Campbell Cooley Update

[august]

For those who follow the careers of the Xena and Hercules supporting cast...Campbell Cooley was the Scythian bad guy in "In Sickness and In Hell" who had the rare pleasure of being interrogated by Gabrielle while her mouth was numb. "Tawk..tawk - tel uth whut u no..."

He's been seen in many other Xena and Herc episodes, which are detailed here.

In recent years, he's moved into movies (like "Vertical Limit") commercials (a recent one for Ford Motors in Australia) and other NZ televison appearances (shows such as "Mercy Peak," and "Spin Doctors") and most recently, two different roles in a light hearted comedy called "Secret Agent Men." I gather it's the sort of series that might run on Disney here, or ABC Family.

Here he plays a middle eastern delegate to the UN, who's trying to corner the world's dairy market:



and here he plays a Russian delegate whose translation device gets hacked, causing the American delegate to think he's being insulted. Hijinks ensue.

[august]

Cam Cooley, the versatile actor who gave us such memorable lines as "Wasn't Ares Xena's greatest enemy?" just finished shooting a scene with Sir Anthony Hopkins in the NZ-filmed "The World's Fastest Indian," which the IMDB describes as "...the life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle -- a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in the 1970s."

He just has a small part, and only about three lines w/ Sir Anthony, but still..... He describes "Tony" as a really nice guy.

[Nittany Lioness]

If I'm not mistaken the line was: "...most reviled enemy?"

In my mind I always hear: "...most revered enemy" anyway.

Sooo coool that Cooooley is acting again and with such a big wig!

Last I had heard, he was managing full time his agency to book work for other actors, his health not being well at all. He had said it was going well/busy, but I'm still glad to see he's still acting when he can.

Great opportunities must come about a bit more often in a literal movie making island where the population of hungry actors is a bit less and a bit less vicious than LA. Not that CC couldn't get a gig with "Tony" on his own merit, mind you.

[august]

Sooo coool that Cooooley is acting again and with such a big wig!

Speaking of which, he did this scene au natural - sans toupee, sans beard, sans ponytail, etc.

I think he still auditions for stuff regularly, but doesn't want to waste his time with walk-on roles. Like back when "Fellowship" was filming, and I was amazed that he had not gone after a role in it. But then when it came out, I realized that even fairly big (big for NZ) stars like Csokas and Craig Parker had one line each in it, so CC would have been relegated to "third elven courtier from the left" or something. Then when they were doing re-shoots" for "Return of the King," he actually was up for a bit part - a Gondor guy, I assume, 'cause the orcs were all stunt men and cgi effects - he sort of wrestled with whether it was worth it or not, but decided that being in LotR in some capacity was worth it. But he ended up not getting it.

I know he auditioned for "Without a Paddle" - but same thing, when Danielle Cormack gets, what, 10 seconds of screen time, then would it have been worth it?

And let's think .... other things he auditioned for were that Martha Moxely "Murder in Greenwich" film, the tv bio about Lucille Ball... and I think he auditioned for "King Kong" too.

I think the thing with NZ is that if you are willing to diversify, then you can work all the time. Like Meighan Desmond, who's done behind the scenes stuff, and Michael Hurst, who jumps around from directing to acting to stage work to emceeing (I gather he hosted their version of "American Idol," as well as the Auckland Millenium festivities) and even does voices for "Power Rangers." And Alison Wall, who also voice overs and costuming.

[august]

Speaking of Power Rangers! Campbell is going to do the voice for a guest villain. Details to follow! (Not sure if it's Dino Thunder or Ninja Storm.... are both being shot currently?)

[august]

Apparently every year or two, those mighty morphin' Power Rangers morph into a new series! The newest is called "Power Rangers: Space Patrol Delta." Here is the evil Tomars, who zaps them to some other dimension via a Interdimentional Hyper Speed Relocator.



Note: Cam only did the voice - that's some stunt man in the suit.

But, here he is with Sir Anthony:



Next up: after only eight years in NZ, he's landed a big guest-starring role on Shortland Street. It's a prime-time soap opera, running 5 nights a week, I think, on NZ's TV One, and going strong since 1992. Not sure how many episodes his character will appear in yet....

[august]

Update for any NZ residents among us: Cam has been filming for the past month, and his story arc begins in the Sept. 15th episode!

[august]

Tonight....on "Shortland Street" ...the mysterious twin revealed........

Go here, then look on the far left, for a "Watch the latest Shorty video" link. Click on it, and see the commercial for tonight's episode (well, Sept. 15th, so already tonight in NZ) featuring Cam's first appearance!

[august]

Thursday September 15

Home from honeymoon, Chris is alarmed to receive messages about his sister from a Swiss Clinic nurse. Chris is flabbergasted to learn from the Swiss Clinic that Amanda has been abducted. When Amanda's nurse, Liam, finally calls in person, Chris is apprehensive but agrees to meet. At their rendezvous, Liam tells Chris Amanda is in Ferndale and he wants to take Chris to her, but only if Chris is willing to open his mind to the possibility that Amanda is not the profoundly retarded person Chris has been led to believe. Chris is thrown, but will he believe Liam, or call the police?

Cam plays Liam, the nurse!

The latest promo has a bit of Cam getting slammed up against a wall by somebody. Same link as above. You can also see Renato Bartolomei (Beowulf) with his head almost shaved. This one should be up through the end of Sunday evening.

[streetnurse]

Hi Guys i'm from NZ, there is a bit of mystery to Liam on Shortland street...we are trying to work that one out.

but come to www.streetalk.co.nz
its an website for shortland street fans....read the recaps on the shows.

Originally Posted by august

Cam plays Liam, the nurse!

The latest promo has a bit of Cam getting slammed up against a wall by somebody. Same link as above. You can also see Renato Bartolomei (Beowulf) with his head almost shaved. This one should be up through the end of Sunday evening.

[streetnurse]

Cam plays a nurse/caregiver (Liam) to disbaled sister(Amanda) of one f the main characters of the show- Chris Warner. Chris is the plastics surgon HOD his twin is amanda, Liam kidddnaped Amanda from Switzerland to new zealand. what is happening at the mo, Chris Warner is trying to find out why Liam got fired from the clinic at switzerland. what has he done to his sister. Liam think Amanda he can get amanda to talk. anyway more on www.streetalk.co.nz

[august]

"streetnurse," eh? Glad to have you here! Visit often!

(note: that link above needs two "t"s in it: http://www.streettalk.co.nz/ )

[august]

(Campbell Cooley on the R, seen from the back)

The Warner household is thrown into turmoil this week when a strange foreigner arrives in Ferndale with revelations of a shocking Warner family secret....

Many viewers will recall there have been mentions of Chris' twin sister Amanda (Marissa Stott) before... At birth, doctors pronounced her so severely disabled she would require a life of full-time care. Amanda was rushed to a home for intellectually handicapped at less than two weeks old, where she was raised until Chris' brother Guy Warner (Craig Parker) discovered her existence. At that time, Sir Bruce Warner decided to take up an overseas clinic's offer to provide care for Amanda....

But now American nurse Liam Todd (Campbell Cooley) has arrived in Ferndale with Amanda, effectively having kidnapped her from the institute. The story Liam tells suggests Amanda might not actually be the vegetable the doctors have made her out to be. But who is this odd foreigner, what does he want from Chris and just what is his relationship with Amanda? With his family at stake, Chris is bound to be on the defensive.....

Liam is certain Amanda understands the world around her and does his best to convince Chris of the same. He professes to be dedicated to his ward but Chris is suspicious of just where that dedication ends and something else begins. People have done things to get their hands on Warner money before; could this be the most bizarre attempt yet?

"Chris is pretty hostile toward this stranger; who wouldn't be? Someone turns up having kidnapped your sister and saying he knows something the best doctors in the world don't? That's very odd. But, if there is a slim chance Liam is right. If the doctors have been wrong then Chris will hold himself responsible."

[august]

....Chris discovers nurse Liam Todd's (Campbell Cooley) relationship with his disabled sister ...is more than just professional.

"Everyone, regardless of their background, wants to love and be loved. Liam's sole purpose is to help facilitate Amanda's recovery...any way he can. He would lay down his life for her, despite having no assurance Amanda will ever care for him the way he does for her," Cooley reasons.

When Amanda suddenly appeared back in Chris' life courtesy of a kidnapping effort by Liam, Chris didn't want to have anything to do with the odd American at all. The complete stranger removed Amanda from the only home she had known in her life (an institute in Switzerland) and brought her half-way around the world with outrageous hopes of her recovering from disabilities the best doctor's in the world had pronounced untreatable.

"Liam is frustrated by Chris and Toni's initial rejection," explains Cooley. "By rejecting his claims that he can help Amanda, Liam sees her chances of getting the treatment she needs to recover diminishing. Convincing Chris and Toni of his findings is Liam's last desperate chance to get Amanda the help she needs."

...Chris' wife ... is increasingly alarmed at the close relationship Liam seems to have with Amanda and the kind of attention he pays her. Why would an attractive, intelligent, 30 year old leave his life and travel across the globe to devout his life to the care of a patient that will never even be able to say his name?

"Having been her caregiver for a considerable amount of time, they have formed a unique bond together that is quite symbiotic. He acts as Amanda's voice while she has helped Liam find his soul," says Cooley.

.....

Discover Liam's secret and Chris' decision this week on Shortland Street.

Read the rest at http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/497100/617813

Awesome quotes from Cam on his character!

[august]

Campbell has been involved in a couple of awesome short films recently, one of which marks his directorial debut!

Earlier this year, howver, he played a wizard in an adorable little film (about 7 minutes) called "Phairytale."



It was an entry into the 48 Hour Film Festival, in which production companies have only...you guessed it...48 hours to shoot their whole film! Special effects (as above) included! I gather the festival people keep certain rules, parameters, stipulations, etc. secret until the last minute....

At any rate, this one was a finalist, and won "audience favorite" in the preliminaries. It's now online here (and is totally legal to view, because the producers want people to see it! )

And then Campbell wrote/produced/directed his own short film, "The Hit." It's 4-5 minutes, and it begins in a sort of Pulp Fiction-y fashion with young man tasked with a "job" by his boss that has him scared senseless. But things aren't always as they seem. It's not online yet, but Campbell just recently won Best Emerging Director for this at the Ohakune Film Festival. Details and links to follow as the become available!

[august]

Here was Campbell as Skullington, this past April in the "Petrified Xander" episode of "Power Rangers: Mystic Force" :



He's actually inside the layers and layers of latex there! Go here for more images.

[august]

Click here for a closeup of the "wizard."

Note: Gamers and roleplayers will love this one!

And some images from "The Hit" :