TEXT: MARILYNN MCLACHLAN. PICTURES: ROBERT TRATHEN. STYLING: BENJAMIN FARRY. CLOTHES: FARMERS, ZARA.The proud
actor adores his
wee livewire.
“She’s a happy,
healthy, beautiful
little girl.”
I
t’sbeenthreeyearssinceactor
Ben Barrington’s life was turned
upside down with the arrival of
his darling daughter Harley.
“From the moment she was born,
she wasn’t a cruisy baby,” he tells. “She
needed her routine and didn’t like going
out to places, so we could never take her
to busy cafés and restaurants. We would
turn up, order our food and she would
just start screaming.”
It was a massive change for Ben, who
plays Dr Drew McCaskill on TVNZ 2’s
Shortland Street.
“I wanted to have the life I had before,”
he laments. “It took me quite a while to
accept that wasn’t the way it was going
to be and that now I work for her!”
But the 42-year-old has no regrets.
“I love it because there’s so much that
you get back, like seeing her develop her
own ideas, her own thoughts and her own
feelings,” says Ben. “You can seehercare
aboutdifferentthingsandyouliketotake
creditforthatbecausewe’vetaughtherde
dwBEN BARRINGTON
& HARLEY
g
tobeempatheticandhavefeelings.”
Theactorlovesspendingtimewith
his daughterandwifeKristie,39,who
worksasanoperationsmanagerfora
skincarecompany. Thehappyfamily
oftenheadtoa playgroundorthezoo,
butBenjustcan’twaittotakehis
daughtertoa liveshowormovie
whenshe’solder.
AndforFather’s Day,the
dotingdadis lookingforward
tolittlegiftsfromhisgirl
andpancakesmade
byKristie.
“It’sjustnormalkind
ofstuff. I’ma different
person– I usedtobe the
oneringingmydadand
nowI’mone.God,I’m
old!”helaughs.“Now
Father’sDayis
aboutme.”