Kiwi Game of Thrones star Joe Naufahu back on NZ screens in new rugby drama Head High

You might assume Joe Naufahu would be sick of playing rugby players.

He was a gay footballer on the show Go Girls, and portrayed All Blacks legends Mils Muliaina and Frank Bunce in the TV dramas The Kick and Jonah.

Now he’s set to take on his fourth rugby role in the new local drama series Head High, which follows two brothers who end up on rival teams at competing schools. Naufahu plays their father, a professional rugby league player coming to terms with the fact he’s coming to the end of his career.

“Talk about typecast, eh?” the soft-spoken star says with a laugh.

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“But I don’t mind at all. As long as the role’s got a bit of juice in it and something for me to play around with, I’m happy.”

He’s uniquely qualified to take on such roles. Naufahu, who had been a schoolboy rugby star, was 25 and playing for the Glasgow Warriors when a knee injury cut his career short.

“As a young rugby player, I was very tunnel visioned – my plans for my future involved playing rugby and travelling around the world. My social circles were all based around the guys I played with.

“So when it gets taken away from you, it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

“But what I found out was that rugby was a way that I was expressing myself creatively and when that was taken away from me, that was the thing I needed – that creative expression. That was what acting offered.”

He got his first taste of showbiz through older brother Rene, who played ambulance driver Sam Eleni on Shortland Street. At the age of 15, he landed a small part as Eleni’s younger brother.

“I really enjoyed it but it was never going to be the way forward for me because my mum wouldn’t let me take time off school and rugby for it.”

He found his way back to acting in 2005, when he was cast in the drama series The Market, set in South Auckland’s Ōtara market.

“It was what gave me a bit of hope in a dark place after I got injured.”

Parts on the shows Power Rangers RPM and Spartacus came later, as well as his role as Eli Fa’asalele on Go Girls.

But his big break came when he was cast as Dothraki warrior Khal Moro in the sixth season of the HBO smash hit Game of Thrones, which saw him filming in London, Belfast and Spain.

“Shooting in those locations and spending time travelling during that period, I had so much fun. I met so many cool people – I got to go to the Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi and made friends with a sheikh in Dubai.”

The role also meant he got to star in scenes with Emilia Clarke.

“That was the one thing all my mates were saying before I left, ‘aw bro, tell us what it’s like to work with her’. She treated everyone really nicely, she wasn’t a prima-donna or anything. That’s what I remember most about her, she was really humble and down to earth.”

Despite rubbing shoulders with sheikhs and superstars, Naufahu hasn’t been tempted to pursue a full-time career in Hollywood.

“I did a movie in Malaysia a couple of years ago and I was away for four months,” he says, referring to Enemy Within in which he played Hawaiian war hero Ben Kanahele.

“That was a nightmare – I hated it.”

It was too hard being away from his kids, Eva, 13, and Freddy, 11. But he also realised New Zealand is where he feels most at home.

“I used to go and do auditions in the States and they’d say, ‘you’ve got to be a bit more cocky’. I’m like most New Zealand guys – I’m a humble guy, I love that about us. I love that we’re quietly confident in ourselves. I think we’ve got all the reasons to be super proud of where we come from.”

Basing himself in Auckland also means he can focus on his other passion – his gym, Ludus Magnus, which he opened in 2010.

“Ludus has been therapy for me, in that I get to improve my quality of life by improving other people’s quality of life,” he says.

“When I got injured, that was probably one of the worst periods of my life because the rug was pulled out from underneath me.

“I was lucky enough to have amazing family around me that picked me up by the scruff of my neck and said, ‘there’s a life beyond this for you, you’ve just got to ride this time out, because the pain that you’re going through is going to be your greatest teacher’. I got that tattooed on my arm – this pain will be useful to you one day. It’s a hard place to get to, it takes a lot of work on yourself.”

Taking on all those rugby roles could serve as a painful reminder of what could have been, but Naufahu doesn’t see it like that. In fact, he enjoys being able to put his background to good use.

“When there’s things in the script that involve playing rugby or rugby jargon, I can actually help out with the technical stuff. It’s quite handy.”

In some ways, it’s the best of both worlds.

“The great thing about acting is you can keep doing it till you’re old and grey, which I’m heading towards.

“Rugby’s got a very limited lifespan – but with acting your role just changes, you go from being the sports jock to the uncle then the dad, then maybe the granddad or the godfather. We’ll see what happens.”

Head High premieres at 8.30pm Sunday June 28 on Three.