George Fenwick
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writer, @letterboxd and elsewhere / charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret
Articles by George Fenwick
From painful beginnings to midlife magic: Arts laureate Madeleine Sami looks back at her expansive career
Madeleine Sami was a born entertainer: "I caught up with a family friend who knew me as a 2-year-old and she said I used to run into walls for people’s entertainment. I don’t think I ever wanted to do anything else.”Todd Karehana Madeleine Sami’s career has been punctuated by a series of life-changing calls. She tells George Fenwick why the one naming her as a 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate might be the best one yet.
Taika Waititi on bringing Hollywood to Aotearoa - and why humans can’t be trusted with tech
'Come-as-they-are' Kiwis draw filmmaker Taika Waititi back to NZ In Taika Waititi’s new film Klara and the Sun, based on the best-selling novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, Jenna Ortega plays the titular Artificial Friend (AF) – a humanoid robot designed as companions for young people. An outdated model, Klara languishes in a department store until a sick child, Josie (Mia Tharia), insists on buying Klara, much to the chagrin of her frosty mother (Amy Adams).
City Rail Link dining: A hop-on, hop-off culinary crawl of Auckland
Clockwise from top left: Lottie's, Burgernaut, Cassia, Ragtag, Oyster & Chop, Rosalia'sSupplied George Fenwick hops on the City Rail Link for a culinary crawl of the new openings (and reopenings) lighting up Auckland’s dining scene. If you have an Aucklander in your life, they probably want to talk about trains. Please indulge them.
Byron Coll on photographing the human side of Everest in Tenzing
"It’s just a box with something that collects light, but it’s you pressing that shutter. It’s your connection with a place and it’s your connection with a location that matters.”Bruce MacKay For Byron Coll, combining his two professional loves – acting and photography – in the new Everest epic Tenzing was the opportunity of a lifetime, he tells George Fenwick.
Why you should stop rushing through Singapore on the way to Europe
Singapore’s vibrant Haji Lane.Singapore Tourism Board For many Kiwis, Singapore is a stepping stone - a transit hub perfect for breaking up a longer air journey or Europe. We’re not the only ones: nearly 70 million passengers passed through Changi Airport in 2025. Heading to London via Singapore is a popular route for New Zealanders, but we all know how gruelling that journey can be - long plane rides, uncomfortable sleeps and brutal jetlag.
24 hours in Melbourne: Brunch, museums, pubs and raves
The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia's largest art gallery and museum.Visit Victoria George Fenwick spends the weekend with mates and experiences the charms of Australia's cultural capital like a local. As a former Londoner and current Aucklander, I was struck in Melbourne by the feeling that the two cities I’d lived in as an adult had somehow collapsed together in some strange cosmic event.
Self-acceptance and sexuality as power: How Teeks found his voice again
“I care less about other people’s opinions, about what people think, and I think that has let me be creatively open and unreserved.”Supplied As he returns with his sophomore album, Lovers Comet, Teeks talks to George Fenwick about sonic influences, heartbreak and finding the freedom to be fully himself. When his label wanted to release My Boy as the first single from his upcoming album, Teeks was resistant. “That was probably the song I was most scared to put out,” he says.
‘Let me stretch y’all’: Funny man Josh Thomson takes on a darker, twistier new role
“When I grew up, I thought I was going to be a dramatic actor,” says Josh Thomson. “I guess I kind of look funny, or I’ve got weird eyebrows or something. I love doing comedy, but I was always like, let me stretch y’all.”Photo: Bruce Mackay / Bruce MacKay Josh Thomson almost didn’t become a comedian, but a stint on 7 Days changed everything.
Matu Ngaropo in Cabaret: ‘I want to do the show justice’
Matu Ngaropo will be Cabaret’s Emcee.Photo: Bruce Mackay / Stuff Matu Ngaropo (Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou) trained at Toi Whakaari before embarking on an internationally successful career in musical theatre, including over 900 shows of The Lion King and playing George Washington in the Australian production of Hamilton. He also co-founded the Modern Māori Quartet with James Tito, Maaka Pohatu and Matariki Whatarau.
‘He just wanted to play the game’: How the new Jonah Lomu documentary uncovers his life of sacrifice
“[Jonah Lomu] was only a young man when he came into this situation, so he never got that time of social learning. [He was] not the aggressor, he just wanted to avoid, avoid, avoid.”Supplied Jonah Lomu is Aotearoa’s greatest rugby icon – but the story of his life extends far beyond rugby. George Fenwick talks to film-maker Vea Mafile’o about bringing his Tongan identity, family history and private battles to the forefront in her new documentary, Lomu.
“It’s a little bit piratey” - Emma Jing’s NZFW collection
Fashion designer Emma Jing’s collection will be featured in Kahuria NZ Fashion Week’s group show The Studio.Stuff Fashion designer Emma Jing grew up in Tāmaki Makaurau before studying fashion in Wellington. The now-closed Wellington store Service Depot began stocking her graduate collection, which led to her unexpected career running her own label, largely solo.
Tony director Matt Johnson: ‘I need to make a movie where Bourdain lies’
Tony tells the story of one summer when Anthony Bourdain chased a crush to the seaside community of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.Stuff Long before he became an international truth teller, chef Anthony Bourdain was a teenage liar chasing a girl. Director Matt Johnson tells George Fenwick about bringing one messy, formative summer to the big screen in new biopic Tony.
‘It smells like rain’: Hippo’s top chef on cooking with NZ produce
There’s a positive buzz on the Wellington restaurant scene right now, says Hippo’s executive chef, Tim Smith.Photo: Stuff Tasmanian-born Tim Smith is the executive Chef at Hippo, the restaurant which relaunched last year in QT Wellington. Working from the age of 15, Smith’s culinary career has taken him to luxury resorts and fine dining restaurants throughout New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore.
The Kiwi writer working on House of the Dragon: ‘It’s been life-changing’
Cameron Dixon: "It’s just incredible seeing the scale of what all these creative people can put on."Supplied Roughly six months after Cameron Dixon (Te Uri-o-Hau, Ngāpuhi) got his MA in screen production from University of Auckland, he began as a script coordinator on the locally-made series Power Rangers, progressing up to staff writer over five seasons.
‘I was dumbfounded’: How Hannah Marshall ended up making two major TV shows simultaneously
Pax Assadi as Salman and Hannah Marshall as Harry in Settling.Supplied Writer-actress Hannah Marshall spent years developing Ms. X, the new crime show starring Melissa George as a suburban mother thrust into Auckland’s criminal underworld. As she waited for the green light, she began developing the comedy series Settling with Pax Assadi, in which the pair play disillusioned 30-somethings who spontaneously commit to their childhood marriage pact.
Why Hawke's Bay is one of New Zealand's ultimate long weekend destinations
Kiwiesque Luxury Lodge and Villa in Esk Valley.Photo: Supplied Hawke’s Bay epitomises the very notion of escape, no less because of where it sits in Te Ika-a-Māui/the North Island: tucked under the wing of Te Tairawhiti, Hawke’s Bay is a destination, not a journey. It’s not quite on the way to anywhere else. It’s just you, fertile valleys, and the wide ocean.
‘Ultimate euphoria’: Big Girls Don’t Cry director on A-list adulation and bringing her film home to NZ
Paloma Schneideman: "I can remember literally staring out to the hills [in Matakana], thinking, ‘What's over those hills? Because this can't be it.’"Nicola Sandford For Big Girls Don’t Cry director Paloma Schneideman, the film’s release has come with several burnt-in-her-brain moments. She tells George Fenwick about Kristen Stewart’s standing ovation, her ‘sad summer’ and the pull of Matakana. Last month, Paloma Schneideman was in Biarritz, near the Spanish border on France’s dramatic Basque coast.
The Southland pāua arancini that made the finals of Monteith’s Wild Food Challenge
Dan Pryde says the pāua arancini was a way to bring pāua on the menu without asking his punters to fork out too much.Stuff After 16 years in Australia, working in mining, railway labouring and in various kitchens, Dan Pryde decided it was time to buy a pub. Originally from Invercargill, Pryde had spotted that the local pub in Riverton was for sale and figured it was home time. His vision was for a modern gastropub, harnessing local ingredients to bring elevated flavours to classic pub staples.
Gin Wigmore on grief, reinvention - and the moment she knew her marriage was over
“Without music, I get a little bit lost.”Abigail Dougherty Gin Wigmore's new album Beautiful Mess is split into two halves: the breakdown of a marriage and the making of a new life. She talks to George Fenwick about grief, reinvention and why the idea of permanence still scares her. Gin Wigmore remembers the moment she knew her marriage was over. “We had no more compassion left for each other,” she says. “You’re done after that.
Tandi Wright on Evil Dead Burn - and why NZ must rethink its production laws
“New Zealand is highly unusual internationally in that it has, for whatever reason, decided not to put its actors front and centre of the screen industry. ”Solsbury Hill Studio Ltd As well as being a familiar face on our screens for three decades, Tandi Wright is the vice president of Equity, the actor’s union, through which she’s campaigned for better working conditions for New Zealand actors.
Your Weekend’s exclusive preview of the NZ Film Festival lineup
Still from Coward by Lukas Dhont.Supplied The most wonderful time of the year for film lovers is approaching. George Fenwick gets an early look at the Whānau Mārama NZ International Film Festival programme for your exclusive Your Weekend guide to what to catch on the big screen.
Too good! The sammie that keeps them coming back for more
What: Fresh deli-style French Dip sandwiches on sesame hoagie rolls Where: Good Boy Sammies, 181A Riddiford Street, Newtown, Wellington Price: $19 The man who taught himself to bake bread just to roll out the best sammies in Newtown has a new favourite on the menu, and it is a total winner. Al Green started out as a musician washing dishes on the side before cooking around Wellington and Melbourne.
Actor Jarod Rawiri on his new play Constellations and the ‘medicine’ of Māoritanga
Being Māori is who you are. Nothing will take that away from you, and this is a space where you can be happy, it’s medicine for you.”Bruce Mackay With his new play opening under the stars of Matariki, Jarod Rawiri talks to George Fenwick about navigating career and family and finding healing in Māoritanga. A few years ago, Jarod Rawiri accompanied his daughter Huia to a new adult kapa haka group at Rutherford College’s marae, Te Kōtuku, in Te Ātatu, West Auckland.
The secret to Good Boy Sammies’ most popular sandwich
The beef sandwich is a take on the French Dip. From the moment he opened Good Boy Sammies as a “hole-in-the-wall in Newtown” in 2018, Al Green has been focused on two things: affordability and generosity (with a side of good social media banter). Green started out as a musician and wandered into hospitality sideways by washing dishes on the side while playing in bands and producing music.
How Liv Parker defeated imposter syndrome for her biggest role to date
Liv Parker stars as one of the leads on new TV show, Head Girl.Bruce Mackay / Stuff Ahead of her new role in Head Girl, Liv Parker talks to George Fenwick about imposter syndrome, giving herself grace and why stepping into someone else’s shoes for a living is the best job out there. On her first day of shooting Head Girl, Liv Parker heard a sudden ringing in her ears.
How director Adrian Chiarella turned conversion therapy into a literal monster in Leviticus
Stacy Clausen, Adrian Chiarella and Joe Bird on the set of Leviticus.Ben Saunders / Stuff In Leviticus, the new Australian horror from debut writer-director Adrian Chiarella, two teen boys are forced into conversion therapy when their romance draws the ire of their conservative town. Their lives are soon in peril when the ritual unleashes a murderous entity which appears as the person they desire most - each other.
Are we in a ‘Friendship Recession’? Why making friends as an adult feels harder than ever
"Almost everybody would like to have better friends... that’s just part of the human condition."Getty Images As a ‘friendship recession’ takes hold, George Fenwick looks at the awkward, hopeful business of making friends as an adult – and how to find your community once more. I was the second to arrive. My first dinner companion and I introduced ourselves, made polite chatter about the restaurant, our jobs. A third diner arrived, a fourth.
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