Visually, I'm always considering shots and composition quite a lot, and I love putting art into films, and I do a lot of the art.
I had a country upbringing in a predominantly Maori community, and that contrasted with a very multi-cultured arts community in the Aro Valley in Wellington: growing up around a lot of theatre and poets and writers and stuff.
I'd loved 'Iron Man,' you know, with a passion. I thought that was the most fresh, cool thing, in terms of superhero movies, that I'd seen in a long time.
I daydream all the time.
You realise that there's nothing more endearing than people who are desperately trying to be liked or trying to be the hero, you know? Who also probably just need a hug or want to impress their dad?
I think everyone has experienced those boring arguments about whose turn it is to do the dishes.
The family unit is very interesting because these are people that you're supposed to be the closest to in your life, and yet that's where you find the greatest distances between people as well - especially between parents and kids.
I come from a country whose idea of masculinity is quite extreme, and I've grown up around a lot of that energy. I've been part of that a lot. And it's very draining; it's quite tiring trying to be macho.
Shooting a movie should be fun! It's not a real job. It can be hard, but at the end of the day, we're dressing up and playing pretend.
'Eagle vs Shark' was about keeping myself sane. I wanted to go back to my comedy roots with people I trusted and had worked with before and do something low-budget and more experimental.
'Eagle vs Shark' is a little film I could take risks with and make mistakes on.
At the end of the day, the reality is we're all losers, and we're all uncoordinated. We're the worst of all of the animals on earth, and there's something quite endearing about that.
My father is a visual artist, so I was influenced by him, and my mother is an English teacher who forced me to read a lot of books and poetry and get involved in theatre. I developed a varied taste for different arts.
I've always felt that I wanted to make a Marvel film... I just want to make sure I'm not making an episode.
My world is not spectacle and explosion. It's two people talking.
I come from a big extended family, so it's very normal to be around babies for us, but when it's your own, it's a very different experience for us.
I've been on a lot of film sets, and I've always promised myself I wouldn't create a set where people dread coming to work.
I think I'm a better filmmaker than actor, so I already know that. That's OK. I can handle not being a famous actor.
It was never really my plan to become a filmmaker.
A lot of people are trying to get out of their home country and think 'making it' is if you're able to work in another. For me... I'd be quite content to keep doing my own little films down there for the rest of my filmmaking career.