NZEDGE Film & TV — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

Riverdale’s KJ Apa Makes the Cover of GQ

KJ Apa is really going places. Driven, humble, talented, the boy from New Zealand is soon to be everywhere, according to Jake Millar in a cover story written for GQ Australia. Apa, 21,…

Cast Announced for BBC’s The Luminaries Adaptation

Eva Green (“Casino Royale”), Eve Hewson (“The Knick”) and Marton Csokas (“Into the Badlands”) will star in “The Luminaries, “the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s award-winning novel,” writes Stewart Clarke in an article for…

Melanie Lynskey Steps into Castle Rock Character

New Zealander Melanie Lynskey, one of the stars of Hulu’s Castle Rock, came of age in a cinematic era of dark quirk, but from Heavenly Creatures to Ever After to Sweet Home Alabama to…

Taika Waititi Speaks at Toronto Master Class

“I dreamt of becoming a filmmaker in my 30s, it was an arranged marriage,” New Zealand director Taika Waititi told the audience at a recent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)…

Anna Paquin Stars in New Film Tell It to the Bees

New Zealander Anna Paquin’s new film, Tell It to the Bees may be set in a small Scottish village in the 1950s, but it deals with issues that are still…

Dancer Brendan Cole Announces Big Strictly News

In an exclusive interview and photoshoot for Hello!, former Strictly Come Dancing star Christchurch-born Brendan Cole, 42, has announced that he will be writing a weekly column on the new series of the BBC…

Miranda Harcourt on “The Changeover” And Whānau Values In NZ

“As a sought-after acting coach, Miranda Harcourt has worked with numerous major talents, including Nicole Kidman for her Oscar-nominated performance in Lion” and her “award-winning performance on HBO’s Big Little Lies. Together with her…

Sam Neill Cooks up a Storm in New TV Doco

Few performers can match the easy charm of New Zealander Sam Neill either on camera or off, but he is braced for outrage in response to his latest outing, as presenter of a History…

Jemaine Clement Stars in New Comedy The Festival

One half of the world’s favourite (and only) digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy-folk double act, Jemaine Clement has more than a Flight of the Conchords reunion tour on his plate this year. He’s been working on getting…

Thomasin McKenzie Joins Top Gun Sequel

Kiwi actress Thomasin McKenzie joins the cast of Top Gun sequel Top Gun: Maverick opposite Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly and Miles Teller. Dave Trumbore reports for

Meet the Feebles Inspires Happytime Murders Writer

Danny Mulheron, Meet the Feebles writer, and American scriptwriter Todd Berger – for the R-rated puppet comedy, The Happytime Murders – recount almost 30 years of bad taste for an article in The Hollywood…

The Meg An “Utterly Outrageous Thrillfest”

“The Meg is Jaws turned up to 11, an over-the-top creature feature starring a 20-metre-long prehistoric killing machine that comes from the very bottom of the ocean to cause havoc…

Castle Rock Star Melanie Lynskey Loves It Creepy

Melanie Lynskey talks to Entertainment Tonight about her role on the hotly anticipated series, Castle Rock. The New Zealand-born actress opens up about why this particular type of horror –…

David Farrier Flies into the City of the Dead

“The capital city of Turkmenistan is blisteringly dry and hot, dumped in the middle of the desert. It also holds the record for the highest density of buildings made from white marble, which bounce…

Taika Waititi Joins Watts and Waltz on Venice Jury

New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi and actors Naomi Watts and Christoph Waltz join the main jury of the Venice Film Festival, which will be presided over by director Guillermo del Toro, the winner of…

Lucy Lawless Lands Lead in Australian TV Series

She’s known for fighting the forces of evil in ‘90s cult television show Xena: Warrior Princess. Now it has been announced that New Zealander Lucy Lawless, 50, has landed an exciting role in the…

Antipodean Women Deliver Summer of Laughter to UK

This summer, an influx of female antipodean standup comedians, variety acts and sitcom stars are reshaping the way Britain views New Zealand and Australia. Observer arts and media correspondent Vanessa Thorpe reports. Tempting though it…

Who is Dark Tourist Host David Farrier?

If you can’t get enough of quirky documentaries on Netflix then you might want to check out Dark Tourist, hosted by New Zealander David Farrier, suggests Caroline Westbrook writing for the UK’s Metro newspaper. This…

Breaker Uppering a Bit Morally Ambiguous

Australian city guide Broadsheet chats to the makers of The Breaker Upperers, a new comedy making it big at the prestigious South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. The film was created by…

Fire in Cardboard City Extremely Realistic

“The clever and freewheeling nine-minute animated short Fire in Cardboard City, directed by Phil Brough, which had its US debut at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, is a mini disaster movie that…

Melanie Lynskey Stars in Stephen King Thriller

“Castle Rock is a giant basket of Easter eggs for King people, but for the rest of us it’s a decent show layered with supernatural secrets waiting to be decoded,” according to John…

Andrew Niccol’s Truman Show 20 Years On

Jim Carrey, Peter Weir, New Zealand-born screenwriter Andrew Niccol, Laura Linney, and Sherry Lansing thought their paranoid dramedy The Truman Show seemed absurd – until life began to imitate art. In the 1990s, as Canadian…

Anna Paquin: “You Don’t Do It for Fame, Finance or Glory”

“Sitting down with Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge, Paquin discussed the release of her newest independent movie at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.” Tara Bitran reports for

Taika Waititi Reveals Details of ‘Jojo Rabbit’

New Zealand “director Taika Waititi has revealed more details of his upcoming projects Jojo Rabbit and Bubbles.” Orlando Parfitt reports for Screen Daily. “Waititi told Screen at the Karlovy Vary Film…

Thomasin McKenzie a Force of Nature

Might Debra Granik’s latest film launch New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie into the same stratosphere as the Oscar-winning Jennifer Lawrence? Vanity Fair investigates. Granik’s work feels like a salve to the kinetic blockbuster that fuels…

Yellow Is Forbidden Auckland Premiere

After premiering to fantastic reviews at Tribeca Film Festival, New York, Pietra Brettkelly’s Yellow Is Forbidden will be shown in Auckland at the upcoming New Zealand International Film Festival. “Kiwi director…

New Netflix Show for Tickled’s David Farrier

“If you’re a weird-documentary fetishist, you’re probably already obsessed with Tickled, an unbelievably strange saga featuring underground ‘tickle cells’ and a scheming, shadowy figure who spends thousands of dollars to ruin people’s lives,” Andrew…

J-Law-Like Rise of Thomasin McKenzie

This January, Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik returned to Sundance, to premiere her follow-up narrative feature, Leave No Trace. And she again brought with her a precocious talent in a role that could be…

Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement’s Latest: Wellington Paranormal

“Police officers try to solve New Zealand’s most absurd paranormal and supernatural cases in Waititi and Clement’s new comedy series Wellington Paranormal,” which is the first of a handful of continuations of Taika Waititi…

Slow Down With Low-Key Drama ‘Leave No Trace’

“Purposefully slow cinema can be a welcome respite from the craziness in both our world and multiplexes,” writes Linsey Bahr in an article for The Daily Democrat. “That is exactly…

Leave No Trace Star Thomasin McKenzie in Bustle

“When celebrities hang out with Bustle editors, we want to give them the chance to leave their mark. Literally. So we hand them a pen, a piece of paper, a few questions, and ask…

Jane Campion’s the Piano Still Hits All The Right Notes

“Rereleased after 25 years, this literary work about a mute woman in 19th-century New Zealand remains full of extraordinary images and enigmas,” writes Peter Bradshaw in a review in The…

Jane Campion on Why She Went Back to the Lake

Top Of The Lake: China Girl’s Jane Campion talks to film magazine Screen Daily about the importance of telling stories from a female point of view. “Motherhood is a very underwritten topic, especially in those…

London’s Calling in First Trailer for Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines

The first full trailer for Peter Jackson-produced Mortal Engines has been released, reports Abid Rahman for The Hollywood Reporter. In the trailer the city of London…

Yoson An Cast in Mulan Live-Action Movie

“New Zealander Yosan An has joined Disney’s live-action movie Mulan as the main love interest Chen Hongui opposite Liu Yifei (also known as Crystal Liu) who is playing Hua Mulan,” reports Kylie Hemmert for…

Breaking up Is Easy for Sami and van Beek

Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek’s film The Breaker Upperers has opened strongly in New Zealand after warm-hearted reviews at the South by Southwest festival in Texas. This week, their comedy opens the Sydney…

It: Chapter Two Casts Jay Ryan as Adult Ben

Auckland-born actor Jay Ryan, 36, has been cast as the adult version of Ben Hanscom in New Line’s It: Chapter Two, sources confirmed to Variety. Ryan joins Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader, who…

Keisha Castle-Hughes Takes to the Boxing Ring

She shot to fame as the fierce warrior Obara Sand on Game Of Thrones. But New Zealander Keisha-Castle Hughes, 28, will now flex her acting muscles in a different kind of drama, when she…

Jane Campion Rewatches Her Own Classic

One of the world’s most unconventional filmmakers, New Zealander Jane Campion talks with The Guardian about the end of the patriarchy, doing away with decorum, and how losing her baby son changed her forever. Twenty-five…

TV Host Clarke Gayford on Fatherhood

Less than a month away from the birth – which will make Jacinda Ardern the first serving head of government since Benazir Bhutto to have a baby – television host Clarke Gayford, 40, who…

Julian Dennison Isn’t in a Hurry to Grow Up

The 15-year-old New Zealand actor Julian Dennison talks to GQ magazine about his starring role in Deadpool 2 – even though he’s not old enough to see it. Dennison is not your average teenager, if…

Thomasin McKenzie Steals the Film in Leave No Trace

Debra Granik’s third feature, Leave No Trace, which stretches the theme of life on the margins to breaking point, is already being talked of as one of the year’s best releases, according to The…

Heartthrob KJ Apa Answers Some Tricky Questions

KJ Apa, the New Zealand import turned Riverdale star, captured hearts (and Instagram followers) when the show premiered in 2017. Riverdale was just renewed for its third season, so it looks like…

Leave No Trace with Thomasin McKenzie Cannes Hit

“Debra Granik is the exceptional film-maker who directed Winter’s Bone in 2010, launching the career of Jennifer Lawrence, and now she returns with this deeply intelligent, complex, finely tuned and observed movie, [starring New…

Anthony McCarten Freddy Mercury Biopic Trailer Out

“The first footage of Bohemian Rhapsody will rock you,” according to Esquire magazine. Penned by New Zealand-born Anthony McCarten, the upcoming Queen biopic, starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury follows the formation of the…

Kim Chambers Swims Like No Other

Kim Chambers, a former ballerina who grew up on a sheep farm in the King Country has done what no other woman has yet achieved: swum the world’s most difficult ocean swim, from the…

New All Blacks Documentary “Looks Absolutely Breathtaking”

“All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks is a new six-episode series and it promises to be a belter,” writes Paul Moore in an article for Joe.ie. Narrated by the “incredibly…

Unique Sneak Preview for Effects Man Matt Aitken

New Zealand-born VFX supervisor Matt Aitken talks about Marvel’s “unusual” move that helped make the biggest superhero blockbuster ever, Avengers: Infinity War. Aitken’s credits included an Academy Award nomination for visual effects for 2009’s District…