Love Actually‘s Thomas Brodie-Sangster stars, with Harry Potter‘s David Thewlis as Fagin.

It’s easy to understand why Latailakepa was “freaking out a little bit” when he scored the role of Aputi, a rather comical standover man linked to Fagin’s notorious gang.

“They’re all lovely to work with. They eased my nerves a bit when I was on set. But yeah, I was stoked. I was happy as,” the 27-year-old says.

Latailakepa is zooming in from his hometown of Wellington, inside the Circa Theatre, a place where he’s getting back to his stage roots in a new collaborative comedy show, D’Things N Such.

“It’s funny because every time [his collaborators] have tried to put the show on, I was supposed to have been in it, but then Dodger takes me away. There’s like a little gag within the show where they talk about how ‘I’ve changed, and I’ve just gone to be some sort of big celebrity’ kind of thing. But it’s nice to be back in the theatre.”

Admittedly, Dodger is a pretty good reason for the delay, especially because Latailakepa still gets the opportunity to stretch his comedy muscles and authenticity on screen – both of which are very apparent even through a Zoom camera.

“For me, it feels like a slapstick, very physical kind of comedy,” he says of the TV role. Though he jokes that perhaps at times his Kiwi accent made him a little “too mumbly”.

Besides noticing his accent, Latailakepa says many of the cast were shocked to learn that his time filming season one was also his first time travelling to Australia.

“A dream of mine has always been to travel for work. I’ve always wanted to just stay [living] here in Wellington, and hopefully the work allows me to travel, which it has,” he says.

“But who knows if I’ll be saying that a bit later on down the line.”

Perhaps, in a way, being a first-time visitor made his Dodger character development even more realistic; many of the characters in the show, convicts and migrants from the UK, had never been to Australia before either.

But Latailakepa says getting into the world of Charles Dickens wasn’t necessarily a walk in the park right away. While he recalls English teachers talking about the famed author, he says he still had to “learn quickly and on the fly” to navigate the script and language.

“I’d say it eventually did come naturally”.

Like many young actors, Latailakepa always hoped he would be in front of the cameras on big Hollywood sets. Seeing fellow performers, like his friend and fellow Pasifika Wellingtonian Chris Alosio, succeed overseas, showed him the value of taking that first step.

The fellow Toi Whakaari graduate has starred in hit Australian drama series North Shore and The Messenger, and the 2022 horror film Talk To Me.

“A humble Tongan/Samoan kid from Timberlea with a huge heart and the smarts to boot, that’s my lil brother man,” is how Alosio describes Latailakepa.

“I met Alby when we were just kids playing in the church carpark, we also were both very proud students of St Patricks College, Silverstream.

“We came up in similar spaces, so there was always that shared grounding. What I admired most was how proudly he carried where he’s from. Even early on, he was never trying to be anything other than himself, and that authenticity has stayed with him no matter how big the stages have become.”

Alosio says the overseas success of Latailakepa and other Pasifika actors shows how far things have shifted, and how far they still can go.

“What’s special is that they’re not leaving their identity behind to do it. They’re taking their culture, values, and stories with them, and that visibility means everything for the next generation coming up. It’s especially meaningful seeing Alby’s rise because we were once just kids in the church carpark with big dreams, and now we’re living those dreams out together and experiencing the highs and lows – having each other to lean on through the wild ride, means the world to me,” he says.

“When I stepped into this industry, there was nobody from where we’re from in Wellington really doing this, and nobody I grew up with to ask for advice. So to be that for Alby and other boys pursuing this craft from our neck of the woods, gives me another reason to keep going too.”

Latailakepacontinues to seek out stage and screen projects here and across the ditch. Besides his Dodger role, audiences can also see him in homegrown shows Wellington Paranormal and Warren’s Vortex.

And what does he attribute to helping him go the distance? He says it was listening to his heart and instincts.

“If you think that you’ve got a knack for it, then by all means you should go for it.”

All episodes of The Artful Dodger: Season 2 will stream on Disney+ from February 10.

Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.