Shortening the long vowels

New Zealand comic Rhys Darby is currently in Australia touring his live show, having recently made his Hollywood debut as Norman in Jim Carrey’s Yes Man and next appearing in English comedy The Boat That Rocked. In an interview with Perth Now, Darby says doing comedy has allowed him to keep his accent on the big screen. “I feel like I have sort of paved the way, and these producers have done a milestone thing by getting the accent in these big films,” he says. “It hasn’t really been done before and it gets our voice out there. We New Zealanders are all over the globe and I think it is important that we can be voiced in a film. “The Americans and the Brits as well, kind of love the novelty factor of us being way down the other side of the world. The best part of it is that they have been laughing at us for years and now we have sort of come through and said, ‘Yeah, you can laugh at us, but now look what we’ve created. Now who’s laughing?’ They have a new respect for us because we have created such a great comedy.” Darby performs live in Perth at The Regal Theatre, Subiaco on March 10.