Rachel House: From Whale Rider to White Lies…

Interview – 2013

Rachel House is an accomplished theatre actor and director, but she has also established a strong screen career, beginning with gritty roles in Tiger Country and Queenie and Pete. Since then she has played both comedic and dramatic parts in a string of high profile movies, including Whale Rider, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy.

In this ScreenTalk, House talks about:

Playing an abused wife in tele-movie Tiger Country
Feeling out of her comfort zone with a lead role in Queenie and Pete
How Whale Rider was one of her favourite film experiences
Witnessing the admirable working relationship of Whale Rider's director Niki Caro and cinematographer Leon Narbey k
Hoping she solved problems as part of TV advice show Ask Your Auntie
Appreciating the humour and story of Eagle vs Shark
Being both acting coach and actor on Boy
Having an intense experience on the set of White Lies
Loving working with director Gaylene Preston on Hope and Wire
Dealing with the grief stirred up by the series

This video was first uploaded on 1 July 2013, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside

Māori films come under a lot of criticism and really films should be judged on what the heart of it is, and I think there was a great, a profound heart, central to the story of Boy.
– Rachel House on Taika Waititi movie Boy

Rachel's Full Profile