Singer Kira Puru was 'immediately humbled' on first acting job

Molotov and Everything Is Better Without You singer Kira Puru is back in the limelight — just not in the way fans of their music might have expected. (Supplied: Atong Atem) Link copiedShareShare articleWhen Kira Puru (she/they) shared their last single following a year-long hiatus from releasing music, they thanked listeners for sticking by them. "Your support really means the world to me right now," the Melbourne-based, Māori singer-songwriter wrote in an Instagram post announcing All My Boyfriends back in 2023. Heaped in 00s nostalgia with an irresistible hook and soul-baring lyrics, the track exemplified everything Puru had developed a reputation for over a decade in the industry, with career highlights including a number-one hit on the triple j chart, a Hottest 100 spot and collaborations with the likes of Paul Kelly. From the outside, things seemed to be looking up following the COVID pandemic. In the almost three years since All My Boyfriends came out, she hasn't released any music. She also took a break from performing live, instead leaning into photography, graphic design and creative direction. This year marks their return to the limelight — albeit, not in the way their followers might have anticipated. In lieu of dropping new tracks, Puru appears alongside some of Australia's biggest stars in two comedy series. First came a spot in dark comedy crime mystery hit Deadloch, followed by a role in new arts industry satire Bad Company. Margie, the unstable artistic director of the iconic theatre company, The Argyle, is up for the fight of her life, when Julia is hi-jacked from her corporate career to save the place from financial ruin. In the latter, they play Kat, the first point of call at a theatre on the brink of collapse after years of being run into the ground by its nepotistic, spendthrift of an artistic director Margie (series creator and star Anne Edmonds). Kat, Margie and the rest of The Argyle Theatre crew must find a way to work with the new girlboss chief executive Julia (Kitty Flanagan), hired by the board to save the institution from financial ruin. Puru brings an understated humour to the role that feels so expertly crafted it's hard to believe this is only their second ever acting gig. We caught up with Puru to find this out — and whether we can expect to hear new music from them on the airwaves anytime soon. I've always been a bit of a theatrical person — probably to the dismay of my parents, I imagine. I did a little bit of acting when I was a teenager. Without giving my full age away, it's been a pretty long break between then and now. But acting doesn't feel totally foreign to my experience as a musician. Puru also resumed playing live shows again in the last few months, which they had "really missed ... it feels amazing." (Supplied) Making music videos and stuff, there's a lot of performance, and there's a lot of acting involved in singing on stage. I've definitely done gigs when I have not felt like being perceived by hundreds of thousands of people. It kind of all happened by accident. I got an audition request for Deadloch — I indirectly know the Kates [series creators Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney] and I've been a massive fan for a long time. I vaguely remember [tweeting at them], "Please put me in something", before I deleted my Twitter. So, that role could just have been manifestation, to a degree. [Laughs] Puru nabbed the role of musician Flora in Deadloch after sending in her first ever self-tape (pictured). (Supplied) I was extremely nervous before the audition because I'd never done a self-tape before, but it felt like it would be something I might regret if I didn't do it. And I lucked out! I did feel like I probably should have tried doing a little bit more acting before [appearing] on an internationally adored television show. I'd never even been on a TV set like that before … I didn't know what any of the lingo was. I didn't even know that you have to film the same scene 25 times ... I just thought, "This is going to be easy. How hard could it be? Acting is so chill." I was humbled pretty immediately after arriving on set. But I feel so lucky to be involved, and everyone was very kind and patient. I almost didn't do the audition that landed me the part for Bad Company, because it was in-person. Of course, I hadn't done that before either, and I was s****ing myself. But I challenged myself to do it even though I was terrified and that one went really great, too. The audition was actually for a different production that had something to do with the queen. I didn't get that part, but somebody passed my [tape] along to the [Bad Company] casting agent … that might have been the way it went. As you can tell, I'm obviously not paying full attention to what's going on around me at all times [laughs]. I'm just happy to be here. Puru says Anne Edmonds told them Kat served "the role of the audience" in Bad Company, as "one of the more normal pe

Singer Kira Puru was 'immediately humbled' on first acting job

Key takeaways

More in international