Aspiring New Zealand actors no longer need to travel to the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York to study method acting, as actor and producer Harry Oram has launched The Apex Academy of Performing Arts with his New York mentor, Mauricio Bustamante.

Also a writer and director, Harry, a fifth generation Kiwi comes from a line of Matthew Henry Orams; his great-grandfather Sir Matthew (Henry) Oram MBE serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1950-1957.

Born in Hong Kong to his English Kiwi father, also named Harry, and to his Filipino Spanish mother Elizabeth Monteseña, Harry has been returning to the Mount all his life.

'My parents were always: ‘don't ever be a performer, they make no money and get taken advantage of', and so I promised them I'd get a degree,” says Harry, who completed an ancient history degree at the University of Edinburgh.

Despite always been supportive of his artistic development, his parents had been hesitant of him pursuing an artistic career. Both his grandfathers were musicians in their own right, and his aunt was a Prima Ballerina for the London Royal Ballet. Harry began as a dancer and martial artist, later becoming a choral scholar when he attended Downside School. Together with the monks of Downside Abbey, he and the choir released two classical albums, both which made number 1 in the UK Classical charts.

Harry Oram. Photo: John Borren.

Studying in Edinburgh, he found himself surrounded by their fringe festival and before long got into acting professionally.

'Being mixed race, I've always been interested in stories about mixed race, cultural identity, what it means to identify with things, and what home means, because I've always struggled to identify where home was.

'I moved to London to pursue my career. I hadn't studied acting yet and was looking at different styles and schools. An actress Mariana Hill was teaching method acting which is more about empathy and making a connection with people. That really resonated with me. She became my mentor and eventually suggested that I move to New York.”

Harry studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute for two-and-a-half years and started doing a lot of off-Broadway shows.

'There I found a community of people who had the same aspirations and beliefs. A lot of people I met there have become good friends for life.”

Harry Oram. Photo: John Borren.

A life highlight was acting in ‘Shakespeare in the Park' at New York's Central Park.

'We did ‘As You Like It' and ‘Much Ado About Nothing'. One day I was playing Hercules in another show and looking out at this sea of people in front of me, all quiet. I remember thinking: ‘this is acting, this is what it's all about'. I was just fully committed from then on.”

Acting and life took him to LA, then on to movies in Asia and China acting in movies like ‘Dragonblade' (2015), ‘Lady Bloodfight' (2016) and ‘Time Raiders' (2016). He went on tour with a world-leading immersive theatre company, Secret Theatre, ending up back in London.

'I then decided to refocus on my acting career in the film industry, and felt I should have been in London or America.”

COVID struck and his parents back in New Zealand asked him what he was going to do.

'I couldn't just sit in a London apartment, we didn't know how long the pandemic was going to last, how bad it would be. My sisters were over in New Zealand at the time, so my parents said why not fly over, when it clears you can go back.”

He loves New Zealand and had always wanted to live here.

'But I thought I'd not get the chance until my 50s. When Covid hit, I thought the universe must be telling me I have to be here.”

On arriving, people told him he had to live in Auckland or Wellington to have a career.

'I said: ‘why?'. I love it here in Tauranga. Then I heard about Film Bay of Plenty and all this investment into film in New Zealand. I thought: why can't Tauranga be like how Miami is, or LA is to America, where you have this beautiful place to live which has sun all the time. It would be perfect for a studio, it would be perfect for filmmakers that want to live the life and do the work.”

Committed to helping develop film culture here, he doesn't want to move anywhere else. He had been a teacher at IAFT in Hong Kong and founded an acting studio and theatre company, Third Culture Theatricals, there. He also founded and directed the Hong Kong Third Culture Film Festivals and was a patron of Shakespeare in the Park, HK.

Living at the Mount, he's now turning his experience and expertise to establishing The Apex Academy of Performing Arts, an acting school teaching method acting, film acting, writing, Shakespeare, and combat workshops.

'I want to help provide opportunities for careers for the immense talent here. I used to run my own international film festival in Hong Kong and I can see one flourishing here.

'I'm very fortunate because Mauricio Bustamante agreed to be patron of my school, our syllabus comes in collaboration with him.

'I can see Tauranga having a film studio and TV shows. And I can see the creative community here just flourish. That's my goal and I want to be a part of helping anyone do that.”

Harry Oram. Photo: John Borren.