He's graced our screens, big and small, and trod the boards on stages up and down the country. On Sunday, Mark Hadlow will give back to the theatre company which offered him his first professional acting gig 39 years ago.
Hadlow will host a one-off show, Mark Hadlow Unleashed, at Christchurch's Court Theatre. It's a fundraiser for the theatre company, which in 2025 will relocate to a new purpose-built facility currently under construction in the city centre.
"It's going to be amazing," exclaimed Hadlow on a tour of the site. "It's going to be a home for professional actors for the next 100 years."
Hadlow was currently appearing at the Court Theatre in Mr & Mrs MacBeth of Heathcote Valley Road.
He arrived for his Seven Sharp interview at Christchurch's gondola attraction dressed in his Macbeth costume, much to the bemusement of tourists and to the delight of gondola staff, who quickly secured selfies with the well-known actor.
Hadlow said Sunday's one-off fundraising show was his way of giving back to a theatre company which played a key part in his professional life for four decades.
"It's going to be facts and fallacies and lies and laughs and all manner of anecdotes from the last 40 years of Court Theatre," Hadlow enthused.
"My daughter is coming down. She's going to spill the beans on what it's like being a daughter to someone who's always away."
Hadlow would be joined on stage by fellow thespians and admitted it had the potential to become "a bit of a roasting".
With such a vast personal history with the company, there were sure to be many stories shared with and about the mercurial actor.
The Court's Associate Artistic Director, Tim Bain, had one such tale of the time Hadlow "skipped" 32 pages of lines while performing his one-man stage show MAMIL (Middle Aged Man in Lycra).
"So, I picked up the script, walked out, in front of a packed house and effectively swore at Mark and said, 'I have the script, these are the lines, and you're going to do it how you're meant to do it', and walked off," recalled Bain.
Hadlow said it took 10 minutes to bring that night's audience under control.
Hadlow earned a new legion of fans worldwide when he was cast as the hobbit, Dori, in Peter Jackson's trilogy, having previously been cast by Jackson in Meet the Feebles.
Hadlow described Jackson as "very funny, very fast, very witty and with a very dry sense of humour, and I love that".
"I'm just very fortunate that I've been able to work for Peter on several projects, and they've been fun."
Hadlow revealed the name Jackson gave the hobbits — "little bastards" — and that he has a t-shirt featuring the "endearment".
The actor's latest and favourite film outing was the arthouse thriller Blue Moon.
"It was shot entirely on an iPhone in Motueka, in a petrol station," he said. "It was fantastic, the film is amazing."
Hadlow's enthusiasm for his craft has not dimmed over time, though he worries about future opportunities for up-and-coming actors.
While performing in Christchurch, Hadlow is being billeted by friends, as he often is throughout the country.
"They are a huge supporter of the arts in their own way," he explained. "My thanks to all the people who've come to the fore and put colleagues up — without them, I don't know what I'd do. Well, actually, I couldn't do it."
His ability to entertain audiences for 40 years was a testament to his talent and tenacity.
"Every single time I count my lucky stars I've been able to do it."
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