Playing a real person ‘easier’

Press, 10 August 1985, Page 17

Playing a real person ‘easier’

The fact that Joe Hanan existed makes life easier for Philip Holder, who plays the role in “Hanlon.” “I was given the back-

ground on the man by the writer Ken Catran and read of his achievements. He was the youngest mayor in New Zealand at 28 and later

went into Parliament to become Minister of Education just before World War I. He was one of the first people to have a telephone in Invercargill,” adds Holder. His passion was to ensure that every New Zealander had a free education and. according to Holder, Hanan worked very hard toward that end. He and Hanlon met a few years before the Minnie Dean case and it was Hanan who approached Hanlon to take the case. They had a completely different education, Hanan gaining a law degree at Otago University and Hanlon gaining his legal education through the clerk system. ’ “Hanan was an ambitious man and tried at one stage to persuade Hanlon to join him in Parliament. Hanan was also a deeply religious man; his intentions seem to have been honourable and he seems to have been a fairly kindly man.” Their friendship was close and they saw each other whenever possible, but that was not often as time passed, as Hanan was in Wellington and Hanlon in Dunedin. Joe Hanan’s son, Ralph, also entered politics and became Minister of Justice, and his grandson is also a lawyer. Holder met the family when the cast were filming in Dunedin. “You can never portray someone the way they were, no one can capture that. All one can do is capture the

Philip Holder as Joe Hanan, main essentials of the personality. “The thing that’s different is their reasons for doing things; their logic. If you can capture that then you can capture the individual,” says Holder. The role was challenging in another way for Holder. During the series he ages 20 years. “I have done that on stage, but never done it on television before and that's quite a challenge.” Holder has had a successful career in theatre, television and films since he became a professional actor in 1976. Born in Northern Ireland, he came with his family as a youngster to live on the West Coast, eventually moving to Christchurch. He studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Canterbury when he became involved in drama production. He later became involved in the Court Theatre then turned professional. “Hollon” screens on One tomorrow at 8.30 p.m.