Comedian Rhys Darby reveals his true colours
From playing Flight Of the Conchords manager Murray Hewitt, to playing tennis with Roger Federer in the latest Nike ad, Rhys Darby is New Zealand’s hottest export. In Auckland between filming, Rhys talks to Good about plastic, polar bears and coming home to build his dream eco-pad
Here and in the UK, people are so much more aware of environmental issues. Then you land in America and think, why am I bothering?
When Rosie and I lived in New York last year, ev ery time you go to the shop they double bag your groceries. You say, “We don’t want a bag” and they will argue with you. “You have to have a bag, you have to have bag.” They used to think we were crazy for bringing our own.
When I worked on the first series of the Conchords, we purposely got a place that was close to the studio and I bought a pushbike so I could bike to the studio. A couple of times I got lost and had to be picked up by taxis, but eventually I found my way.
As a family, we walk every day. If the distances are too long, we take public transport. We tube in London, and over here we get the family to come and visit us. By the time we get here, we need to bring down our carbon footprint.
When you have a child, so much more plastic comes into your life. So many new products that you’ve never seen before. We went from two of us with two bags, to three of us and eight bags. I used to think, “Why have we got six suitcases for the little guy?”
Instead of taking a huge bag of toys with us when we travel, we get toys from the place we’re at, from opportunity shops. Old, trashy junk Finn loves. Then when we leave, we take it all back.
We’ve always used eco products with the baby—baby wash, shampoo, things like that. The thing is when you’ve got a baby you go, “This baby is a blank canvas” and you don’t want to fill it full of chemicals if you don’t have to. When you live in big cities like New York and London, you become aware that there is so much pollution—if you can do anything to minimise that, you do.
When I hear horror stories that polar bears are beginning to eat each other because the food’s not there, or hear that migratory patterns of birds are changing … that’s the sort of shit that scares me. That’s the animals telling us that things are majorly out of control and it’s up to us to do something about it.
Rosie and I are both Kiwis and we want Finn to grow up in a safe, beautiful country. We want him to be able to go outside and play and build huts in the bush and run down the beach and go surfing like I did.
The dream we have is for our next home to be an eco-friendly one in Titirangi. I’d like to have solar panels, a worm farm, compost bins and all that stuff. I don’t think that will be too long away. I find that things happen a lot quicker than you think.
Rhys Darby Live: Imagine That is released by Warner EMI at the end of October
