Two days before his dream came to life, Williams lost one of his biggest cheerleaders. <\/p>\n
Paul Williams has written and stars in New Zealand Spy. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n
Williams has wanted to play James Bond since he was 16 and posted about it on Tumblr, although he reckons The Crown\u2019s Josh O\u2019Connor looks cool walking around in a suit, so he could take over the role in a pinch.<\/p>\n
His love isn\u2019t for Bond\u2019s slick pick-up lines, beautiful women or sexy heroics. Nah, Williams likes the day-to-day admin of being a spy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favourite scenes aren\u2019t always the action and fighting and chases. It\u2019s the little bits, where he\u2019s checking into a hotel,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I love trains.\u201d<\/p>\n
It sounds like the sort of dry, throwaway one-liner Williams might say during his stand-up shows or as Jeremy Wells\u2019 offsider on Taskmaster NZ. And before we talk about his new TV comedy, New Zealand Spy, there were suggestions that Williams can sometimes maintain that persona in interviews. Not today. Today, he is painfully honest.<\/p>\n
Writing the show was difficult. Post-production has been hard, too. Last night, he was working on the score in the middle of the night, with just his baby son to keep him company.<\/p>\n
Williams, 33, says those were the moments \u2013 at the beginning and end of making his first TV comedy \u2013 that made him think, \u201cwell, [I\u2019m] definitely never doing this again\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then during the filming, it\u2019s like, yes! Hope to do more of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Filming involved some of the funniest people in the Commonwealth decamping to New Zealand in late 2025 to be part of a laugh-filled summer camp, playing dress-ups in vintage costumes and pretending to save the world one joke at a time.<\/p>\n
On screen, Williams is joined by The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas, his brother Guy Williams (for one brilliant scene) and two of his best friends \u2013 Rose Matafeo and Australian comic Sam Campbell \u2013 for a whole lot more. And that\u2019s just the tip of the comedian-casting iceberg.<\/p>\n
Aussie Andy Lee (of Hamish and Andy fame) said yes before the show even had funding, and national treasure Bret McKenzie replied to the job offer with a perfectly understated, \u201cyeah, keen\u201d. That one blew Williams\u2019 mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cBret is one of the main reasons I probably do comedy. Flight of the Conchords was so big for me,\u201d he says, before explaining how he and his brother \u201csemi-stalked\u201d McKenzie as teens.<\/p>\n
He told McKenzie this at the end of their first day of filming and immediately regretted it. McKenzie, however, calls it \u201cvery flattering\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaul is obviously a very talented writer, as well as a brilliant comedian, and comic actor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt he could work anywhere in the world, and we\u2019re lucky to have him in Aotearoa,\u201d McKenzie says. He found watching the younger comedians \u201cinspiring\u201d.<\/p>\n
All the while, Williams was mourning his dad. <\/p>\n
Comedian Paul Williams (far right) wrote and stars in NZ Spy alongside Rose Matafeo, Joe Thomas and Bret McKenzie (seated).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a weird thing where [I was working with Bret], my absolute hero. It\u2019s a dream come true that he\u2019s doing this show. But at the same time, you\u2019re kind of like, the saddest you\u2019ve ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other people on set lost loved ones around the same time. Williams wondered if the production was cursed. <\/p>\n
Except being on set was the very best place he could be at the very worst time. He was playing make-believe with his best friends. And in between takes, he was able to be a man grieving the loss of his dad, surrounded by those same best friends. Making New Zealand Spy became a welcome distraction.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn set, I would be able to just focus on what we were doing. And then I\u2019d go to the bathroom, and you\u2019d be alone for a second and, yeah \u2026\u201d Williams says through fresh tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d drive to the set, basically crying. And then [filming] was so fun. And then I\u2019d drive home crying again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams’ father Gary died just a few days before filming began for New Zealand Spy. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Gary Williams\u2019 death made headlines. Paul, Guy and their sister Maria are all comedians and have used him as the inspiration \u2013 and punchline \u2013 for jokes over the years. Fans felt like they knew the man who raised them.<\/p>\n
But the timing of his death seems almost impossible when you watch New Zealand Spy. It\u2019s a show so full of silliness and joy; a show that delivers all of that, even though it came to life under the darkest of shadows.<\/p>\n
When Williams talks about the comedy series, he doesn\u2019t mention that shadow, at least not until he\u2019s asked directly about Gary.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t feel the sadness linger when he watches what they made during that time. He remembers filming as \u201ceveryone just kind of making my dreams come true\u201d.<\/p>\n
But when he does talk about Gary, the loss hovers just below the surface. And sometimes well above it.<\/p>\n
Williams has written on social media about his dad\u2019s death, but more importantly, about his life. That being with him was where he felt safe. How seeing Gary\u2019s photo in a cricket almanac one time made him seem like Michael Jordan in his eyes. He wrote about the things he knows he\u2019s inherited from his dad (\u201cHis love of sports, his love of never throwing anything away and his love of saying \u2018okay, okay\u2019 when someone tries saying something sincere\u201d), and the many more he wanted to learn from him.<\/p>\n
Losing a parent hits you in a specific way, and in another way again when you welcome your own children without them here.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy baby actually reminds me of him. A lot. Because my dad looked like a baby, is what I\u2019m saying. They had similar amounts of hair,\u201d Williams says of his son, August, who was born earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Gary] was excited to be a granddad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams reckons his dad would have been excited for New Zealand Spy, too. He was excited for everything his kids did.<\/p>\n
Like watching Guy and Maria\u2019s TV documentary about their joint ADHD diagnosis over and over. (Williams hasn\u2019t seen it, but he thinks his brother asked him to be part of it. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a sign that I am severely ADHD \u2013 I don\u2019t know if I responded. The fact I\u2019m the only one who hasn\u2019t been tested probably speaks volumes.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Or when Williams was in high school, making songs and sharing them on YouTube.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I was shameless enough to put them online, but I was always maybe semi-embarrassed. I hate the sound of my own voice so I hate hearing them back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tough luck I guess, because almost every night he would hear Gary playing them in their Nelson home \u2013 volume up, no headphones, just a look of pride plastered across his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he would have really liked [New Zealand Spy], to an annoying level \u2026 I\u2019m sure he would have probably watched this to death, which would have been good for ratings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams with the cast of Taskmaster NZ. Photo \/ Matt Klitscher<\/p>\n
The series is a masterclass in fun. In it, Williams, Matafeo and Thomas are the only three applicants to a newspaper ad looking for new spies. Their boss, McKenzie, sends them on a mission that uncovers a plot by some naughty Aussies who want to ruin New Zealand in the most dastardly way possible \u2013 via our farms.<\/p>\n
Set somewhere between the 1960s and 70s, it\u2019s teaming with dry (very Flight of the Conchords-esque) jokes, sight-gags, physical comedy and characters that are both endearing and just really, really bad at their jobs. It feels like a show created in another time but also like nothing else on telly right now. Familiar but fresh. Austin Powers but funny.<\/p>\n
The idea came during lockdown, when Williams, Campbell and a bunch of other creatives would write a piece of work on a dictated theme every week. New Zealand Spy and Williams\u2019 character Michael Riviera (honestly, what a name) came from a prompt to write about a heatwave. In the show, there\u2019s a lot of snow.<\/p>\n
His wife, actor and writer Simone Nathan, knew it was something more the moment she read it. Williams says they share comic sensibilities.<\/p>\n
He wrote the script while he and Nathan were living in London, biking to the British Library every day, only taking breaks to buy samosas nearby. He made final script tweaks while performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, tapping away late into the night after coming off stage. He filmed it while mourning his dad. And he is finishing the last of the music in the dead of night while on baby duty.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the youngest family member hasn\u2019t quite figured out what a good punchline is yet. He\u2019s not the perfect audience member. But give him time \u2013 chances are, it\u2019s in his genes. <\/p>\n
\u201cOccasionally he\u2019ll do something that\u2019s \u2026 well, it\u2019s hard to know if it\u2019s a laugh or he\u2019s in pain from gas or something,\u201d Williams says. \u201cBut I\u2019ll take all the laughs I can.\u201d<\/p>\n