Heartbreak High actor Rachel House is ‘outraged’ by Maori rights rollback
As she launches her debut feature – a family movie about a sacred mountain – director Rachel House lashes out at the New Zealand coalition government’s treatment of Maori.
The opening credits to the New Zealand family movie, The Mountain, describe it as “a film made by heaps of people, including Rachel House”. House directed, co-wrote and co-produced her debut film, and she says her unusual acknowledgment that movie-making is collaborative, certainly raised eyebrows.
“Other people have said, ‘Why have you been so humble and not taking credit where credit is due?’’ House shifts impatiently in her seat in a spacious if bland Sydney hotel suite, and says firmly: “I am taking credit where credit is due. You know, I’m credited as the director and as a co-producer and all the other things … but I just feel it’s a bit ridiculous saying a film (is) by one person. That’s why I love this industry so much – because it’s constantly collaborative.’’
The Maori director studied acting in New Zealand “when I was very young” and filmmaking in Prague when she was in her thirties. She says that as a trainee actor, “I was told I probably wouldn’t even make it onto the screen’’, let alone appear in Hollywood roles.
Yet today, the 52-year-old is one of New Zealand’s leading actors; she has a richly resonant voice and has appeared in Hollywood blockbusters Moana and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. She starred in the Australian film, Penguin Bloom, and alongside Sam Neill in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople. She also has an impressive track record as a theatre director – among her credits is a Maori version of Troilus and Cressida that was staged at London’s Globe Theatre.
Many Australians will know House as principal “Woodsy” from the International Emmy Award-winning Netflix reboot, Heartbreak High – the same principal who fancies herself as a woke ally and who in season one, had to wrestle a gigantic blow up penis from a student. When asked about that farcical scene, House might be channelling Woodsy as she says with a straight face and slightly admonishing tone: “Well, it was fine. I mean, I just wanted to get it off James (Majoos), who plays Darren (the rebellious school student). That’s all I wanted. And James made it very difficult. They are very strong.’’
She had been considering – and rejecting – film scripts for 10 years when she was approached by Hunt for the Wilderpeople producers Piki films, and asked to direct The Mountain. She set about revamping the original script by New Zealand comedian and writer Tom Furniss, and injected a heightened Maori perspective (and a young female protagonist) into the story.
The completed film revolves around Sam (Elizabeth Atkinson), an adventurous 11-year-old girl who has never met her Maori dad, and who is determined to trek to the top of a snow-capped peak, Taranaki Maunga (Mountain) that is sacred to her father’s tribe, and located on New Zealand’s North Island.
Sam believes that exploring this cultural connection will heal the cancer she is battling.
The plucky protagonist is joined on her quest by two boys. Mallory (Reuben Francis) is new in town, has suffered a stunning bereavement and is trying to disguise the fact he is desperate to make friends. Bronco (played with scene-stealing brio by Terence Daniel) is another Maori kid who, unlike Sam, is acutely aware of his traditional culture. This self-styled, pint-sized Indigenous advocate feels that his single dad neglects him.
House, who has worked as an acting coach on high-profile productions including Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog and Waititi’s Boy and Jojo Rabbit, was drawn to a movie focused on children because “I’ve had such an enjoyable time working with kids (as a performance coach), so I felt really that it’s a genre that I love: a family film with difficult things. There’s something so formative that happens when you deal with those difficult things. For children, especially, it can be formative.’’ All of her three young stars were making their acting debuts, yet they seem natural and charismatic on screen. House reveals that “when you are casting kids, the best thing you can do is try and find kids who closely resemble their characters. So Terence, who plays Bronco – he was Bronco when he walked in, it was immediately recognisable. He was very proud of his culture, very comfortable in his skin and was a very generous spirit.
“Likewise with Reuben. He had lived in the UK, and he moved back just before Covid lockdown to Aotearoa (New Zealand). He had to go to a new school just before he auditioned, and so he was still feeling like an outsider at that stage.’’ House says she and the producers “searched far and wide” for a girl to play Sam, “and we were struggling to find her. But what we recognised in Elizabeth (Atkinson) straight away was her absolute determination and strength.’’
At a time when there is saturation media coverage of “toxic masculinity”, the boys in The Mountain demonstrate their vulnerabilities and concern for Sam’s welfare. House says: “I actually know a lot of gentle, loving, kind boys, but I feel like I see represented in film and television the other (stereotype). I get concerned and sad, really, that especially our Maori male characters, are fearsome and tough. I feel like we’ve got enough of those films.’’
She says it is “ludicrous” that kindness and nurturing are often associated only with women and girls. “Boys aren’t conditioned to be nurturing, but I’ve met many who are. I’ve seen beautiful boys nurturing their siblings, looking after mum. It exists but they’re not applauded for it.’’
A fourth key character in The Mountain is Mount Taranaki itself, a dormant volcano that has profound spiritual significance for many Maori tribes – and for House herself (her father’s family has a tribal connection to this imposing peak). The director says she drew closer to her heritage while working on the film.
Through their whakapapa (ancestry) Maoris identify with several tribes and consider mountains to be living ancestors. As a child, House visited Taranaki with her parents, who “had very, very close friends down there. And I always remember feeling the power of that mountain. So it was wonderful to go back and truly connect with those tribes.’’
Before filming in the area, “we had to get the permission of all eight tribes’’ who are connected to Mt Taranaki. “I’m not sure how it would have gone had I not connected to two of them,’’ she muses. Another complication was that descendants of those iwi (Maori tribes) were then campaigning for the Crown to grant “legal personhood” to Mt Taranaki and two other mountains; to recognise these landforms as their living ancestors.
Legal personhood was granted in 2023 and was “a big deal” says House. “That’s what gives our mountain, I suppose, a deepening sacredness. It came through last year as we were filming, and it was very cool.’’
The Heartbreak High star will be on our TV screens again from July, starring in the Apple TV+ drama Time Bandits. A time-travelling adventure that follows a band of thieves and an 11-year-old history buff, this series was filmed in Wellington, stars Lisa Kudrow, and is based on a 1981 film of the same name. House says enigmatically that her character, Fianna, “is a huntress and that’s a very big clue. You’ll know it’s me, but I will look very different’’.
Meanwhile, Netflix has announced that Heartbreak High will have a third and final season. House is cagey about revealing when the swan song season will be filmed.
While season two of this teen drama featured a ludicrous finale involving anti-woke male students and a teacher donning Ned Kelly armour and starting a dangerous, penis-shaped fire, season one was widely acclaimed. House is proud to be part of the “kick-ass” show “because I absolutely love the conversations around gender, sexuality and race, and friendship and relationships. I think it’s wonderful.’’
The actor-director brings a Maori world view to The Mountain and its tender tale of childhood bravery, illness and cross-cultural friendships. She feels “outraged” about the NZ coalition government’s recently-announced plan to roll back Maori rights including reviewing the Treaty of Waitangi, restricting the use of Maori language in the public service and disbanding a Maori health service. “I’m outraged and deeply sad, but I think what it’s done is brought a lot of allies – ourselves and allies have come together, and we’re fighting it,’’ she says. Because of the planned rollback, House was “so nervous about the (March, 2024) release of our film back home. She worried the government’s move would “embolden and empower the people (voters) that put them there, and suddenly, everything’s exposed in terms of how they actually feel about Indigenous people.’’
She and the producers were also anxious “because we thought perhaps the kids (her actors) might read something that was negative, or somehow be picked on (online), because of the political aspects of the film.’’ Fortunately, there was no backlash. “It didn’t happen. Loads of people came to see it. Really enjoyed it,’’ says the clearly relieved director.
House remains “very emotional” about the rollback, but reflects: “It’s so important to remember that it’s (coming from) a small group of people. And that there are some fantastic unions in the world between different cultures.’’
The Mountain is in cinemas from June 27.
