Thomasin’s new star turn
I think she [Mary] has a lot of wisdom and strength, and a kind of boldness behind her to be a young woman during that time.
Thomasin McKenzie
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie’s latest movie role shows a new side to the actress whose star just keeps rising.
The Kiwi actress from Wellington had a whirlwind year in 2019, with a critically acclaimed role in Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit. Now she’s taken a different tack with True History of the Kelly Gang premiering at the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF).
In the movie, based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by Peter Carey, she plays Mary Hearn, a young sex worker with a child in tow, while the notorious Australian bush ranger Ned Kelly is played by British actor George MacKay of 1917 fame.
The pair were award-season mates last year, after both films won Oscars.
“It was cool seeing each other, and running into each other at events in LA or in London, and seeing a familiar face,” the 19-year-old says.
“He’s such a lovely and thoughtful guy. It was cool kind of having that connection with him and seeing him be so successful.”
McKenzie first read the script after she filmed 2018’s Leave No Trace, and notes it didn’t shy away from explicitness or violence.
It was a challenging shoot too — McKenzie recalls it being freezing on the Australian project, directed by Justin Kruzel and also featuring Russell Crowe.
“I think she [Mary] has a lot of wisdom and strength, and a kind of boldness behind her to be a young woman during that time.”
McKenzie says she may not get a chance to watch the film with her Grandma Dame Kate Harcourt — the young star is on her way to Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog set and is jetting to London the next day for a reshoot.
“But I would like to watch it with her one day and see what she thinks . . . I always feel self-conscious when Grandma watches my films because I look up to her so much. In a way, I’m kind of doing a lot of the things I’m doing for her honour.”
While McKenzie is still regularly receiving scripts, even with Covid-19 hitting the film industry, the lockdown was a chance for her to reflect on the whirlwind of her career so far.
“I think it was definitely a muchneeded opportunity for me to slow down, and just kind of take a look back at the last year. I’m really grateful for that time, but also of course feeling kind of conflicted because the (pandemic) pain and anxiety in the world is very obvious at the moment.”
When Kelly Gang opens at the NZIFF, it will be a full-circle moment for her. Leave No Trace played at 2018’s festival when she was 17, and her role as 13-year-old Tom earned her international acclaim.
“Hell, yeah, it’s so special to me,” she says of Kelly Gang’s New Zealand premiere.
“I think it’s probably the film festival I’m most nervous about, whatever I’ve worked on being shown, because New Zealand is my home.”
Since 2018, she has worked alongside stars and directors including Edgar Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Timothee Chalamet and of course Oscar-winning Waititi.
As McKenzie enters her twenties a Hollywood star, she says she sometimes feels that she’s missed out on what her Wellington friends are experiencing.
“Yeah, sometimes I do . . . other times I feel incredibly lucky to be where I am.”
» True History of the Kelly Gang screens on NZIFF opening night, July 24, in cinemas and online. Go to nziff.co.nz