PUNCH: Actor Jordan Oosterhof Talks About His New Sports/Drama

Glen Dower:

Hello Jordan, how are you, Sir?

Jordan Oosterhof:

I’m great, thanks, Glen. The sun is shining so it’s all good.

Glen Dower:

To kick off, I want to ask you about your journey in the film. So, we’ll start at the beginning, can you talk about the casting process and how you got involved in Punch?

Jordan Oosterhof:

Okay. Yeah. So initially I get an email that says, “Punch Audition”. So yeah, I read the script. I was like, ‘Wow, this is something that I really, truly sort of connect with’. In New Zealand, you don’t often come across scripts that. You’re like, ‘I see someone’s heart right here’. I see the direction that they want to go, and how it feels. So, I was like, I’m going to do everything I can to get the role. I studied it, went for the first audition, got a callback, was happy, went back and sort of dissected it even more. I wrote 30-something pages, just going through every single scene in the movie and writing down the character arc and all sort of stuff. Cause I was like, I want this. And then got a call, ‘Hey man, you got the lead role in this film!’ Whoa. Shocked, crazy happy. And then nothing happens for three years.

Glen Dower:

Wow. Was this the Covid-effect?

Jordan Oosterhof:

No, it was just it was an indie film. Covid came later! They were working on getting funding. So at some points, they were like, ‘Yeah, it’s happening.” At some point, they were like, “oh, it’s sort of a bit on the rocks.” So, I kept hoping and after a while, I realized that I had to let it go in terms of it either happening or not. And so, it was then we had our lockdown, our first lockdown in New Zealand, and then in about late May, early June 2020, I got a call that said, ‘Hi, you start boxing training in a month and a half and Tim Roth is playing your dad’. And I was like, what is happening? So shocking. And so, I think through the whole rigmarole of how it went from start to finish, it sort of turned into something even more than it could have been initially through the lesson of patience and sort of seeing how it went. Yeah, man. And then once I did that, I just started doing the boxing training, started doing all sorts of rehearsals and stuff and meetings. Just sort of got to do it from there.

Glen Dower:

Great. Let’s touch on some other areas. Tim Roth…legend.

Jordan Oosterhof:

Yes! When I saw the photo on the email, I was like, why do they have Tim Roth’s photo on the email?! Like, I just couldn’t even understand. And then they were like, no, he’s going to be in it. And I was like, yeah, because I love Lie to Me, and Pulp Fiction, obviously controversial opinion, I like Pulp Fiction. But yeah.

Glen Dower:

I love Pulp Fiction too. Of course, he plays Pumpkin in that, he’s a Reservoir Dog, one of The Hateful Eight, and he has his TV career as you’ve said. Then on the flip side, he was one of the first MCU villains. So, Jordan, did you go in thinking Tarantino Tim Roth or Abomination Tim Roth swirling in your mind?

Jordan Oosterhof:

Definitely the Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Lie to Me side of Tim Roth. I didn’t even know he was in Marvel until after that cause I don’t think I’ve ever seen The Incredible Hulk!

Glen Dower:

He comes across as a very chilled, very professional gent. Was that your experience?

Jordan Oosterhof:

He’s a very calm guy, very calm and friendly, and puts you at ease from the first moment. I had my first Zoom with him because he was in quarantine coming to New Zealand, he was just calm. And when people are calm and sort of softly friendly like that, they make you feel at ease and make you feel open and able to engage. And so, we engaged with each other quite quickly and sort of developed a relationship and sort of, yeah, just got along, man. He’s just a cool guy. He’s got some great stories.

Glen Dower:

I bet! But let’s talk about the relationships in the film, as it is a family drama as well as a sports film, and it is a love story. Did the director, Welby Ings, give you time with Tim and Conan to just develop those character relationships as well as acting relationships before filming began?

Jordan Oosterhof:

For Conan, I did because I was there for callbacks and the casting process for that. And so, I heard his unbelievable voice and saw him act for the first time. And then we sort of had talked already and then once he got cast, we just hung out. He and I just started developing a relationship and then we started rehearsals. And rehearsals were really good because we got into it and actually, we’re having a go at this sort of emotional material as well as still continuing to grow and learn and get to know each other. So, by the time filming started, our relationship was already well-developed, which was great. Yeah, wonderful guy.

And then for Tim, I didn’t have as much time because he was in quarantine for two weeks in New Zealand, I think eleven days altogether. And so, I just had one conversation on the phone with him on Zoom for about an hour, hour and a half, got home, and then when he came out of quarantine, that was Saturday, and then the Sunday, he and I just hung out for about six, seven hours, got to know each other, spun some yarns. Yeah, it was nice. Went for a walk to the top of this hill that’s near my house. And then yeah, the next day, Monday, it was when we started production. So yeah, it was full-on.

Glen Dower:

Of course, and it paid off for the film as well, as you have a very real father-son dynamic where he is trying to control your professional rise while he is on a downward spiral, really enjoyed that aspect.

Jordan Oosterhof:

Thanks.

Glen Dower:

Now the boxing side of the story, I love boxing and I love boxing movies, I’m a big  Rocky guy.

Jordan Oosterhof:

Yeah, have you seen Southpaw? I quite like Southpaw.

Glen Dower:

Yeah, I enjoyed Southpaw. Jake Gyllenhaal pulled that off that role well. As you said you started training early, how much about boxing did you know going into the movie? Did you know you’re orthodox or southpaw stance, how to use a slip line, or did you pick everything up through training yourself?

Jordan Oosterhof:

Yeah, I mean I got to train with this coach, Cam, who’s also personally sort of connected to Welby and the story and Welby’s life. So yeah, got to train with him and the people he trains are Commonwealth Games-level boxers, New Zealand Champions. They’re really good. And I was really bad when I started, so it would be all of them…and then me just there trying to skip rope and have basic technique, which was difficult. Yeah, so I did that for five days a week for three months prior to the start of training, for the movie filming. I went from not being able to do it at all to, I think when you’re around such good high-level people, you sort of like a sponge, and you sort of absorb quite quickly. So, I think I did well. Cam was happy with the boxing in the film so if he’s happy…

Glen Dower:

Of course, Welby, the director, is also the film’s writer. Did you ask, him or did he share with you how autobiographical the film was? In his experience did boxing represent toxic masculinity in a way? Did that come across to you?

Jordan Oosterhof:

You’re right. Essentially, it’s based on Welby and his partner’s life. So, my character, Jim is mostly based on Welby’s partner who has passed away. So, in many ways, it’s an ode to his partner that he’s been working on for years. So, he did the triple jump, but Welby came from a boxing family. So, Welby thought out of the two, that boxing suited the whole world a bit more, except exactly what you’re saying with the toxic masculinity and the like, ‘you’ve got to be tough!’, all that sort of stuff. So, I think that’s how all that came about.

Glen Dower:

That makes a lot of sense. And Conan’s character lives in a very rural part of New Zealand outside of Jim’s suburb, and we do not meet his family at any point.

Jordan Oosterhof:

I think it was purposefully not included.

Glen Dower:

And the same with Jim’s mother, we are not sure where she is.

Jordan Oosterhof:

Exactly.

Glen Dower:

So maybe that has led to some sort of abandonment trauma for Jim and his father as well. Were those aspects of the film deliberately left out, in your opinion, so perhaps the story stays focused on your, Conan’s, and Tim’s characters?

Jordan Oosterhof:

Yeah, I think it even adds to those characters. If you are sitting there going, I wonder where Jim’s mum is and why they have this strained relationship where there does feel like there’s no maternity, there’s no vulnerability. I think that just adds to it. And the same with Whetu, Conan’s character, he has this line where he’s like, “I go home when I have to” and it’s just a throwaway line where he’s just like, yeah, you don’t want to know about the situation at home. So I think overall that really added to the whole people’s investment.

Glen Dower:

What we have is a coming-of-age drama, a family drama, and a love story, there is a label that it is an LGBTQ drama. What do you want people, the audience to get from the film, and yourself as the lead?

Jordan Oosterhof:

What I think is the most beautiful sort of facet of the film and what people can take away is the whole thing, that it’s like someone, multiple people fighting for their place in the world. So that’s such a universal feeling for people. Almost everyone maybe feels like they were born in the wrong town and they want to escape that. Or in the wrong family and they don’t get this, they’re not loved for their authentic self. Whether that be because they’re queer or how they express themselves or just even their personality. There are multiple layers of people not being able to feel like where they belong and in Punch, what’s represented is that you just have to choose and go after where you belong and have the strength and the manner to fucking hold up for yourself. And sometimes you must give up the things that make you feel safe in order to progress and grow in that. So, I think that’s something that really comes across from the film and something I’m really proud of.

Glen Dower: