‘It felt like both of us were 12’ … Julian Dennison and Sam Neill in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Photograph: Piki Films/Allstar View image in fullscreen ‘It felt like both of us were 12’ … Julian Dennison and Sam Neill in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Photograph: Piki Films/Allstar How we made Film Sam Neill on making Hunt for the Wilderpeople: ‘We were attacked by a puppet pig!’ Speaking just before his death, the actor recalled his hostile hunting dog Zag, director Taika Waititi’s comedy genius – and the wild boar scene that left children traumatised Warning: contains spoilers
Prefer the Guardian on Google Sam Neill, played Hector Faulkner Taika Waititi’s film Boy is one of my favourites ever, so when I got the Wilderpeople script I was already well disposed to it. Hec is sort of a New Zealand archetype. When I was at university, during the holidays I’d work at cutting hay and shifting sheep and fertiliser. There was always a Hec driving the truck. They were men of very few words, but when they did say something it meant a lot. It was clear I was never going to have many lines in the film.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is based on Wild Pork and Watercress, a novel by Barry Crump, a legendary figure when I was growing up. A lot of his stuff is very amusing, but not this one – it took Taika to make it funny. Just about every comedian in New Zealand is in the film. I was probably the only non-comedian, but the film has a complexity beyond the humour. A lot of that comes, I think, from Rima Te Wiata. She plays Hec’s wife Bella with such warmth, compassion and empathy that when she dies both Hec and Ricky are suffused with grief. That grief gives a powerful dimension to the remainder of the film.
View image in fullscreen ‘When Bella dies both Hec and Ricky are suffused with grief’ … Sam Neill, Rima Te Wiata and Julian Dennison in Hunt for the Wilderpeople The Ricky Baker birthday song seems to have become a sort of informal national anthem, but it’s only in the film because the traditional Happy Birthday song wasn’t then in the public domain. The scene was all set up with Rima about to play the conventional version on her little keyboard when the producer came running in and said: “We can’t use that, we don’t have copyright!” Rima, Taika and I had to write something new in 10 minutes, but it was mostly Rima. Sometimes, working under pressure produces the best things.
I didn’t have the best relationship with the canine actor that played Hec’s hunting dog, Zag. I’m a dog guy, but he wasn’t the pal you would expect a dog to be – he had other things on his mind. The wild boar that wounds Zag was realised on screen in a mixture of ways. But on location we were reacting to a couple of guys operating a kind of puppet pig! The finished scene is pretty full-on. A lot of people have to comfort their children after it.
People often stop me and say it’s their favourite film. They remember it with affection, and when something is taken to heart, that’s a wonderful thing to have in your CV. The only thing that irritated me after its release was some people saying Julian stole the film from me. I don’t think there was any theft involved – the film was always his in the first place.
Sam Neill gave this interview in June, a month before his death on 13 July .
I’d worked with Taika before on an anti-drugs advert and didn’t have to audition. Ricky is this broken kid stuck in a system of foster care that’s failing him. I come from a community where that happen…