Rachel House Opened Up About Not Returning To Play Gramma Tala In The Live-Action Remake Of “Moana”

How do you balance staying true to your heritage while participating in an industry often dominated by non-Pacific Islander narratives? And is there a moment where you felt especially empowered and proud of your Māori identity?

It’s been through theater. As soon as I graduated from drama school, I really wanted to start working in Māori theater, and I managed to do that for almost 10 years. It taught me so much about my culture, and it was inspiring. What I’m really aware of now is that it’s so important to tell stories that have levity and joy. Particularly coming from the Māori theater space, we told a lot of stories about our trauma, and I sort of feel that we’re heading into more storytelling, where that certainly could be a drive, but it isn’t the pervasive feeling that we get. The most obvious person who has really brought a lot of joy into our stories in the public realm, of course, is Taika Waititi. It changed everything, I think, because we could all see that we could tell these stories that weren’t so full of our historical trauma. That trauma is always there. That history is present; it shapes and forms us. So inevitably, a lot of the characters, that’s where they come from, where we all come from. But moving forward, there’s a lot to celebrate.

We’ve got the kōhanga reo [Māori language revival] generation who are changing things in our country. That kōhanga reo movement happened back in the ’80s by all those amazing women; boy, has it paid off. We see it in our leaders and our young, brilliant minds. Leaders in politics, absolutely, but also just leading us through these difficult times, particularly recently in this country.

I’ve been away for about a year, and I made it home in time to see my stepdaughter performing at Te Matatini, which is a lot like the Merrie Monarch and various other cultural celebrations. Boy, are they tough. There’s a lot of pressure in those competitions. It was all done in Taranaki, which is where I whakapapa [descend from]. Two of my tribes are from there. So, it was just absolutely glorious. There were so many young people, and it was a beautiful intergenerational mix of people who were there watching. Our language is strong. Our culture is strong.