The young New Zealander making waves overseas with her latest film didn’t want to act at first, she says.
Thomasin Mckenzie Harcourt and Ben Foster Photo: Supplied
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, of the Harcourt acting dynasty, gave what Vanity Fair called a “breathtakingly natural” and “star-making” performance in Leave No Trace.
The film, directed by Debra Granik, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last week.
The father-daughter drama centres on Tom, a teenage girl whose war veteran father Will (Ben Foster) is so affected by post-traumatic stress that the only way he can cope is to live isolated from the rest of the world.
Living in the Oregon wilderness, Will teaches Tom self-sufficiency and survival skills as they forge a life together.
“It really is a love story between a dad and a daughter,” McKenzie says.
She was nervous about being able to make that relationship work on screen.
“The first day of filming we [she and Foster] did a hongi together, touched noses and exchanged breath, and that helped with the intimacy … helping us feel comfortable around each other.”
Granddaughter of Kate and Peter Harcourt and daughter of Miranda Harcourt, the 17-year-old might seem to have acting in her genes.
But in the beginning she didn’t want to act.
“I was really dead set against it - and then I did a film called Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story, which was really intense.
The film, about Ms Nicholas's personal history as a survivor of rape “made me realise that through acting you can tell a proper story and teach people things.”
