ECAN Candidate Told "I didn't recognise you with your clothes on."

You may know him from TV shows such as Shortland Street; Outrageous Fortune; Spartacus; The Shannara Chronicles; Go Girls and all the way back to Xena.  He's regularly on stage at The Court Theatre in shows ranging from Romeo and Juliet; Blood Brothers and Frankenstein to Little Shop of Horrors; Legally Blonde and Ladies Night.

Actor Roy Snow is running for Environment Canterbury (ECAN) in the South Canterbury/Ōtuhituhi constituency in this year’s local body elections and has already had some interesting responses while out campaigning.

“I did some door knocking recently and one woman must’ve seen Ladies Night (about a troupe of strippers). She did a double take then quick as a flash said, “I didn’t recognise you with your clothes on.”

Roy’s long stage career has been punctuated by a number of on-screen roles, beginning in 2000 where a great stint on Shortland Street saw him playing Matt McAllister for three years. He’s been an uptight antiques dealer on Outrageous Fortune, and a sword swinging commander of legions on Spartacus.

He says one particular issue facing the environment is at the centre of his decision to run for local office at ECAN.

“It's water for me. It started with the river behind my house and escalated the deeper I got. From questioning why I couldn't walk the dog by the river, to the article I read this morning about the people in the Waimate district who face at least eight more months of sourcing their drinking water from supply tanks around their community. Unsafe nitrate levels in the groundwater, people not being able to drink water from the tap, risk of harm to unborn babies; it feels a little bit “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff”, people working their butts off to address this current crisis but this isn't new, it hasn’t happened overnight. Improving water quality is a top priority.”

Roy wants to be a strong advocate for people who may feel disenfranchised, who think they are too far from where the decisions are made.

“I am a communicator, I'm good at that, and I want to take the issues that concern our residents, our businesses, to the top table at ECAN,” he says. “I bang on about future generations being left with the world we're living in because I truly believe that, and we need to make sure we leave them with one that's healthy and thriving,” he says.

Roy was most recently a detective in Girl on the Train and played Orin the dentist in the summer Court Theatre blockbuster Little Shop of Horrors.

Roy lives in Geraldine, grew up in South Otago, got married in Vegas and has two grown up children.

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