Rachel House (actress)

Rachel House
Born October 20, 1971 (age 45)
Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation Actress, director, acting coach
Notable work Whale Rider, Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Rachel House is a New Zealand actress, director, and acting coach.

Early life

House was born in 1971 in Auckland, New Zealand and raised in Kamo, Whangarei by her adoptive Glaswegian immigrant parents John and Sheila House.[1] She is of Māori (Ngati Mutunga and Ngai Tahu) and European/Pakeha descent.[2]

Career

Acting

House attended the New Zealand national drama school, Toi Whakaari, graduating in 1992.[3] From here she went into stage work with Pacific Underground Theatre and Auckland Theatre Company. In 1995, she won the Chapman Tripp Most Promising Female Newcomer of the Year Award for her performance in the one-woman show Nga Pou Wahine by Briar Grace-Smith.[4] This was followed by other awards in 2002 (Most Outstanding Performance) for Witi Ihimaera's critically acclaimed Woman Far Walking (in which she played the key role of Tiriti, a 160-year-old woman) and 2003 (Best Supporting Actress) in Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People.[5]

She has acted in several major productions that have toured both nationally and internationally, including Hone Kouka's Waiora, Carol Anne Duffy's The Worlds Wife and the UK/New Zealand co-production of Beauty and the Beast.[6]

House's film work has included roles in Whale Rider, Eagle vs Shark, Boy, and White Lies.[7] Her television appearances include Maddigan's Quest and Gaylene Preston's series Hope and Wire.[8] Jason Buchanan of the Rovi corporation says of her "While she may not necessarily possess traditional Hollywood good looks, House has an undeniably distinct persona onscreen and exhibits just the kind of charisma that could prove the foundation for an enduring career."[9]

In 2016, House appeared in Taika Waititi's feature film Hunt for the Wilderpeople.[10] The film became the top grossing New Zealand film of all time at the New Zealand box office.[11]

In July 2016, it was announced that House will voice the character of Gramma Tala in the upcoming 2016 Disney animated film Moana.[12]

House has also been an acting coach for the young actors on Taika Waititi's Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Everything We Loved, The Dark Horse starring Cliff Curtis, The Rehearsal and Top of the Lake (Season 2).[13]

Directing

House has directed several theatrical performances, winning the 2001 Director of the Year award at both the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards and the New Zealand Listener Awards for her direction of Mitch Tawhi Thomas' play Have Car Will Travel.[14]

House attended the Prague Film School in 2008 and was awarded Best Director and Best Film Audience Award for her two short films made while studying there.[15] In 2010, House directed Kylie Meehan's short film The Winter Boy, produced by Hineani Melbourne for the New Zealand Film Commission's Premiere Shorts.[16]

In 2012, House directed the Māori-language version of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, performed as part of an international series at London's Globe Theatre.[17] For this she was awarded Production of the Year and Director of the Year at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.[18] Other theatre directing work includes the award-winning production of Hinepau, which House also co-adapted from Gavin Bishop's original book and toured both nationally and internationally, Neil La Bute's Mercy Seat and Hui by longtime collaborator Mitch Tawhi Thomas that premiered at the Auckland Arts Festival in 2013.[19]

In 2016, House directed Auckland based theatre company Silo Theatre's production of Medea, a contemporary retelling of the Euripides myth created by Australian theatre-makers Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks.[20]

Achievements

In 2012, House received a prestigious New Zealand Arts Foundation's Laureate Award given as an investment in excellence across a range of art forms for an artist with prominence and outstanding potential for future growth.[21] In 2016, House received the WIFT (Women in Film & Television) NZ Mana Wāhine Award her prolific contribution to theatre and film, both in front of and behind the camera.[22]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Director
2002 Whale Rider Shilo Niki Caro
2004 Fracture Taxi driver Larry Parr
2006 Perfect Creature Forensic woman Glen Standring
2007 Eagle vs Shark Nancy Taika Waititi
2010 Boy Aunty Gracey Taika Waititi
2013 White Lies Maraea Dana Rotberg
2014 Everything We Loved TV reporter Voice role Max Currie
2014 The Dark Horse Vagrant woman James Napier Robertson
2016 Hunt for the Wilderpeople Paula Taika Waititi
2016 The Rehearsal Rewia Alison Maclean
2016 Moana Gramma Tala Voice role Ron Clements & John Musker

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Queenie and Pete Queenie
1998 Tiger Country Faenza Television Movie
1999 - 2000 The Life and Times of Te Tutu Hine Core Cast
2002 Duggan Warder Television Movie
2002 Mataku Rachel Season 1
2002 Revelations Ocelot
2005 Ask Your Auntie Panelist
2006 Maddigan's Quest Goneril Core Cast
2011 Super City Roimata Season 1
2013 The Blue Rose Tina 3 Episodes
2014 Hope and Wire Joycie Waru Mini-Series
2014 Soul Mates Mum
2015 Find Me a Māori Bride Kuini Season 1
2016 Wolf Creek Ruth Mini-Series

Theatre

Actor

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Tales of the Pacific Various Pacific Underground Theatre
1994 By Degrees Donna Auckland Theatre Company
1994 Savage Hearts - Manawa Taua Various Theatre at Large
1995 Risky Risque Baby Bats Theatre
1995 Nga Pou Wahine Various New Zealand Tour
1995 The Maids Claire
1995 Five Angels Carol/Api Centrepoint Theatre
1996 Waiora Ameria New Zealand International Festival of the Arts
1996 Waitapu Jackie New Zealand & Canadian Tour
1996 King Lear Cornelia/Various Theatre at Large
1997 Waiora Ameria New Zealand & UK Tour
1997 Alice in Wonderland Various Bruce Mason Centre
1997 Nga Pou Wahine Various New Zealand & Sydney - Australia Tour
1998 Beauty and the Beast Various New Zealand International Festival of the Arts
2000 Serial Killers Simone Circa Theatre
2000 Woman Far Walking Tiriti New Zealand International Festival of the Arts
2001 Woman Far Walking Tiriti New Zealand & Hawaiian Tour
2002 The World's Wife Various New Zealand International Festival of the Arts
2002 The Bellbird Tapairu Auckland Theatre Company
2002 South Pacific Bloody Mary Court Theatre
2003 Cherish Maeve Circa Theatre
2003 An Enemy of the People Circa Theatre
2003 The World's Wife Various New Zealand Tour
2010 The Vagina Monologues Various The Basement Theatre
2013 White Rabbit, Red Rabbit Nassim Silo Theatre

Director

Year Title Notes
2001 Have Car Will Travel Taki Rua
2002 Have Car Will Travel Silo Theatre
2005 The Mercy Seat Silo Theatre
2005 Hinepau Capital E National Theatre for Children
2006 Hinepau Australian Tour
2006 - 2007 Frangipani Perfume New Zealand, Brisbane - Australia & Cambridge - U.K
2007 Wild Dogs Under My Skirt Auckland Festival
2009 Flintlock Musket STAMP at THE EDGE
2012 The Māori Troilus and Cressida Globe Theatre
2013 Hui Auckland Arts Festival & Silo Theatre
2013 Don Ioane Pacific Institute of Performing Arts
2014 MISS.Understood Pacific Institute of Performing Arts
2016 Medea Silo Theatre

Awards

Year Award Category Work Result
1995 Chapman Tripp Theatre Award Most Promising Female Newcomer Nga Pou Wahine Won
1996 Chapman Tripp Theatre Award Best Supporting Actress King Lear Nominated
2001 Chapman Tripp Theatre Award Director of the Year Have Car Will Travel Won
2001 New Zealand Listener Award Best Director Have Car Will Travel Won
2002 Chapman Tripp Theatre Award Outstanding Performance Woman Far Walking Won
2003 Chapman Tripp Theatre Award Best Supporting Actress An Enemy of the People Won
2010 Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival Best Supporting Actress Boy Won
2012 Chapman Tripp Theatre Award Director of the Year The Māori Troilus and Cressida Won
2012 New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate Award Won
2016 WIFT NZ Mana Wāhine Award Won

References

  1. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  2. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-08-01.
  3. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  4. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  5. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  6. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  7. ↑ "Kathryn Rawlings & assoc.". www.kractors.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  8. ↑ "Kathryn Rawlings & assoc.". www.kractors.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  9. ↑ "Rachel House Biography - Fandango". Fandango. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  10. ↑ "Rachel House". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  11. ↑ "Hunt for the Wilderpeople becomes largest grossing local film in NZ". Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  12. ↑ Heath, Paul (2016-07-25). "Nicole Scherzinger, Jemaine Clement, Alan Tudyk & more join the cast of Disney's Moana". The Hollywood News. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  13. ↑ "Rachel House". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  14. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  15. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  16. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  17. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  18. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  19. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  20. ↑ Christian, Dionne (2016-06-11). "Hunt for the Wilderpeople's Rachel House on her new project". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  21. ↑ "Rachel House". 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  22. ↑ "WIFT New Zealand | Film and Television Industry News from Women in Film and Television New Zealand - WIFT NZ MANA WAHINE AWARDS FOR 2016". www.wiftnz.org.nz. Retrieved 2016-07-30.

External links

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