'Boy' was about my dad.
'Eagle vs Shark' is a little film I could take risks with and make mistakes on.
A set should be like a family, except that you all actually like each other.
Anyone who has a parent can relate to this idea of not quite understanding who your parents are or making up stories about them.
As kids, we all thought Bob Marley was Maori.
Basically, the big studios and companies distributing your movie just take a big cut of profit for making posters.
Characters I create are just mixtures of the people I know.
Coming from a very small country, it's always nice to see our own doing well.
I always wanted to play a dapper gentleman, and I also always wanted to play my mum.
I daydream all the time.
I don't mind going from sadness to comedy in a split-second or mixing the two up.
I find that a lot of child actors are ruined once they've done a job.
I find that relationships between kids and parents are very interesting.
I love films that make you feel something but also deliver that payload behind jokes.
I love heroes that really go through ordeals, and they come out the other end completely changed.
I've been on a lot of film sets, and I've always promised myself I wouldn't create a set where people dread coming to work.
I've always felt that I wanted to make a Marvel film... I just want to make sure I'm not making an episode.
I'm always fascinated by the theme of children who parent the adults.
I play music all the time because silence freaks me out.
My job is to express myself.
When I play characters, I like playing people who just comment on stuff, stand around and talk.
Most people in their lives do feel like they are outsiders at some point.
Kids are always very savvy. It doesn't take long for a kid to realize when an adult is a loser.
In a lot of my films, the biggest theme is family, making families out of those around you.
My main thing was painting; I was just going to do that.
Unfortunately, there aren't enough interesting acting roles in New Zealand to sustain a career.
