Actor Jordi Webber (right) left for Australia when his Constable Cruz Kingi character was killed off midway through the second season of Head High.
Two years later, the 28-year-old actor has landed leading parts in a number of upcoming films and is currently filming the television drama Prosper, which stars Richard Roxburgh (Rake), Rebecca Gibney (Under the Vines), and Rebecca Roxburgh as a couple who owns their own evangelical megachurch.
Additionally, he makes his Home And Away debut this month as Kahu Parata, Tane Parata’s cousin (Ethan Browne), in a part that, according to Webber, was essentially written just for him.
I was living in a camper and traversing the Australian east coast at the time (the producers) wanted Kahu to be very free, ultra surfy, and Mori, Webber explains.
“I was the ideal candidate in terms of energy and personality. That is how I got there.
Rotorua-native Webber originally rose to stardom in 2012 as a member of the boy band Titanium.
After the group’s 2013 song Coming On Home became the country’s number one hit in New Zealand, he made the decision to remain in the country and pursue acting.
Before gaining local fans with an unforgettable run on Shortland Street as Jake, the prisoner who managed to seduce nurse Dawn Karim (Rebekah Randell) while tied to a hospital bed, he featured in more than 40 episodes of Power Rangers Ninja Steel. The Dead Lands offered me a role as Rangi.
Webber assimilated easily into the Parata household.
“I actually knew Ethan already. I met Ethan when catching up with the fellas in Oz since I am really good friends with Rob Kipa-Williams and Kawakawa Fox-Reo, who played Tane’s brother Ari and nephew Nikau, respectively.
We got along, but I didn’t really know him. Then, as we were filming, he and I grew close, which is really wonderful.
After just a few days in Summer Bay, Kahu begins working out with Tane there. He soon wins over Felicity (Jacqui Purvis), who was initially wary of him, and she ends up inviting him to remain in Nikau’s old room.
Kawa stayed with me for a few days when he returned from Europe, and Webber finds it amusing that while I used his room on the show, Kawa actually used my bed.
He claims that playing Kahu was simple.
“It seemed as though they had written me into the part and were simply waiting for me to show up and fill it.
“I simply had to amp up the charm and cheek.
Like other individuals from my hometown, I have a large number of cousins, including Kahu. It was quite simple to sort of harness that, and I definitely added a little of my own free, playful spirit.
The characters that Webber will play in the upcoming films Nomad and Choose Love presented further difficulties.
He co-stars in the former film with Lee Woodall (White Lotus) and Sana’a Shaik from the Class of ’07 as the villain.
Choose Love is Netflix’s first foray into the interactive romantic comedy genre, and he calls it his biggest role to date.
Later this year, it will give viewers the option to choose the path that the key characters, including Webber’s, take throughout the love tale by making choices that might lead to a range of different stories and endings.
He explains, “The interactive aspect is really fun,” but adds that it presented some particular difficulties for the ensemble.
Everyone found it difficult to process all the available possibilities.
Despite this, the actor is thrilled to be able to explore various worlds and is overjoyed to be chosen for main roles in foreign projects.
“Choose Love showed me that as an actor, I am capable of playing a starring role on a global scale, if not more so. I believe that was a great cool reminder for me to confirm my identity.
