Stan walker says he had a Once Were Warriors childhood. Now he's starring opposite Jake the Muss in a feature film.
In Mt Zion, the Australian Idol winner plays a talented singer who is trying to branch out from life with his traditional Maori family of contract potato-pickers in Pukekohe.
And co-star Temuera Morrison, who plays his father, has been giving him plenty of tips.
"The one thing I told Stan was singers make great actors, because they know emotion," said Morrison during a break in filming near Pukekohe. "They have to convey it in a two- or three-minute song.
"What I keep telling Stan is, 'we all know you can sing but I want the audience to say, Oh Stan can act'. He's the magic of the movies, we're just the potatoes."
