metal bar so he could excuse himself. But… “It’s crazy because the moment I was on-stage, I felt the freest I’d ever felt.” Recognising Tarrant’s talent, his English teacher Karyn Porton not only encouraged him into theatre and dance, but also took him into her home after witnessing the difficult commute he faced from Morrinsville to Hamilton. Adjusting to her curfews and boundaries wasn’t easy, but today he warmly refers to her as “mum”.
It was Porton who escorted him to a dance showcase, which led to him signing with an agent and winning his first audition – for Shortland Street. But two days before filming, he was hospitalised with a cyst. The role was recast and Tarrant meanwhile took part in the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival and landed a coveted spot on a trip to London’s Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. He was truly mind-blown during the workshops and performances, and it was then that he finally contemplated acting as a career.
After attending Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, he went on to portray a Māori soldier in When We Go to War, working alongside Temuera Morrison in Tatau and starring in 800 Words and Filthy Rich. By then, Tarrant was making a mark with those he worked with: Filthy Rich co-star Emily Robins recalls his kindness and professionalism. “He really helped me feel comfortable, especially during intimate scenes that required partial nudity. I always felt safe with him,” she says. “The industry’s lucky to have Alex as an excellent role model for young actors.” But despite earning such respect and admiration, a four-month spell of failed auditions made Tarrant think the industry was done with him, so he decided to pursue his interest in psychology. He had just welcomed son Beau and was about to begin studying when he landed The Other Side of Heaven 2, and then Shortland Street.
