Samoan-Māori star breaks through in new Netflix show, North of North

One Monday in March last year, comedian and actor Bailey Poching got a call from his agent - Netflix wanted him to audition for a new series.

By Wednesday, he had the role, and by Friday, he was on a plane to Vancouver, headed straight into production for Netflix’s new Canadian original series, North of North.

"I did the big Netflix audition over Zoom, in front of the showrunners and the director, on like a Mac stacked up on some books on a chair... it was such an insanely quick turnaround."

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North of North follows Siaja (Anna Lambe), a young Inuit woman who wants to build a new future for herself after a spontaneous - and extremely public - exit from her marriage, all while being under the watchful gaze of her small community, where everyone knows each other, and it's hard to keep secrets.

Poching plays Colin, a young Māori man who has travelled to the Arctic for love. He works at a community centre with Siaja and Millie (Zorga Qaunag), where he's a communications coordinator - and radio DJ.

"Colin and Millie are kind of like R2D2 and C3PO supporting characters that are in her corner, they're there to give her advice, they're kind of her place to turn to when she's at a loss for what to do.

"It's kind of a comedic relief character which is so much fun to play."

When Poching first heard about the project, his instinct was to audition for the role with a neutral American accent. While shopping at the supermarket, he got a call from his agent saying they'd like to hear from him again, but this time, in his natural accent.

"I did a couple of auditions in one day. I think they had an idea that they wanted Colin to potentially be Indigenous, and that's something they arrived at quite quickly.

"I got the impression they started zoning in on Aotearoa and Australia and realised there was something about Māori and Pasifika humour, and that kind of sensibility, that really worked with the show.

"They were looking at comedic performers and maybe my agent sent a clip of some standup to them. It was a matter of connecting some dots."

More Kiwis have been making their mark on Netflix lately - Jess Hong in 3 Body Problem, Roseanne Liang working behind the scenes on Avatar: The Last Airbender, and a wave of local talent in Sweet Tooth, shot largely in Auckland and Queenstown, with musician Marlon Williams in the mix.

Poching says the Kiwi Netflix scene is small enough to cross paths. On North of North, he shared the screen with fellow New Zealander Jay Ryan.

"He's from New Lynn, he's like a Westie OG, that was really nice to be out somewhere remote and have another Kiwi in my corner. I wish there was some kind of big Netflix group chat."

Poching says it was rewarding being part of a project created and led by Indigenous showmakers.

"When Indigenous communities come together, and I've found this at film festivals and other opportunities I've had to connect with Indigenous people, there's so much we actually have in common, whether it's our values or our relationship to the land.

"What we found in shooting the show is humour is really innate to the indigenous experience, and that it's a really effective way to deal with grief or move through difficult times."

In the series trailer, Poching recalls a moment where the humour just cuts through.

"Siaja asks for Colin's help, something really horrible has happened, she asks for a ride and Colin goes, 'You got $20 bucks?'. I improvised that line kind of assuming it wouldn't get used, then I found out they kept it. I was quite surprised.

"One of the showrunners mentioned that it's quite an Inuit joke or way of relating to someone, using humour like that. It was interesting they saw it as an Inuit joke, and I saw it as very our kind of way of doing things as well."

North of North is now playing on Netflix, and Poching is back in New Zealand ahead of his show in the NZ International Comedy Festival, On The Shoulders of Giants.