Battle to bring out the Muss
A NEW documentary has revealed how hard it was for director Lee Tamahori to turn Temuera Morrison into violent drunk Jake the Muss for his breakthrough 1994 film Once Were Warriors.
Morrison is now synonymous with Jake but at the time it was a big shift from his Shortland Street role as mild-mannered doctor Hone Ropata.
Even Rena Owen, who played Jake’s long-suffering wife Beth, doubted Morrison was up for the job.
‘‘Oh shucks, Beth’s going to be beating up Jake,’’ Owen admitted in a new Maori TV documentary Once Were Warriors: Where Are They Now? ‘‘Every spare moment was spent on extra rehearsals for Tem.’’
The Jake we see firing up at Beth in the family home comes courtesy of a line that a fed-up Owen spat at Morrison during retakes.
She wanted to wipe the ‘‘Dr Ropata smirk’’ off Morrison’s lips.
‘‘I said ‘What the f... are you smiling at Jake? It’s not funny’.’’
Morrison thought Owen was ad-libbing after a long day but quickly got the message. Tamahori called for them to redo the scene. Convincing now, Morrison fired the line, ‘‘Who the f... do you think you are?’’
Everyone went home with smiles on their faces, Owen said. ‘‘We saw the beast.’’
Slightly built Morrison also worked with a fight co-ordinator to build some muscle and worked on his road-rage on the way to the Shortland Street set to hone his mental aggression.
And he used Owen’s doubt ‘‘as fuel’’ for the violent role.