Brian Sergent (born 29 December 1959) is a comedian, writer and actor born and based in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Background

Sergent's acting career began at age 15 playing Lionel in the soap opera, '' Close to Home''. In television Sergent is known for playing Eric Grady on '' Outrageous Fortune'', the New Zealand Prime Minister on ''

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's c ...

'', and Harold in '' The Lost Children''. One of his most popular characters, cabin steward Gavin Soper, appeared on the '' Pulp Comedy'' television series. Sergent has a strong association with

Circa Theatre Circa Theatre is a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that was established in 1976. They present a number of plays each year in their two auditoriums, and have a unique partnership and funding model with incoming shows unde ...

. He performed in ''

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theat ...

'' (1982), '' Travels with My Aunt'' (1997) and ''

Take a Chance on Me "Take a Chance on Me" is a song by Swedish recording group ABBA, released on 27 January 1978 in the United Kingdom, by Polar Music, as the second single from their fifth studio album, '' ABBA: The Album'' (1977). Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Fr ...

'' (2001). Sergent's film credits include Peter Jackson's ''

Meet the Feebles ''Meet the Feebles'' (also known as ''Frogs of War'' in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand adult puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen ...

'', ''

Braindead ''BrainDead'' is an American political satire science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King. The series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Laurel Healy, a documentary film-maker who takes a job working for h ...

'' and '' Lord of the Rings'', ''Absent Without Leave'', ''Via Satellite'', the lead role as Marty in ''The Shirt'' and Jonah in '' Eagle vs. Shark''. Radio listeners are quite familiar with Sergent's reading of short stories, novels and radio plays on

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

where he is still actively involved. Sergent has won multiple Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for acting and writing. In 1992 he won Male Actor of the Year for his performances as Lenny in ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 and published in 1965 by Harold Pinter. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award ...

'' at the Circa Theatre and Alfredo Traps in ''A Dangerous Game'' at the BATS Theatre. In 1994, he won Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance of Gary Peter Lefkowitz in '' I Hate Hamlet'' at the Circa. In 2004, Prior to the opening of his first play, the New Zealand Listener described Sergent as ''New Zealand's greatest comic actor'' He won the award for Outstanding New Playwright of the Year for his play ''The Love of Humankind''. In 2008 Radio New Zealand broadcast for the first of many times, Sergent's first radio play, ''Madness You Can Trust.'' After taking a break from the show for nearly three years, Sergent returned to ''Outrageous Fortune'' as Eric in the second to last episode of the fifth season. Sergent has been a stand-up Comedian and sketch writer since his debut in 1979.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sergent, Brian 1959 births Living people Male actors from Wellington City New Zealand male television actors New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male comedians New Zealand male stage actors New Zealand male voice actors New Zealand male soap opera actors Writers from Wellington City 20th-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors 20th-century New Zealand comedians 21st-century New Zealand comedians New Zealand stand-up comedians New Zealand sketch comedians