“I’ve received lots of noes. I auditioned for drama school three times,” he says, adding his attempt to get the role of Sage was “the worst audition of his life”..
Peter Burman says he felt like “drowning” during his first few weeks on the set of Shortland Street – his first screen role. Photo / Michael Craig
“I think I learned quite early that rejection was a big part of this industry, but I was just so delusional that I was like, I have to do this, and I just went for it. And look where I am today. I feel very lucky.”
Getting the role was emotional for the actor and his family. Burman, who grew up in Tauranga, remembers his dad bursting into tears when he told him. “Probably because I was finally earning decent money and had a stable job,” he laughs.
Sage is one of the many LGBTQ+ characters in Shortland Street’s history. Burman, who is gay, says the role was the first time he’d actually received a casting brief where the character was explicitly gay.
“I think Shortland Street has always been very diverse,” he says, of show’s history of portraying the queer community. “I think it’s always held the torch in terms of what they display in terms of diversity on screen, so I feel just very lucky to be among all those kinds of iconic characters.”
Peter Burman’s new show is what he calls an “autopsy” of discovery in his youth. Photo / Michael Craig
Burman is also thankful his character helps provide comic relief. It’s given the self-described “introvert” a chance to explore his extroverted side.
“It’s just so fun and joyful, you know. I’m not coming in and dealing with things like divorce or murder or a drug addiction.”
Now more than a year and a half into the role, he is ready to take on a new challenge back where it all started – the stage.
Burman’s new show Scorned, premiering at Auckland’s Basement theatre, is “kind of an autopsy” of his own late teens and early 20s.
Peter Burman as Sage on Shortland Street. Photo / South Pacific Pictures
“It was like, post-high school, having relationships for the first time, experiencing explicitly queer environments,” he says.
“I think with whatever I do, it’ll always be explicitly queer because that’s kind of my identity and how I see the world.”
Burman says coming out to his family and friends was “a hard one“.
“I was pretty stubborn about it, and I didn’t want to do it. It wasn’t until I was 21 that I actually came out properly to my family. But I said it, and they were like, Yeah, we know! I’m very lucky to have such a supportive family.”
Scorned is full of tableaus and moments of his life that have made Burman who he is today.
“It’s not traumatic or sad or anything. It’s more light and entertaining.”
But rest assured, the nuances of Sage will be left on the set of Shortland Street, as the cast is on a break from filming. Instead, Burman is looking to push boundaries on stage.
“I thought, who can I become that I haven’t become yet? I’m trying to flex my muscles a little bit in terms of characters and acting.”
Scorned runs at the Basement Theatre in Auckland from September 9-13.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.