When Woman’s Day sits down with James Rolleston on a top-secret Coromandel beach ahead of filming for Celebrity Treasure Island, his shorts reveal a gnarly scar from the 2016 crash that almost killed the Boy star and his best friend.
But the 27-year-old actor feels no need to hide the reminder of that horrific accident, where his car ploughed into a bridge near his hometown of O¯po¯tiki.
“I’m fine with my physical scars,” James insists. “At first, the skin graft on my shin was a little bit of a struggle to look at, but it’s been a long time and I’ve accepted it now.
“Hey, I’ve still got a leg and I can walk around. It could be a lot worse than just this little scratch. It’s a reminder of how far I’ve come and to appreciate every day – and I get to tell people I got it from a shark when I was out catching waves!”
For James, who had to relearn how to walk, talk and get dressed after the crash, it’s the mental challenges he’s since faced that have proved to be the toughest.
“My recovery from the accident was pretty tricky,” he confesses. “It was hard, but I had a lot of support and I would’ve struggled even more without that. The biggest thing was the head injury, which I still live with every day. I still have trouble processing information sometimes and my memory isn’t the best. But those are all things that I can work on. The brain’s always healing.”
James fortunately doesn’t suffer from flashbacks to the crash, though he was initially fearful whenever he saw oncoming traffic.
“I was in rehab for a long time and it was ages before I could get back on the road. I’m driving again now though, and it’s cool,” he says. “I don’t really remember the accident, but it had a pretty big impact on my life. I definitely feel like a different person in some ways since it. I’ve taken away a lot of valuable lessons from that accident and I’m very grateful for them.
“I’ve realised how resilient I am. I’m proud of how I dealt with some of the situations. Actually, I’m surprised at how well I’ve come out the other side.”
He’s still friends with his pal who was the passenger in his car and required spinal surgery afterwards.
“My mate’s in Australia now and I don’t hear from him too much these days because he’s got a couple of little kids, and he’s working hard and playing a bit of rugby.”
It’s no surprise to learn the accident was a “big reason” James has chosen Brake New Zealand, a national road-safety organisation that works to prevent road death and injuries, as his charity to play for on Treasure Island. “I want to show my support for them,” he says simply.
James was just 11 when he filmed Boy. In 2010, it went on to become the highest-grossing Kiwi film in local cinemas and shot director Taika Waititi to global superstardom. His main memory from the shoot is “just all the fun and laughs all us kids had together with everybody on set”.
He reflects, “It was massive how it changed my life. I did struggle with the attention I’d get from people while growing up, all through school and college. Especially coming from a small town like Ōpōtiki.
“It wasn’t always hard, but there were definitely challenges. People treated me different and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether some of the relationships I was making were genuine.
“I’m not in touch with Taika now. I haven’t heard from him in a long time.”
The actor has since starred in films like The Dark Horse, The Dead Lands, The Breaker Upperers, Whina and Uproar. However, getting his career back on track after the accident “has been up and down”.
“There’s rejection and downtime between jobs,” James explains. “It’s been tough and some of the cognitive issues I still deal with haven’t made it easy. The memory problems can be frustrating. It obviously doesn’t help me stay in character when I’m filming. It makes things harder.
“But I’d never chuck it in. Before the accident, I started doing some building work with my cousin. I’m still doing a bit of construction work when I’m between jobs. It keeps my head above water. I get a lot of satisfaction from that job and I enjoy the physicality of it.”
As for the future, James says he’d love to have a crack at Hollywood and he’s keen to have kids some day, although he’s currently single.
“I’m not on the dating apps,” he grins. “It’ll happen when the time’s right and I find the right person.”
Celebrity Treasure Island premieres 7.30pm Monday 9 September on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
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