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

It's really idealistic and hippy-dippy but I do believe film is a really powerful tool for reaching people.

Seeing ourselves reflected in stories gives people the courage to keep doing what they are doing or make a change.

It still surprises me when I get cast in something. I'm not your, you know, I'm... I remember thinking really early on that you have to look a particular way and I'm quite aware of my look, so I always thought I wouldn't get a lot of screen work.

With 'Soul' I was just here in Aotearoa, New Zealand the whole time so I never got to go to the studios.

'Whale Rider' was quite an extraordinary shoot. We were in that community on the east coast and so much of what you see in that film was very present.