Regarding Henry

The hustler: Victor Rodger was surprised to win the role of unscrupulous dentist Henry Mapasua.

The smarmy guy pulling teeth on Shortland Street this week may a new face, but he is far from being the new kid on the block.

Victor Rodger, who joins the cast as crooked dentist Henry Mapasua in Tuesday's episode, has been writing the soap and naming its characters for the past 10 years.

A call to step in front of the camera again came when he was in America enjoying Thanksgiving turkey. He has been back for the feast every year since doing a stint as a Pacific writer in residence at the University of Hawaii as part of a Fulbright Scholarship four years ago.

While he had been thinking about returning to acting for some time - "to see whether I sucked, or was alright" - Rodger says Shortland Street's request for him to play a role came as a surprise.

"I guess they just thought I was right for it. Plus I was playing Robbie's mate, and they know that we are mates and work together. Although it's a long time since we worked together."

He's talking about Robbie Magasiva, who plays Dr Maxwell Avia. The pair met in the late 90s when Rodger attended one of Magasiva's plays and was so impressed he approached him at the end to ask him to perform in a play he had written. It was called Sons - it's currently being taught in schools - and was based on Rodger's experience of being raised by an English mother in Christchurch then travelling to Australia to meet his Samoan father and estranged brothers and sisters. Rodger went on to win four Chapman Tripp Theatre awards and Magasiva was named best newcomer.

Rodger later wrote My Name is Gary Cooper with Magasiva in mind for the main role: "He had to get pretty Greek on it and go to some pretty dark places," he says. Metro magazine named Magasiva best actor for his performance. Since then Rodger has written characters for future plays based on his assumption Magasiva will play them.

Maxwell has always been Rodger's favourite Shortland Street character to script, along with long-standing receptionist Yvonne Jeffries (Alison Quigan).

"I like writing for Yvonne very much, she sort of reminds me of my mum. There was a storyline between her and a boy she called her son, the daughters didn't know about him, and there were was a falling out between Mia and him. It was very reminiscent of Sons. My siblings didn't know I existed," he says, adding that his life is probably more topsy turvy than a soap opera.

"What I've learned is that life will always leave fiction for dead. If I had put [all of my life into a play] no one would have believed me. I just remember when I was going through it thinking - this is more Young and the Restless than Young and the Restless."

The arcs of Rodger's restless career paint him as an assiduous man who loves telling stories. He started out as a general news reporter and then entertainment writer for the Christchurch Star before moving to London, deciding he wanted to be an actor and returning to Toi Whakaari drama school in Wellington. It was then he tried a bit of scriptwriting, which has won him awards, residencies and consumed his time since.

Right now, on top of his new acting gig, he is working on two plays as well as writing one Shortland Street script every three weeks.

Rodger says being back in front of the camera has renewed his respect for the crew, some of whom have worked on the soap since day one, as well as his fellow cast members who manage to keep up with the show's very fast-paced filming.

He hasn't had to learn lines since he made an appearance on Mercy Peak in 2001 as the guy who knocked up a young Emily Barclay's character Hayley.

"Learning lines is pretty hard, as I learned the other day when I forgot them all. It was the most horrific day I have had so far, I kept flubbing. I just imploded and turned on myself. The scene after it only had about two lines but couldn't get those out either. I just think it's the nature of the beast - off days and on days. You just have to jump back on the horse."

Speaking of horses, the week he spoke to TimeOut, Rodger was recovering from being trampled by one, all in the name of his new job: "Apparently you are not supposed to put your foot behind a hoof. It was sore," he says.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Rodger's character Henry dabbles in horses - and not their teeth - so he has spent quite a bit of time shooting around stables.

Although Rodger admits he has had to hustle the odd ride to work because he doesn't have a car, he says Henry is a long way from who he is as a person.

"He's a hustler. There is a particular mate I have who I base him on - he's sort of a hustler, not a criminal one but he's all 'angles, angles, how can I make the best of this situation, what should I say to this person?'

"Henry's very much about saying the right thing to get what he wants."

So far Rodger has written one script involving Henry, but it was promptly changed by the other writers.

He says he is not sure whether it is advantageous to have been behind the scenes for so long or not - being in front of the camera is so different.

"I think even if I had written my own dialogue I might have struggled [in front of the camera] to start with. Just because of the whole culture, the speed, you've really got to hit the ground running. It's so fast, so damn fast."

Lowdown

Who: Victor Rodger plays Henry Mapasua, the new dentist on Shortland St
When: Tuesday, 7pm Where: TV2