Best features of 2018: the actors

16:07 pm on 30 November 2018

Jemaine Clement on his new TV show 'Wellington Paranormal'

"I feel like I'm just another notch in your belt," says Kim Hill. "Oh, well, that's how I feel," Jemain responds, "how many people have you interviewed?"

Jemaine Clement in January 2018 Photo: Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images / AFP

Jane Fonda on acting and activism

Jane Fonda at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: AFP PHOTO / Anne-Christine POUJOULAT

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie: the newest Kiwi star

The young New Zealander making waves overseas with her latest film Stray didn't want to act at first, she says.

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie in November 2018 Photo: VALERIE MACON / AFP

Imelda Staunton is finding her feet

Imelda Staunton is one of the most celebrated English actresses, and her role in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake won a Bafta and an Oscar nomination.
She speaks to Wallace Chapman about her latest starring role in the film Finding Your Feet.

Imelda Staunton in Finding Your Feet Photo: supplied

Sam Neill follows the wake of Captain Cook

Kiwi actor Sam Neill recently took a year off his day job to "do the Pacific with Cook" for the TV series Uncharted. Seeing what James Cook would have seen and meeting descendants of Cook and the people he met was at times humbling, heartbreaking and hilarious, he tells Wallace Chapman.

Uncharted with Sam Neill tracks Captain James Cook's voyage around the Pacific. Photo: Supplied

Richard O'Brien: Rocky Horror 45 years on

It's 45 years since The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened in a London theatre. Wallace Chapman meets the creator of the cult musical, Richard O'Brien.

A still from the 1975 film version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show Photo: 20TH CENTURY FOX / Archives du 7eme Art / Photo12

Bryce Langston on the beauty of tiny houses

Tiny houses on wheels are wonderful, cosy, romantic, comfortable spaces, says Kiwi actor and YouTube star Bryce Langston, but he happily accepts they're not for everyone.

Bryce Langston Photo: supplied

Kiwi actor Chelsie Preston Crayford on body confidence and unlearning the male glance

"Aside from its shape, my body is also white, cis-gendered, young and able, which means I am right at the top of the fickle hierarchy of beauty privilege. Nevertheless, the pressure to be a certain size and shape is massive in my industry - acting."

Chelsie Preston Crayford Photo: supplied

Oscar Kightley: how hard can it be?

In early '90s Christchurch, actor Oscar Kightley was one of a remarkable group of Pasifika performers who took their first steps towards success.

Oscar Kightley Photo: RNZ

Maxine Peake: Funny Cow

Northern English working-class actor Maxine Peake revisits the working men's clubs of her youth in Funny Cow, a story about a female comedian breaking into a scene that didn't yet exist.

Photo: Supplied