Summer Job: Will Hall (Mike McCarthy in Westside)

Actor Will Hall. Photo / Ted Baghurst

What was your summer job when you were at school/uni, and what did it entail?
I would constantly search Student Job Search boards for anything in the entertainment world, but it turned out acting jobs in Christchurch in the late 90s were few and far between. I was unwanted as either a life model (too fat) or as a mall Santa (too skinny). It was an early lesson in learning to accept rejection in this industry.

However, one year I did hit the jackpot. The Christchurch City Mission was looking for mascots for their annual Christmas fundraiser in malls across Canterbury, Light up the Tree. And I landed the gig as a Christmas Light Bulb.

Turned out being a bulb was a huge responsibility. Not huge in terms of the role, but huge in terms of physical weight I had to carry. The costume was a ridiculous fibreglass structure with a seat belt harness over the shoulders. I needed an army of people to lift the thing on.

Underneath the "light bulb" we wore black stockings and a long-sleeved skivvy, so we had black arms and legs to match our black eyes and mouth (hopefully I wasn't recognisable to uni mates). So even worse than the weight was the sweat. Turns out pantyhose + fibreglass = bad rash. Another fine lesson was learned about my industry: suffering for one's art.

How/why did you end up working there?
I was desperate to stretch myself as a performer. Also I'd tried my hand at the odd labouring job, digging trenches, painting houses etc and they'd never worked out well.

Being known as "Picasso" on a building site isn't a compliment - it just means you're taking too bloody long.

What did you like/not like about it?
I liked that it was for charity. And I also loved developing a character, tone of voice and back-story for my light bulb.

Did you have any embarrassing moments working there, and if so what happened?
Too many to list but one really stands out.

It turns out that every light bulb came with a minder (and for good reason)- someone to guide the performer (vision was very restricted) and also to shake the bucket to collect donations.

While I was performing at a crowded mall, my minder needed the loo. On most days this would have been fine, but the mall we were in that day was populated by a savage gang of teenage girls looking for trouble. They could see that I was a prone target in my stupid bulky costume, completely restricted in my movements, and came in for the kill.

First came the name calling, I could live with that, but then one of the more courageous of them tied my shoelaces together, and the rest pushed me to the ground. Due to my perfectly bulbous midriff I was easily rolled up and down the atrium of the mall, among gawking shoppers. Once my minder had finally returned from the toilet, via the car park for a smoke and KFC for a feed (I called him Picasso) - he found me being used as a pseudo soccer ball by the girls. It's all fun and games until someone loses a light bulb! The heavyset fibreglass stood up well to the beating and was still used for many more Christmases to come. I, however, was done.

What was your dream job at that age?
Being a light bulb isn't much different to playing a cop or a doctor on TV. So I guess you could say I was already living the dream. For me it's always been about developing meaningful, memorable, three-dimensional characters, whether they be detectives or Christmas decorations.