Photos: Hagen Hopkins
It’s not every day that Vanessa Stacey has a child pointing at her and saying, “It’s the evil lady,” but when it happened recently at the premiere of new movie Bookworm, she was very happy about it.
“I play a villain in the movie, so when I was given the ‘evil lady’ feedback, I thought, ‘My work here is done,’” she laughs.
Bookworm is a coming-of-age movie directed by Ant Timpson. It features Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood and brilliant newcomer, 12-year-old Nell Fisher.
It was shot in the South Island, near Methven, and features our fabulous scenery as Elijah and Nell’s characters hike through the bush on a mission to find a mythical black panther.
Vanessa plays Angelina, who meets the couple hiking in the bush and leads them astray.
Her character has been described as “a quaint English villain in an Enid Blyton book” by its director.
“She’s a smiling assassin,” tells Vanessa. “I befriend them, and then it gets very cloak and dagger.”
The movie began screening earlier this month, but Vanessa was allowed to view it in June.
“My father was dying and in palliative care. It was such a hard time for me, but Ant sent me a copy of the movie so that Dad could see me in it,” she says.
Richard Stacey died on June 27 and Vanessa is still feeling emotional about it.
“I was with Dad 14 hours a day for the last nine weeks of his life,” she shares. “Luckily, I was able to keep working remotely. I knew he would love the movie, so it was so amazing to sit with him and watch it.
“If I’m honest, Dad was much more of an action- movie guy, but he really enjoyed the magic of it. It’s very much like the movies I grew up watching, like Stand By Me. They’re coming-of-age adventure films from the ’80s.
“Dad watched it and then said, ‘I wouldn’t think of you as a hiker.’ I said ‘No, but I’m a trained actor, Dad,’” she laughs.
Vanessa says she loved being at the premiere of Bookworm and seeing how much the children in the audience loved it.
A highlight for her was acting with Michael Smiley, who is recognisable from many British films and TV shows, including Doctor Who and White Bear.
“It was such a treat to work with Michael,” she enthuses. “We got on like a house on fire. He’s a fascinating, funny man and we just laughed all the time.
“Michael and I are already talking about a spin-off or our origin story where we become grifters. We’re definitely old-school kind of villains, but without any weaponry.”
Vanessa also knew Elijah from her roles in The Lord of the Rings film franchise.
Vanessa is of Ngāti Kuia and Te Atiawa descent. She wears many hats in the art world as an actor, musician, producer, playwright and comedian. She’s also the director of New Zealand Fringe Festival and the Ngā Toi Kaitiaki of CubaDupa. She acted in Bookworm between organising the two events.
“I had just finished the Fringe Festival and went down for a couple of days of shooting. Then, I came back and opened CubaDupa, then went back down again for 10 days.”
Doing things back-to-back on several things at once is just how Vanessa works these days.
She explains, “I’m a musician first and foremost. I’ve just had a national tour of Back to Black with some amazing musicians as we perform Amy Winehouse songs to celebrate what would have been her 40th birthday, so that was joyous,” she says.
Vanessa says, ultimately, she’s a storyteller.
“That’s what I’m really passionate about, whether it’s through song or a character, telling someone else’s story. If the story is heartfelt and I know it’s going to trigger something for an audience member, that’s the drawcard for me.”
Having a lot of strings to her bow means Vanessa’s busy a lot of the time, which is important when your career is in the arts.
She’s about to get on a plane and head to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to meet with artists, and when she returns, she’ll be straight into another project.
“I like being busy and I love the role I’m in at the moment, which encompasses the last 25 years of my practice,” she enthuses. “And I’m getting to help hundreds of artists with the festivals, so it’s a lot, but I love it.”
Bookworm is screening in cinemas now.
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