27 Jul 2016

'Boy' star injured in car crash

4:15 pm on 27 July 2016

James Rolleston, the lead actor in the hit New Zealand film Boy, has been seriously injured in a car crash in Bay of Plenty.

James Rolleston

James Rolleston pictured in Toronto in 2014. Photo: AFP

Police had earlier said one person was trapped in a car crash on State Highway 35 at Opotiki around 11pm last night.

They said the vehicle hit the Otara Bridge on the eastern side of Opotiki.

Rolleston was in a serious condition and had been taken by helicopter to hospital.

Another 19-year-old man, from Opotiki, who was also injured in the crash, was in a stable condition in Whakatane Hospital.

The BayTrust Rescue Helicopter that attended the crash said a specialist on-board paramedic had had to stabilise a 19-year-old and that he was critically ill.

He was flown to Tauranga Hospital where local emergency services prepared a landing site for the helicopter.

Rolleston starred in the 2010 film Boy, written and directed by Taika Waititi, and had later roles in The Dark Horse and The Dead Lands, released in 2014.