So when the 36-year-old caught wind of a new rugby flick to be directed by Clint Eastwood, he put in a call to the Hollywood heavyweight's production studios to "offer my rugby services".
Almost a year later, Mr Bristow, who'd just been made redundant from his factory job in the US, got a call from one of the producers of Invictus, a blockbuster based on the Springboks' 1995 Rugby World Cup win.
Filming had wrapped in South Africa and Bristow, originally from Hastings in the North Island, was asked into the studio to check out hours of raw footage.
"It was pretty awesome but it needed a few finishing touches done to it and that's when they (the producers) said, 'Hey, can you come on board and help us finish it off'," he said.
