A young actor from South Auckland is grateful to the producers of Matariki for casting him
in the film. Sharu Delilkan meets him.
Budding actor Jason Wu is still pinching himself about playing the lead role in a New Zealand movie, Matariki.
"I'm still in the denial stage - it's almost like a dream. I think it will finally sink in when I see it on the big screen," says the 20-year-old who lives in Manurewa.
Shot entirely in South Auckland, Matariki is a pacy drama in which one incident sets off the action that takes place over five days and nights.
Written by Michael Bennett and Gavin Strawhan, the film's cast includes Alix Bushnell (Go Girls), Iaheto Ah Hi (Sione's Wedding) and Sara Wiseman (Insatiable Moon, Mercy Peak, Outrageous Fortune and Shortland Street). Wu is aware he has a lot of catching up to do in terms of on-screen experience.
"To be honest I was just happy to audition. I never expected this scale of attention so early in my training," says the Unitec Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts student.
Besides getting the role, Wu says the biggest surprise was "how kind and welcoming everyone was to me as a newbie".
Learning to hotwire a car for the role gave him clues to car thief Aleki's psyche. "It made me realise how clever my character is."
But for Wu, the most difficult aspect of working on the film's set was getting into the spirit of things, and staying in character, when scenes were shot out of sequence. "The hardest part was making myself cry when I was given a hiding and trying to remember the lines at the same time."
Of Samoan and Taiwanese descent, he says his favourite scene was singing on stage at Otara Market.
"It was great observing the various cultures and the colourful people at the market from a totally different perspective, in such a familiar place."
Matariki is screening at Event Cinema Manukau, Event Cinema Queen St and The Vic Theatre in Devonport. Details, see: http://www.flicks.co.nz/
Opportunity calls Jason
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