Shortland Street’s Peter Burman Talks Queer Representation

From saying the word ‘penis’ on primetime TV, to portraying throuples and open relationships, New Zealand’s flagship soap opera, Shortland Street, has never shied away from pushing the envelope on social issues and dynamics. With New Zealand’s first queer sex scene, first civil union and first gay marriage all taking place on “Shorty”, queer representation has long been an important part of the series.

Over the last year, Peter Burman’s queer character, Sage Stewart, has become a defining presence on Shortland Street, adding to its expansive rainbow cast and furthering LGBTQ+ visibility in mainstream television.

In an exclusive interview with Gay Nation, we met up with Peter Burman on the set of the Auckland-based international series and asked him to describe his character and he said Sage is the ingenu of the show.

“He’s the kind of naive, young one who is optimistic about life and the world, and everything that goes on,” Burman explained, “And when he meets people, he sees the good in people straight away before he sees the bad.”

Sage stands out for his femininity, but Burman is careful to highlight the nuance in his portrayal.

“Sage is obviously a feminine-presenting queer person, but that’s never an issue,” he said.

“He’s really happy with who he is and unapologetic in the workplace. I think a lot of the time, New Zealanders will make themselves smaller in the workplace to make things easier, but I think my favourite thing about Sage is that he’s just unapologetically himself and happily himself.”

For Burman, the opportunity to play a gay character on a high-profile show like Shortland Street was groundbreaking.

“When I got the casting brief for Sage, it was the first time I’ve ever gotten a brief for a gay character on a local show. So, that was huge for me,” he explained.

“I feel very lucky to be here with people like Awa Puna who plays Gia and Jess Sayer, who plays Maeve. It feels awesome that there’s three of us here, being queer people in real life and playing queer characters on the show.”

Burman added that he feels it’s important for queer people to play queer roles.

“I think if a straight person got the role over me, I would be really annoyed,” he admitted with a laugh, explaining that there’s nuance in the lived experience that’s hard to replicate.

“But in saying that, I do think the best actor should get the role.”

A notable aspect of Sage’s costume is the Progress Pride pin on his uniform—a decision that came with some initial hesitation.

“In the beginning, I was like, does this just feel like I’m putting it on to remind the audience that I’m the gay character?” Burman said. But, after giving it some thought and noting that other characters have flags representing their culture or heritage, he realised that it could work as a symbol of advocacy.

“If a patient comes in and sees the flag, then they know that I could be a queer advocate. So, that’s the way I thought about it and now I actually like that he wears it—it’s on screen all the time, I think that’s important.”

Burman reflected on the importance of LGBTQ+ visibility on primetime television, particularly on a show as influential as Shortland Street.

“Visibility is important because I remember growing up and not really seeing anyone like myself on screen,” he recalled.

“Sometimes when I’m stepping on the set, I think: there’s some little boy in Levin, who turns this on at 7pm and he sees Sage, and he goes, ‘that’s me on TV’. It’s like, who do you play for? You just remind yourself of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”

Burman feels fortunate to be part of a show that actively champions inclusivity and representation. With six diverse characters representing different facets of the rainbow spectrum in the current cast, Shortland Street sets a high bar—but that also brings a unique kind of pressure.

“When I got the role, I did feel a lot of pressure,” he admitted, commenting on the responsibility of portraying a queer character authentically.

“But now, I feel the pressure’s been relieved. Now I feel very comfortable—if there’s a scene or a line in a script that comes up that I’m not comfortable saying, I’m happy to either go to the writers and change it, or change it with the director on set, or if I’m not comfortable in something that I’m wearing, I’m now way more assertive of being like, ‘I don’t think a gay person would wear this or I don’t think Sage would wear that.’”

Authenticity is always front of mind, with the show ensuring that its writer’s table keeps a wide demographic and encompasses queer people, people of colour, and maintains gender equality between the writers.

“It’s important in representation that the writers are queer, and that the writers writing the characters have the lived experience,” Burman noted.

One of Peter Burman’s favourite aspects of Sage’s story is his evolving relationship with Emmett Whitman, played by Stephen Lovatt.

“Emmett kind of represents the land-owning, conservative, drill sergeant type,” Burman explained.

“I love how our two characters were kind of enemies at first, and now we’ve become very close friends. And, I just hope someone in middle New Zealand sees that and goes ‘oh, hey, gay people aren’t evil, gay people don’t have an agenda or anything like that—they are just normal people.’”

Reflecting on what other shows can learn from Shortland Street’s approach to inclusivity, Burman emphasised the importance of well-rounded storytelling.

“It’s about writing queer characters as people and making them more complex than what they identify as. I think you see characters and people evolve through their relationships, and not just relationships with love interests, but through their friends and colleagues,” he said.

“And I just think all shows should have queer characters, because life has queer characters, and that’s important.”

While Burman is tight-lipped about what’s next for Sage, he reassures fans that the character’s journey is far from over. And, as long as Shortland Street continues to air, its commitment to authentic and diverse representation remains steadfast.

Last Updated on Nov 20, 2024