Sam Aleni

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Sam Aleni
Shortland Street character
Portrayed by Rene Naufahu
Duration 1992–96, 2014
First appearance 25 May 1992
Introduced by Caterina De Nave (1992)
Simon Bennett (2014)
Classification Former; regular (returning)
Profile
Occupation Paramedic
Bar manager (1995)
Nightclub DJ (1995)
Prostitute (1996)
Home Samoa

Sam Aleni is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Rene Naufahu as part of the original cast from 1992 to 1996.

Creation and casting

After watching Australian soap operas, Neighbours and Home and Away, Caterina De Nave noticed a lack of ethnic diversity in the cast and as such, one of her goals whilst creating Shortland Street was to push new ground and create an ethically diverse cast. At the time of the shows creation there was only 1 Pacific Islander paramedic in New Zealand and as a result producers wrote the role of Sam as a paramedic to help enforce the role of Pacific Islanders in the community.[1] Rene Naufahu was cast in the role despite his inexperience and he believed he knew, "nothing about acting ... I thought all my acting was about eyebrows." He found it strange acting in a workplace with very little fellow Polynesians and noted a scene where Sam attended a party by himself as odd, stating, "what island guy does that?"[2] Sam made his final appearance as a regular on 6 August 1996. Naufahu will reprise the role in 2014.[3]

Storylines

Paramedic Sam flatted with Steve Mills (Andrew Binns) and Alison Raynor (Danielle Cormack) and it was clear to all the staff that he was heavily religious and planned to stay celibate until marriage. However a relationship with a drug addict saw him defy his faith and she ended up stealing from the flat. When she returned in 1993, the two reconciled and got engaged but it was short lived. Sam stood by his brother Nat (Joe Naufahu) when he got involved in racial gang wars that saw his best friend get murdered. Sam grew close to Tongan rival, Talita "T.P." Palele (Elizabeth Skeen) but the two families opposed of the relationship and with Jamie's (Karl Urban) help, Sam ended up marrying T.P. to keep them together. However tragedy struck in 1994 when T.P. was killed in a devastating car crash. Sam strived to stop the Palele's involvement in their daughter's funeral, but gave in and became friends with the family. Sam grew close to Kennedy's owner, Alex McKenna (Liddy Holloway) and became a part time manager of the bar and later manager of a band. He fell in love with the lead singer but felt uneasy with T.P.'s death being so recent.

Sam eventually dedicated most of his time to being a DJ but a run-in with a dodgy bar manager saw Sam beaten and hospitalized. In 1995 Sam left for a conference in London and returned a confused man. He kidnapped a lovers baby but quickly returned her before again leaving for London. Upon his eventual return, Sam had become a cruel and bitter man. Sam gave up on religion and it soon turned out he had become a male prostitute whilst overseas. He dated Ana Fa'asolo (Mary Lose) and later fell in love with villainous Carla Crozier (Elisabeth Easther). However Sam began to doubt the mentality of his lover and dumped her when he feared she murdered husband Bernie Leach (Timothy Bartlett) only to briefly be framed for his murder. In 1996 Sam, realized how sour he had grown after the death of his wife. Re-embracing his faith and befriending a young tearaway named Jonah Lafa'ele, Sam paid one final visit to TP's grave, then departed for Samoa late in the year.

Reception

Throughout his appearances in the nineties, Sam was described as a "hunk".[2] Sam was involved in many "iconic" and "memorable" story lines, such as his relationship with TP.[4] The 1994 car explosion that saw TP and Steve Mills die, was voted by fans in 2012 as the 4th most iconic storyline in the shows history. Naufahu believed the storyline was instrumental in the character of Sam and the soap opera itself, "When TP's death was first mentioned by the writers, I remember thinking 'Oh okay, her exit is gonna be pretty lame, she might choke on a KFC drumstick or something', but then when the scripts came out I started fogging up reading it. I mean, TP was just so innocent and beautiful - the writers did amazingly. So then came the challenge of doing justice to the script. God knows I had some hairy moments learning how to act on set, (Shortland Street was my first proper gig) but I look back on those episodes and I think that was where I came of age as an actor. And I'm grateful to the guys around me at that time for that."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Barbara Cairns & Helen Martin (1996). Shortland Street - Production, Text and Audience (First ed.). Auckland: Macmillan Publishers New Zealand. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tagata Pasifika. 14 June 2012. Television New Zealand. TV One.
  3. ↑ Corry, Dominic (30 January 2014). "Dominic Corry: The Last Saint's a Kiwi classic in the making". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. 
  4. ↑ "A tragic end for Sam and TP". Television New Zealand. 2004. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved December 2011. 
  5. ↑ Philpot, Chris (25 May 2012). "Shortland St moments: the 10 greatest". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media. 
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