The Panthers Episode 4: Ravikanth Gurunathan and Rokolani Lavea

Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries

In this episode we talanoa with actors Ravikanth Gurunathan [Ravi] who plays Nigel, and Rokolani Lavea [Roko] who plays the role of Kong. Host Benji Timu talks with both actors about the roles they played and how they got into acting in the first place, and the connections that led them to being involved in The Panthers series. They discuss growing up in Auckland as a Pacific Islander for Roko, and what it was like for Ravi growing up as Indian, and how they both experienced systemic racism in their younger years, including in the education system. A special thanks to host Benji Timu and guests along with the Auckland Council Pasifika Success team for supporting this podcast series.