When The Spinoff’s José Barbosa made a video last week assembling TV’s finest moustaches, he made one crucial error regarding the authenticity of Westside actor Will Hall’s moustache. South Pacific Pictures responds.
The moustache has long been a celebrated adornment of masculine prowess so it’s not surprising, in the spirit of Movember, The Spinoff released a video guide to the greatest moustachioed TV shows. Neither is it surprising that Detective Mike McCarthy’s mo from Westside, (on the face of actor Will Hall), made it into the mix. What is surprising is the outrageous claim that Will Hall’s “magnificent face furniture” is fake.
“It’s a mo that is glorious as much for its pure weft as for how obviously fake it is” said José Barbosa over scenes of said moustache. But Maya Bailey, head make-up artist on Westside, can confirm Will Hall’s ‘stache is 100% real. “It’s not fake. It’s a home grown, true blue moustache.” There’s a grooming ritual for the mo during filming: “we maintain the shape by trimming the edges, we trim the lip area and we give it a little comb.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAdrESSKtPU
Will Hall’s wife Sarah can also attest to the bristly nature of the moustache, “I have to put up with it 24/7 the pash rash is real.” So can his co-star Esther Stephens, who plays his lady love Ngaire Munroe, “Will’s moustache is definitely real and after series two of Westside, I of all people know.”
Will Hall has taken the ‘fake’ jibe on the chin – or rather the upper lip. “I take this as a compliment,” he says. “If it wasn’t for knowing the moustache intimately, I too would have called it a fake. The Spinoff was obviously trying to say it looked too good to be true.” He attributes most of his recent success to the mo. “In the last financial year my moustache made three times more money than I did. It’s the one area I’m blessed in, facial hair has been my blessing and my curse.”
Will, who names Tom Selleck’s as his favourite moustache, is using the power of his mo for good. “I’m seven years deep into an ambassador role for Movember” he says. “The Movember Foundation is the only global charity focused solely on men’s health, I’m raising funds to tackle some of the biggest health issues faced by men: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and poor mental health.”
Donations for the cause are welcome here
José Barbosa responds:
“It’s not often I am asked to retract and apologise for a piece I worked day and night on, but after waking early this morning to find The Spinoff publisher and editor Duncan Greive standing over my bed holding a copy of my contract and a three quarters empty bottle of Prosecco, I feel compelled to.
Therefore I apologise to Will Hall and South Pacific Pictures for the statement which led to serious questions around the authenticity of Hall’s moustache on Westside. I apologise even though no photographic evidence has been provided, even though all witness statements provided are from people who are intimately connected financially with SPP.
It seems 2016 has struck again and this time the victim is journalism. Let me say that again: journalism. And now with capitalisation: Journalism.
We are now clearly living in a post-coiff world where anyone can strap the head of a broom to their face and expect to roam freely without fear of questioning or deep probing fuzz investigations.
Where “pay for perm” sites twist our democracy into a distorted Dutch Braid.
Is this New Zealand or New Wig-istan, the People’s Republic of Follicle Replacement?!”
Click below to watch Will Hall’s magnificent and 100% real moustache in Westside
