Cori Gonzalez-Macuer may be used to forming family-like bonds on set, but art imitated life for the comedian while filming the second season of Kiwi comedy series Mean Mums when his real-life daughter Freddie joined the cast.
With Freddie playing the role of Cori's on-screen five-year-old Freddy Junior, there was no faking the pair's natural closeness in front of the cameras.
Known for his roles in What We Do in the Shadows and Eagle vs Shark, Cori brought his satirical style to the character of school caretaker and concerned parent Freddy, first seen in season one.
When it came time to casting a daughter for Freddy, the show's creator Amanda Alison didn't consider any other options.
Cori says performing came easily to the youngster, adding that most a lot of the time she would forget she was on camera.
"She literally improvised everything - but I think that works sometimes," he told Newshub.
The chance to have his daughter feature alongside a strong female cast and production crew "run by women" meant a lot to the 38-year-old, grateful that Mean Mums will forever be a piece of work the father-daughter-duo shared.
"Even if she never does anything again or she wants to be a vet or whatever, we'll always have footage of this," he says.
The doting dad says he mimics his own "hands-on" parenting style on-screen, which he admits at times can be a little over the top.
"My character is a bit of a psycho, and I'm a psycho too... but not as bad."
Freddie made a brief appearance in season one of the show before moving into a more featured role to mark the start of season 2.
She told Newshub the best thing about working on Mean Mums is "playing games and drawing," but her favourite person to work with is "daddy".
The Chile-born actor moved to Aotearoa when he was six years old and has become a regular on locally-made comedy TV and movies.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cori was forced to cancel live comedy gigs but was able to continue working from home as a television show writer. He and his writing partner Louis Mendiola are currently developing projects with Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement, and another with Jacqui Brown.
Time spent in lockdown at home also meant getting to spend quality time with Freddie - which might be just as well, if she has a busy full-time actor's future ahead of her.
"I think she likes it. And if she wants to do it, she can do it. She's pretty much making more money than I am at the moment so why not? I just hope Freddie does well at school, she's healthy, happy and having fun."
Mean Mums season two premieres Tuesday, September 15 at 8:30pm on Three
