STACK NZ Sep #77

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Rhys Darby talks about going bush with his old pal TaikaWaititi in the homegrown smash Hunt For TheWilderpeople . Words John Ferguson

the story of a young city kid (Julian Dennison) who finds himself on the run with his grumpy foster uncle (Sam Neill) in the wild New Zealand bush. Darby is almost unrecognisable as the aforementioned Psycho Sam, a crazed, conspiracy obsessed recluse who reluctantly comes to the aid of our heroes. Darby says Waititi actually offered him a choice of roles when he first approached him about the new movie. “Initially he wanted me to be one of the hunters or a policeman,” he recalls. ”I looked at the different things and thought, ‘I would certainly have the most fun playing a conspiracy nut-job’. It’s good to play someone quite different from what I have done in the past. And he said, 'let’s chuck a beard on you so you look really different'." While the character of Sam was in the original novel, for the movie version the part was

hys Darby and Taika Waititi go way back. From the HBO cult favourite Flight Of The Conchords to Darby’s scene- stealing cameo in the latter’s What We Do In The Shadows (“we’re werewolves not swearwolves”), the pair are at the forefront of a small group of New Zealand comedy performers who have gone on to find fame overseas. So when Darby learned that Waititi was working on a new film, Hunt For The Wilderpeople , the Kiwi comic needed little persuasion to come onboard. “I love Taika to bits and I love working with him,” Darby tells STACK over the phone from US. “We both have the same sense of humour and the same sort of work ethic, so when he said you can do Psycho Sam, I was very happy.” Based on Barry Crump's novel Wild Pork and Watercress , Hunt For The Wilderpeople tells

SEPTEMBER 2016

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