Rachel House

Taika grabbed me and went, 'Come and meet these guys'. He knocked on this really massive campervan and then the door opened and there's Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo peering down, then giving me high-fives and hugs. I was like, 'Oh my god.'

The Brits make the best murder mysteries - I mean, did you see 'Broadchurch'? Wasn't it amazing? I love the mysteries and trying to put it all together.

When I went on to the team on 'Korero Mai,' I realized how much I didn't know and how much I wanted to know in terms of sound, lighting and editing which is a process you don't go through in fast turnaround TV.

With 'Woman Far Walking,' that was as good as it gets and I didn't want to do any more. It was satisfying but really exhausting and I didn't want to go back there any more. It was feeling like a 9-5 job and I didn't feel excited about it.

Having worked with so many directors, I liked the look of what they were doing. It seemed to be a lot more creatively satisfying, putting all the parts together, joining the puzzle together, creating the tone of a piece.

I have always wanted to direct.

With all the stories that we have, it's still rare that we get to see what goes on in the minds of our children when they're in their own world.

With theatre, we are always trying to engage in a conversation with people and to bring people into that conversation, but I was disappointed the audiences were not as mixed as I hoped they would become.

I felt that I had done years and years of theatre, and it had been a wonderful journey where I'd learned a lot, but I wasn't as passionate about it as I once was.

I didn't want to direct any more theatre because I wanted to try something different, to move into another realm.

Aotearoa is one of the most beautiful places in the world and we have to protect that.

It's so unfortunate that people have this need to join gangs.

I think we are progressing with race relations but assumptions hold us back.

Like all good stories, there are universal things that 'Moana' has - a young, resilient, strong woman goes against the wishes of her people and sets out on her own - that's a pretty universal bravery.

I was around when there was only one channel and when that second channel arrived, it came with the wonderful world of Disney on a Sunday night. We would drop our bicycles and run home to see it, it was just pure escapism.

In Maori culture there's a lot of humor and just as quickly we are able to express grief.

I got this secretive, very secretive email from my agent saying, 'You have an audition for Marvel, no one's letting us know what the name of the film is, but are you available on this day? That's all we know.' And I went, 'OK, well, I think it will probably be 'Thor,' because Taika's got it.'

Mum got a QSM (Queen's Service Medal) for her community work in mental health. She was a psychiatric social worker, so she'd travel all around the north visiting people back in the day.

I really love the work that I do, and I feel like you have to go that extra mile to do it because it is a responsibility. Telling stories is a responsibility.

I've never not felt Maori, ever. And because of the era I grew up in, I was never not seen as that. I would walk down the street with Mum and Dad and people would say, 'Look, there's a little Maori girl.'

Actors wrestle with it all the time; they want to be liked. They do. They want to play something that people are going to like.

It feels like there's a lot of Maori artists who are doing very well in the world which is nice.

Diversity is where it's at for me. I think we need more and that could be all kinds of different cultures, big conversations.

It's so nice to be nominated for something by your culture, it's always very cool.

I just haven't had that level of ambition in terms of being a lead in a film or a TV series because I'm really content.