July 4, 2026 • 15 mins
Former Shortland Street star Tandi Wright has made the jump to a new big screen role - she's set to star in the new horror film Evil Dead: Burn.
Tandi Wright's made a name for herself in local productions like 800 Words and Nothing Trivial, and she’s also stared in many international shows and films as well.
She says the horror genre's evolved over the last few years, which means she can take on new roles.
"When I was a teenager, horror was a lot of women in skimpy clothing, making bad choices, heading off to the woods and getting chopped up with a chainsaw...but now, horror's having such a moment."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Cold classic horror franchise That Evil Dead is back in
cinemas this week. The latest installment was filmed here in
Auckland and starts our very young key with actress Tandy Wright.
It's called Evil Dead Burne.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
We found you, William by sweet Boy.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I would give anything for us to be together. I can.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Our grandfather believe the devil would return if anyone read
from the Book of the Dead.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Cool the whole family can be reunited.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I can't confirm. It's absolutely exhausting and terrifying to any
Wright is in the studio with me. Good morning, Tandy, Yeah,
what a good morning, Tandy, Tandy, Tandy. I have seen
this film obviously anticipation of this interview. I'm still not
sure I have recovered.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I haven't seen it yet. That is crazy crazy.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
How much of a fan of Evil Dead films are
you not?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
At all? I mean, this is the hilarious thing. Horror
freaks me out. I find it very hard to watch.
It's so interesting. This is changing because I think horror
is evolving, or maybe I'm evolving or both. But you know,
when I as a teenager, horror was a lot of
women and can be clothing racing, making bad choices, heading
(01:49):
off to the woods and getting chopped up with a chainsaw,
and so I was like, yeah, I'm not so sure
there's stuff in here for me. But but now horror
is having such a moment, and you know, the interesting
thing about the genre is that because we're not quite
in the real world with it, it can be playful
(02:09):
and incredibly creative. And now I think it's there's a
lot of political issues that are now be explored in horror.
There's a kind of an intellectual a darkness underneath or
you know. So it's much more complex, I think than
perhaps historically it has been. And also some of the
(02:32):
best female characters I've played in recent years have been
in horror that, you know, complex and flawed and wonderful.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
It's interesting you say that because the women are very
strong in this film. It tend to be a little
bit braver maybe than some of the men. You know,
they really step up, but as you said, they're also
very complex. Yeah, tell me a little bit about the
character you play.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, so Susan is she is used to being in
control of her family. She's a matriarch of the family.
And what I sort of love and what I was
definitely playing in the story is basically it's a story
about a family that implodes, and like everyone can relate
(03:15):
to that, Susan's control of everything. She's across her sons.
She has a mum who's living with dementia, and she's
the main caregiver for that.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
For her, she lost her sister some.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Years hence her marriage is kind of slightly dried out
to an old husk, so it's a slightly loveless situation
she's in. So she's kind of in grief and she's
kind of lonely actually, but she's trying to hold it together.
And then the series of events unfolds and it turns
out she can control nothing, and it's it's sort of
like all the pieces going everywhere at once and there's
(03:48):
nothing she can do. It's wonderful to play. It was
so much harder to play than I thought, you know,
because when you get offered a horror film, well I thought,
all right, I'll be running around in a cold west
Auckland studio and I'll be covered in blood. I can
do that no problems. But what this film required of
me emotionally was really surprising. It was I was using
(04:12):
all of the tools in the tool bag. I was,
it was head, it was heart, and it was really
physical as well. So it was the most wonderful acting challenge.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I want to get to the physical side of it
in a moment, because that did strike me. I'm very
much about the physicality of this role. It's also a
story about a young woman who is caught up in
an abusive relationship as well. And this comes back to
you sort of saying, Okay, we've got we've got this.
We've got all the blood and the gore and things,
but underneath it there is there is stories with substantial
(04:43):
weight to them.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Definitely, Yeah, and I and you know, the filmmakers are
really clear that that's what they that's the story they
wanted to tell. But it's it's funny as well, and
it's scary, and it's it's like it's all the good things.
It's a really great ripping yarn with some pearls. You
know that you're gonna go away and think about I'm
sitting here laughing.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I've seen it. I know, I know is you're selling it.
I love it. It is full on, it is relentless,
it is exhausting. But as you say, it would get
so ridiculous, I would. I was just laughing out loud.
And that's something I noticed with Horrors. It's a really
seeing it in a theater with other people is a
(05:25):
really communal experience. We're all on the same roller coaster,
and I think we feel that it's okay to actually
I mean I was very vocal in this screaming. I
was yelling and making all sorts of sounds and laughing.
But we feel we can yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
I know. It's really interesting, isn't it, because Horror is
having such a moment that you sort of it's definitely
satisfying some need that we have currently and the communal
experience of being in the cinema people are really enjoying that.
I think it's a bit more like being at live
theater or something where you're you're having this physical experience
(06:01):
together and someone screams in the back row and everyone
laughs to kind of let out the tension. I mean,
it's a really interesting community vibe.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
It certainly is look talking about the how physical this
role is because it really struck me that it's very
very physical. How much of it was you and how
much of it was you know, your stunt double being
smashed and thrown through walls and downstairs and various other things.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yes, I did have a wonderful stunt person, lerd who
was just a magician, and the great New Zealand stunt
team just fantastic. We I mean I was in harnesses,
I was upside down, I was running around, I was
doing as much as I could and setting a lot
of the choreography. And then you know, if you have
to get pummeled into a wall ten times, Lerdy takes over.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Because she can do it better than me.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
You know, she won't break a bone. I will.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Did you get a few bruises though? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
A few, Yeah, but really not that many. It's interesting.
We there's a I think it's an amazing sequence in
a bathroom which is a fight between my character and
another character, and that it's kind of the climax of
the film in a way.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And the choreography is very good of that Stunned to
the Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, it's so cool, And that's what I mean about
the creativity of this genre. The camera is doing some
wild things, and I was looking at the shots, going,
I've never seen this in cinema. This is so playful
and kind of it was very it was exhilarating actually,
but then you know, I was upside down. I was
definitely mahannas for that stuff. And in the end we
(07:43):
had to We shot that sequence for two days, and
in the end we actually had to cut it down
because there was too much material and we were running
out of time.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Now, I do want to talk to you about this
because I believe that, I mean, this is rated in
an ARSEIX scene already, and I believe that. I mean,
I thought it was pretty full on, but apparently there
was stuff that was even more full on. They had
to be cut in order to get the rating right.
So how does it feel as an actor when you've
kind of put the work out there and you've done that,
to have it affected by something like that.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, I mean, well I haven't seen it, so I
don't know what's gone. Ah, but I think you know,
you just can't judge it. You're not. It's not my
job to judge the work or I just have to
be in the moment doing what the character would do.
I do often though, when I'm in the cinema or
when I'm watching a piece back, I get because I
(08:31):
know the script and all the little bits and pieces.
When stuff's chopped out, I get really worried for the
audience because I think, no, they're not going to understand
that that's gone, that joining piece of infection. So I
have quite a technical experience.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
You gotta trust. You just got to trust at the
end of the day, your directors, don't you Your director, trust.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
The director, and the audiences are smart, they'll they'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Do you in a role like this, which obviously, as
you say, you're doing a fight scene, which is taken
two days. They're quite brutal.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Do you.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Switch off completely when you leave the set each day?
How do you kind of, yeah, revert back to kind
of trying to keep it light at lunchtime and things.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
You know, it's so funny. The darker the material is,
the more silly we are right when we're offset, you know,
the more stupid games and you know, pathetic jokes. And
the cast ensemble was wonderful. We were there was not
one diva. Everyone was on the page. We totally formed
a family. It's interesting. We in fact, almost our first
(09:38):
day of filming, we had some weather stuff, so we
had to bring material forward that had been scheduled later.
And there's a big dinner party sequence, and that really
was the first thing we all filmed together. And that
is almost operatic in its scale, and all of the
family are there and all the dynamics are kind of
at play subtly around that table, and it was the
(10:01):
most wonderful way to start the project because we all
kind of got to know each other as our characters,
and then that became the architecture that we hung the
whole kind of film on. All those relationships were set
where we went into the other material.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Were there any days or any scenes that actually did
freak you out a little bit? Did you get a
bit scared or a little bit unnerved?
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Or was it? I mean it was sometimes very dark,
and sometimes we were actually outside and there was a
full moon and we were in this crazy spooky house
with a crazy spooky dog and all that department and
there was all this dry eyes so it was all
kind of foggy and you couldn't really see.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That was a bit freaky, Yeah, but no, no, yeah, Okay,
are you are you prepared to become part of just
this massive, sort of cold classic sort of franchise.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I mean, I actually can't believe it. It's such an honor. Really,
it's people who love evil dead, really love it, and
they take it, you know, they take it seriously a
lot of fun with it. But it's these This franchise
has been going for forty plus years, and a lot
of the films, I think since twenty thirteen, they've all
(11:17):
been made in New Zealand, so there's a really strong
kind of history and culture of it here and a
lot of In fact, most of the crew that we're
working on that film have worked on the previous films,
so they've already got a shorthand with each other. They're already,
you know, building stuff. I know, the makeup team when
they're building their prosthetics, they're already putting in bits and
(11:40):
pieces for blood rigs because they know, I know these
details you see. But it saves time, It saves everyone's time. Amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Your daughter is now eighteen. She's gonna love this. She's
going to love watching mum really kick Bart.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
You know, Yeah, I think she is. I think she.
I think she would have impressed. Yeah, it's so funny.
I did a film a few years ago called Pearl,
which was all a horror film and unbeknownst to my
daughter because she's not seen it, but it kind of
became cool among her school friends at high school and
(12:16):
then she was like, ah, Mum, everyone's seen Pearl, Like
what's going on? They know who you are.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
This could be a nice little mother daughter trip to
the cinema. You can both watch it together. Tendy, you're
the vice president of Equity New Zealand, representing actors rights
here in New Zealand. How are local actors fearing at
the moment.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Well, I'm going to be honest. Stuff out there. It's
quite in the industry at the moment. What I do
want to say about this evil dead film is that
three of our top six cast are New Zealand performers,
and I am so happy about that. I'm so grateful
to Rob Tappert and Romel Adam and Sarah Spurlway because
(12:58):
they know and trust New Zealand actors and are happy
to cast them in lee roles because they know how
good we are. They know that we are of international standard.
When offshore productions come here that don't have producers who
know us, they are much less willing to do that
because it's a big gamble if you don't know people.
Other countries that we might consider ourselves comparable to Australia, Canada,
(13:22):
UK all have really strong protections and incentives to use
local actors. In New Zealand we have almost none. It's
very easy to bring in offshore performance. Of course, you've
got to need your big leads, your big you know,
your tom Cruisers or whoever finance is attached to. But
there is no reason in the world why they can't
be surrounded with great key we talent and we have it.
(13:45):
And the thing about that is that once our actors
gain experience, they gain profile on the world stage. That
starts to snowball and then eventually our actors are able
to attract finance and we bring that back to our
own domestic industry.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
It's interesting you say that, you know, talking to morgana
o'reiley over the Lane Ye or two in her getting
a little bit more global recognition, she says, I am
basically trying to use that to get peep things off
the ground in New Zealand, to get people interested in funding,
to get New Zealand actors and things.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
You know one hundred percent. It's kind of crazy that
we've left our actors out.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Of the jigsaw because our crew is very highly regarded,
isn't it indeed?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Indeed, yeah, and that sort of makes sense. People come here,
they know the crew is really skilled, and you know,
there's a production comes here, they're not going to bring
eighty percent of their crew. They are going to use locals.
So when productions come here and access our magnificent tax breaks,
you know, and we're delighted that they do. But the
aim of that should be that that it strengthens our
(14:48):
domestic industry and that means including New Zealand performers, because
you know, we become casting is like the fairy dust
of the process. It's the bit that everyone understands. It's
the marketing, it's the international profile. And if we have
key reactors at the helm of productions, those films become
recognized as Kiwi films. It's really important.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Oh Tanny, it's been so lovely to catch up with you,
and congratulations on the film. Your performance is our standard
and I will recover in another couple of days from
this film, but thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Such a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Thanks Francesca, that was Kuei actress Tandy Wright. For all
your game horror fans, Evil dead Bourne is in cinemas
this Thursday.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks the b from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Cold classic horror franchise That Evil Dead is back in
cinemas this week. The latest installment was filmed here in
Auckland and starts our very young key with actress Tandy Wright.
It's called Evil Dead Burne.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
We found you, William by sweet Boy.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I would give anything for us to be together. I can.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Our grandfather believe the devil would return if anyone read
from the Book of the Dead.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Cool the whole family can be reunited.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I can't confirm. It's absolutely exhausting and terrifying to any
Wright is in the studio with me. Good morning, Tandy, Yeah,
what a good morning, Tandy, Tandy, Tandy. I have seen
this film obviously anticipation of this interview. I'm still not
sure I have recovered.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I haven't seen it yet. That is crazy crazy.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
How much of a fan of Evil Dead films are
you not?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
At all? I mean, this is the hilarious thing. Horror
freaks me out. I find it very hard to watch.
It's so interesting. This is changing because I think horror
is evolving, or maybe I'm evolving or both. But you know,
when I as a teenager, horror was a lot of
women and can be clothing racing, making bad choices, heading
(01:49):
off to the woods and getting chopped up with a chainsaw,
and so I was like, yeah, I'm not so sure
there's stuff in here for me. But but now horror
is having such a moment, and you know, the interesting
thing about the genre is that because we're not quite
in the real world with it, it can be playful
(02:09):
and incredibly creative. And now I think it's there's a
lot of political issues that are now be explored in horror.
There's a kind of an intellectual a darkness underneath or
you know. So it's much more complex, I think than
perhaps historically it has been. And also some of the
(02:32):
best female characters I've played in recent years have been
in horror that, you know, complex and flawed and wonderful.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
It's interesting you say that because the women are very
strong in this film. It tend to be a little
bit braver maybe than some of the men. You know,
they really step up, but as you said, they're also
very complex. Yeah, tell me a little bit about the
character you play.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, so Susan is she is used to being in
control of her family. She's a matriarch of the family.
And what I sort of love and what I was
definitely playing in the story is basically it's a story
about a family that implodes, and like everyone can relate
(03:15):
to that, Susan's control of everything. She's across her sons.
She has a mum who's living with dementia, and she's
the main caregiver for that.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
For her, she lost her sister some.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Years hence her marriage is kind of slightly dried out
to an old husk, so it's a slightly loveless situation
she's in. So she's kind of in grief and she's
kind of lonely actually, but she's trying to hold it together.
And then the series of events unfolds and it turns
out she can control nothing, and it's it's sort of
like all the pieces going everywhere at once and there's
(03:48):
nothing she can do. It's wonderful to play. It was
so much harder to play than I thought, you know,
because when you get offered a horror film, well I thought,
all right, I'll be running around in a cold west
Auckland studio and I'll be covered in blood. I can
do that no problems. But what this film required of
me emotionally was really surprising. It was I was using
(04:12):
all of the tools in the tool bag. I was,
it was head, it was heart, and it was really
physical as well. So it was the most wonderful acting challenge.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I want to get to the physical side of it
in a moment, because that did strike me. I'm very
much about the physicality of this role. It's also a
story about a young woman who is caught up in
an abusive relationship as well. And this comes back to
you sort of saying, Okay, we've got we've got this.
We've got all the blood and the gore and things,
but underneath it there is there is stories with substantial
(04:43):
weight to them.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Definitely, Yeah, and I and you know, the filmmakers are
really clear that that's what they that's the story they
wanted to tell. But it's it's funny as well, and
it's scary, and it's it's like it's all the good things.
It's a really great ripping yarn with some pearls. You
know that you're gonna go away and think about I'm
sitting here laughing.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I've seen it. I know, I know is you're selling it.
I love it. It is full on, it is relentless,
it is exhausting. But as you say, it would get
so ridiculous, I would. I was just laughing out loud.
And that's something I noticed with Horrors. It's a really
seeing it in a theater with other people is a
(05:25):
really communal experience. We're all on the same roller coaster,
and I think we feel that it's okay to actually
I mean I was very vocal in this screaming. I
was yelling and making all sorts of sounds and laughing.
But we feel we can yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
I know. It's really interesting, isn't it, because Horror is
having such a moment that you sort of it's definitely
satisfying some need that we have currently and the communal
experience of being in the cinema people are really enjoying that.
I think it's a bit more like being at live
theater or something where you're you're having this physical experience
(06:01):
together and someone screams in the back row and everyone
laughs to kind of let out the tension. I mean,
it's a really interesting community vibe.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
It certainly is look talking about the how physical this
role is because it really struck me that it's very
very physical. How much of it was you and how
much of it was you know, your stunt double being
smashed and thrown through walls and downstairs and various other things.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yes, I did have a wonderful stunt person, lerd who
was just a magician, and the great New Zealand stunt
team just fantastic. We I mean I was in harnesses,
I was upside down, I was running around, I was
doing as much as I could and setting a lot
of the choreography. And then you know, if you have
to get pummeled into a wall ten times, Lerdy takes over.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Because she can do it better than me.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
You know, she won't break a bone. I will.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Did you get a few bruises though? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
A few, Yeah, but really not that many. It's interesting.
We there's a I think it's an amazing sequence in
a bathroom which is a fight between my character and
another character, and that it's kind of the climax of
the film in a way.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And the choreography is very good of that Stunned to
the Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, it's so cool, And that's what I mean about
the creativity of this genre. The camera is doing some
wild things, and I was looking at the shots, going,
I've never seen this in cinema. This is so playful
and kind of it was very it was exhilarating actually,
but then you know, I was upside down. I was
definitely mahannas for that stuff. And in the end we
(07:43):
had to We shot that sequence for two days, and
in the end we actually had to cut it down
because there was too much material and we were running
out of time.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Now, I do want to talk to you about this
because I believe that, I mean, this is rated in
an ARSEIX scene already, and I believe that. I mean,
I thought it was pretty full on, but apparently there
was stuff that was even more full on. They had
to be cut in order to get the rating right.
So how does it feel as an actor when you've
kind of put the work out there and you've done that,
to have it affected by something like that.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, I mean, well I haven't seen it, so I
don't know what's gone. Ah, but I think you know,
you just can't judge it. You're not. It's not my
job to judge the work or I just have to
be in the moment doing what the character would do.
I do often though, when I'm in the cinema or
when I'm watching a piece back, I get because I
(08:31):
know the script and all the little bits and pieces.
When stuff's chopped out, I get really worried for the
audience because I think, no, they're not going to understand
that that's gone, that joining piece of infection. So I
have quite a technical experience.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
You gotta trust. You just got to trust at the
end of the day, your directors, don't you Your director, trust.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
The director, and the audiences are smart, they'll they'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Do you in a role like this, which obviously, as
you say, you're doing a fight scene, which is taken
two days. They're quite brutal.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Do you.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Switch off completely when you leave the set each day?
How do you kind of, yeah, revert back to kind
of trying to keep it light at lunchtime and things.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
You know, it's so funny. The darker the material is,
the more silly we are right when we're offset, you know,
the more stupid games and you know, pathetic jokes. And
the cast ensemble was wonderful. We were there was not
one diva. Everyone was on the page. We totally formed
a family. It's interesting. We in fact, almost our first
(09:38):
day of filming, we had some weather stuff, so we
had to bring material forward that had been scheduled later.
And there's a big dinner party sequence, and that really
was the first thing we all filmed together. And that
is almost operatic in its scale, and all of the
family are there and all the dynamics are kind of
at play subtly around that table, and it was the
(10:01):
most wonderful way to start the project because we all
kind of got to know each other as our characters,
and then that became the architecture that we hung the
whole kind of film on. All those relationships were set
where we went into the other material.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Were there any days or any scenes that actually did
freak you out a little bit? Did you get a
bit scared or a little bit unnerved?
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Or was it? I mean it was sometimes very dark,
and sometimes we were actually outside and there was a
full moon and we were in this crazy spooky house
with a crazy spooky dog and all that department and
there was all this dry eyes so it was all
kind of foggy and you couldn't really see.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That was a bit freaky, Yeah, but no, no, yeah, Okay,
are you are you prepared to become part of just
this massive, sort of cold classic sort of franchise.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I mean, I actually can't believe it. It's such an honor. Really,
it's people who love evil dead, really love it, and
they take it, you know, they take it seriously a
lot of fun with it. But it's these This franchise
has been going for forty plus years, and a lot
of the films, I think since twenty thirteen, they've all
(11:17):
been made in New Zealand, so there's a really strong
kind of history and culture of it here and a
lot of In fact, most of the crew that we're
working on that film have worked on the previous films,
so they've already got a shorthand with each other. They're already,
you know, building stuff. I know, the makeup team when
they're building their prosthetics, they're already putting in bits and
(11:40):
pieces for blood rigs because they know, I know these
details you see. But it saves time, It saves everyone's time. Amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Your daughter is now eighteen. She's gonna love this. She's
going to love watching mum really kick Bart.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
You know, Yeah, I think she is. I think she.
I think she would have impressed. Yeah, it's so funny.
I did a film a few years ago called Pearl,
which was all a horror film and unbeknownst to my
daughter because she's not seen it, but it kind of
became cool among her school friends at high school and
(12:16):
then she was like, ah, Mum, everyone's seen Pearl, Like
what's going on? They know who you are.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
This could be a nice little mother daughter trip to
the cinema. You can both watch it together. Tendy, you're
the vice president of Equity New Zealand, representing actors rights
here in New Zealand. How are local actors fearing at
the moment.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Well, I'm going to be honest. Stuff out there. It's
quite in the industry at the moment. What I do
want to say about this evil dead film is that
three of our top six cast are New Zealand performers,
and I am so happy about that. I'm so grateful
to Rob Tappert and Romel Adam and Sarah Spurlway because
(12:58):
they know and trust New Zealand actors and are happy
to cast them in lee roles because they know how
good we are. They know that we are of international standard.
When offshore productions come here that don't have producers who
know us, they are much less willing to do that
because it's a big gamble if you don't know people.
Other countries that we might consider ourselves comparable to Australia, Canada,
(13:22):
UK all have really strong protections and incentives to use
local actors. In New Zealand we have almost none. It's
very easy to bring in offshore performance. Of course, you've
got to need your big leads, your big you know,
your tom Cruisers or whoever finance is attached to. But
there is no reason in the world why they can't
be surrounded with great key we talent and we have it.
(13:45):
And the thing about that is that once our actors
gain experience, they gain profile on the world stage. That
starts to snowball and then eventually our actors are able
to attract finance and we bring that back to our
own domestic industry.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
It's interesting you say that, you know, talking to morgana
o'reiley over the Lane Ye or two in her getting
a little bit more global recognition, she says, I am
basically trying to use that to get peep things off
the ground in New Zealand, to get people interested in funding,
to get New Zealand actors and things.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
You know one hundred percent. It's kind of crazy that
we've left our actors out.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Of the jigsaw because our crew is very highly regarded,
isn't it indeed?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Indeed, yeah, and that sort of makes sense. People come here,
they know the crew is really skilled, and you know,
there's a production comes here, they're not going to bring
eighty percent of their crew. They are going to use locals.
So when productions come here and access our magnificent tax breaks,
you know, and we're delighted that they do. But the
aim of that should be that that it strengthens our
(14:48):
domestic industry and that means including New Zealand performers, because
you know, we become casting is like the fairy dust
of the process. It's the bit that everyone understands. It's
the marketing, it's the international profile. And if we have
key reactors at the helm of productions, those films become
recognized as Kiwi films. It's really important.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Oh Tanny, it's been so lovely to catch up with you,
and congratulations on the film. Your performance is our standard
and I will recover in another couple of days from
this film, but thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Such a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Thanks Francesca, that was Kuei actress Tandy Wright. For all
your game horror fans, Evil dead Bourne is in cinemas
this Thursday.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks the b from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com