In moving true-life family drama

“The first time I met her she was absolutely in that character so it was hard to know who I was meeting,” says House, who plays Gaye Hatfield, who helps Sam reconnect with her old life by teaching her to kayak.

“She just has all these fantastic ideas and she doesn’t just talk about them, she executes them. She gathered that team together and made it happen with her wonderful producers. They were wonderful women and were on set. They run a tight ship but they are also very generous.”

Before she was cast, House hadn’t heard of the Penguin Bloom phenomenon, named after the baby magpie the family adopts that helps to heal the fractured family. Sam’s photographer husband Cameron captured the bird’s journey, turning it into an Instagram sensation which in turn spawned the New York Times best-selling book.

“I was a bit slow to the party,” says House. “So when I was first sent the script I became quite obsessed with who these people were and did a lot of a research and joined Penguin’s Instagram account and then met them on the very first day of filming and they were just the most generous, welcoming people. We were filming in their house — they were that generous.”

House has been a frequent collaborator with compatriot Taika Waititi since his early films Eagle Vs Shark and Boy, and has also been an acting coach to young stars in his films including the Oscar-nominated Jojo Rabbit. She also boosted her global profile after appearing in Waititi’s Marvel hit Thor: Ragnarok, which helped her score a voice role in Pixar’s latest animation masterpiece Soul.

House is torn between being thrilled that Disney opted to release it on their streaming service so COVID-affected audiences around the world could see it, but also slightly disappointed she didn’t get to see the incredible visuals and sound on the big screen.

“As soon as it comes into cinemas I am there,” she says.