Kiwi teen ‘the new J-Law’
Thomasin leaps from Shortland St to Sundance.
Going back to school keeps me grounded and humble.”
It has been a whirlwind start to 2018 for teenage Kiwi actor Thomasin McKenzie. Last Monday she was in the US promoting her new film and two days later she had returned home to Wellington for her first day back at school.
The 17-year-old — who plays the lead character Tom in the independent movie Leave No Trace — travelled to the US for the premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
“It was amazing just to be in the audience seeing it on the big screen and seeing everyone’s reactions to the film,” she told the Herald on Sunday. “It was the first red carpet I’ve ever walked on with people taking
my photos and saying ‘look over here’, ‘smile, smile at the camera’.
“That was exciting and crazy and scary.”
McKenzie has previously appeared in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and played Pixie
Hannah on Shortland Street in 2015, but Leave No Trace is her first US film.
Directed by Debra Granik, the film is based on the novel My
Abandonment, exploring how the lives of 13-year-old Tom and her war veteran dad, played by Ben Foster, are changed by one small mistake.
McKenzie’s performance in the film has been widely acclaimed by critics.
A Financial Times review predicted McKenzie was likely to follow Jennifer Lawrence “into the A-list firmament”.
The Hollywood Reporter praised her “steadiness and poise”. McKenzie told the Herald on
Sunday it was “surreal” to read the reviews.
She spent 10 days in the US and met top acting agencies. She is yet to sign with one.
Her parents, actor Miranda Harcourt and director Stuart McKenzie, travelled with her.
The family flew back to Wellington last Tuesday and McKenzie started her final year at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Karori the following day.
“You get a lot of attention when you’re filming or when you’re an actress on set,” she said.
“But going back to school is really good because it keeps me grounded and humble.”
An “incredibly proud” Harcourt said her eldest daughter’s burgeoning career meant some potentially life-changing decisions.
“Alongside that pride you just go ‘well what does this mean for the future of Thomasin, the future of the family? Are we all going to have to move away? Can she just go over [to the US] now and again and do projects and then come back?’
“Everything’s just kind of thrown up in the air.”
Narelle Umbers, principal at Samuel Marsden, said Thomasin was a “delightful and happy” pupil, and staff and students were proud of her achievements and pleased to be able to support her.