Original subtitles

Alison, Antonia. Yes, Brian.

You've got to be more careful on the way you deliver lines and the way you give

emphasis to certain words. Because yesterday, for example... Emphasis, you

I think it's pronounced emphasis.

You were saying, in that scene we were doing, you were saying, what's that on

the road?

Ahead? I know the one you made. The line actually was, what's that on the road

ahead?

This is Tammy Davis.

He's just got out of jail and we're giving him a start.

Trying to go on the straight and narrow, aren't you?

Trying.

Trying. How do you think I've been doing, Brian?

I think you're good, mate. I think you've got a lot of potential in this

business. So long as you go straight, you know, just follow that straight old

line, you'll be all right.

Straight and narrow.

There was a thing on the radio one morning about how the median income for

in New Zealand was $14 ,000.

And I just thought, how does anybody live on that and support a family? And

no wonder more people don't turn to crime.

So that was one thought.

And also on this other show that I'd done, there was a kind of white trash

family who I was really fond of.

And I thought it would be really fun to do them as a fun version of that.

So all the things kind of came together into what is Outrageous Fortune.

Cheryl West is the matriarch of this family.

Wolfgang West is the father. They're a family that's been involved in crime for

many, many generations.

not petty crime, burglaries and robberies. They don't deal in drugs,

do violence.

They have an old -school kind of code of morality.

During the first episode of the series, certain events take place that cause

Cheryl... to rethink her family's position in the West Auckland criminal

fraternity and to change the course of the whole family's lives.

And the series follows their attempt to either follow their mother's edict or to

hide what they're really doing from her mother.

Outrated Fortune is about a bunch of outlaws trying to make it in.

the straight world and discovering that actually the straight world is just as

corrupt and that in the end well my take on it is that in the end it's not about

crime and law it's about love you know and and that's the thing that holds

people together i think cheryl and wolf are one of those great love affairs one

of those great flawed love affairs you know they fell in love it seems the

moment they saw each other when they shagged on the freezer and her dad's

When she was 16 and they'd been together ever since. And her words, I think, in

the early episodes of it, you know, that sort of spark that you have in the

early part of a relationship goes away when you have kids, but it never did

them. Wolf is a

career criminal from West Auckland,

from a family of career criminals.

And he's a thief.

And a pretty good one.

And a family man.

That's what Wolf is. So he loves his wife and he loves his family and loves

kids. And has a very, very good life.

I think Wolf as a character knows what the ethics of his society are very

clearly.

And is kind of like a pillar of that society.

like abides by those ethics very strongly.

And they're just that you do the right thing by your own.

Their struggle is the struggle we all have as families to try and keep

How can you love someone and live with them at the same time when they drive

insane and they won't do what they're told and they're arguing?

That's what families are all about.

And the West, they do love each other.

But those relationships are tested, really tested throughout the series.

No, it's me saying it's not all giving dad an ultimatum like that. Listen, I

changed my life because of you. I turned my fucking life on its head because of

you. And here you are defending me? Hey, if your marriage is over, it's over,

okay? Boo -hoo, but we'll all get over it. We will.

Don't worry.

Just don't fall for this cop bullshit. It's not bullshit.

It's not bullshit.

It is bullshit.

It's Judd with his balls in his eyes trying anything that comes into his

head. It's not. And how do you know? I just... I just fucking know, alright?

What have you been doing? The characters of Jethro and Van, they're twins,

identical twins.

21 years old.

Jethro is... He's training to be a lawyer.

intelligent um sleeping with his teacher um so you know he's good with

women he's confident um doesn't wait word

uh or actions you know he's much more controlling about what he does he out of

the two he's the more book smart ferociously independent but also loyal

own way van

He's more direct.

He's not manipulative.

But they do love each other, even though Jethro's like, man, you're an idiot.

But he's not dumb. He works in a different way. He's emotionally

Did I miss the bit where somebody says, does anybody object to this couple?

Yeah.

Answer your question, boy.

Oh, yeah.

We just thought it would skip that part of the film. They didn't pop the

spontaneous, and that sort of lands them in a lot of shit.

What do you find he has to try and get out of more often than not on his own or

with the help of Munter, his mate?

Fuck you.

Fuck all of you. I don't need this shit in my life.

I play Theodore Ted West, also known as Grandpa.

And he's Wolf's father, Cheryl's.

Father -in -law.

And everybody else's grandfather.

And he's an ex -crim. He has a dead wife.

And he's come to live with the family because he's accidentally burnt his own

unit down. For a packet of smokes, she rooted him then and there on top of the

freezer.

Rita never bought peas from them again.

She's got a lovely, lovely relationship with Grandpa.

They're... They're a real dynamic duo and they've got a real deep love and

caring for each other. She really understands him, but more importantly,

she feels that he really understands her because quite often she feels like

she's in a loony bin and she's the only sane one in her family. And he is a real

sounding board for her and he gives her hope that she's not sort of alone in

this world and there are.

There are people that he can talk to. They're on to one another. They're quite

bad people.

And to some degree, he's able to manipulate Loretta in order to

do what he wants. One of the things I loved about Rita

was the way she never let a chance go by.

Hiya.

Hang on, let me start again.

Hello, I'm Siobhan and I'm playing Pascal on Outrageous Fortune.

She's not a generic blonde bimbo type.

And the role of Pascal could easily have been a bit of a thankless role.

Siobhan has graced her with such warmth.

You're getting married?

I'm so happy!

She just says stuff that I'd never say, like... Because I hate conflict and I

hate arguing and I hate, like, if I'm nervous or whatever, I just laugh. Or if

I'm angry, I just laugh. And Pascal doesn't. She just, if she has an emotion

if she thinks some way about something, she just says it. I can't put him in a

fuck -off.

Keep going.

Go. Keep going.

Pascal had to be shameless and brave.

And that's a big ask for a young actress.

What I responded to in the material, I think, is I just had never seen anything

quite like this before. I mean, I've done quite a lot of work in comedy.

I've done quite a lot of work in drama. But I don't think I'd worked on anything

that brought those two things together in the way that these scripts do.

And also, characters.

They were great characters. I could see them on the page.

And when you can see it on the page like that, then you know it's going to be

fun to do.

The three things that you need.

You need funny scripts. I know it sounds really obvious, but the scripts have to

be funny. Then you need to cast actors who know how to be funny.

Because I've worked with really fine actors who didn't know how to be funny.

It's just a thing that some actors have and some actors don't. And the third

thing, I think, is you need directors.

who are aware of the comedy potential and the comedic potential of the actors.

And you had the line, what is this thing called love?

And it came out, what is this thing called love?

That is embarrassing.

Well, you know, a couple of them look a bit gay to me. They must be, you know.

Who is this guy?

You and my brain.

You and my brain.

I'll be right back.

this program, the Brian Sargent show.

I think it's a good move.