Nonnas: How a star-studded cast brings Italian cuisine to life
Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro, Talia Shire and Susan Sarandon discuss playing cooks in a new film, ageing in Hollywood and the movies that their grandchildren cannot yet watch.
When I signed on to a video interview with the stars of the new Netflix release Nonnas, the conversation was already in
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The Spinoff
13 hours ago
- The Spinoff
‘This never happens': Bailey Poching on getting cast in Netflix's North of North
The comedian and actor takes us through his life in television. It was on a Monday morning that actor and comedian Bailey Poching recorded his audition for Netflix's North of North, describing himself as being 'a hair's breadth' from throwing in the towel and heading back into hospitality. He sent his tape in, and got a reply that afternoon asking if he could audition in his own accent. By Tuesday, he had a Zoom meeting with Netflix and the showrunners. By Wednesday, he had got the job. Less than a week later, he was shooting his first scene in the Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut in -40 degree conditions. 'I think I'll be telling that story for the rest of my life,' Poching laughs. 'It was like trying to appreciate the feeling of winning the lottery in real time. We romanticise this happening, but this never happens for actors.' For the next three months, Poching played Colin, a radio DJ looking to find love in the arctic circle in Netflix's first Canadian production – and the first show of its kind to be centered around the indigenous Inuk community. 'It felt like capturing something really special, and it was really cool to be even peripheral to that,' he says. Poching, who is Māori and Samoan, says he learned a lot about story sovereignty from being a part of the groundbreaking series. 'I remember asking the showrunners for advice on making indigenous TV shows and they were like 'you will have an easier time, because at least there's a precedent for indigenous film and TV in New Zealand',' he says. 'There was a sense of reckoning with the fact that, in our position as Pacific and Māori storytellers, we do have more opportunities than some of our indigenous whānau around the world to make television – even if there's still not heaps.' Closer to home, Poching is a part of another important onscreen kōrero in Don't, TVNZ's new big issue comedy series. In it, comedian Bubbah is joined by a host of funny friends to interrogate the big issues facing rangatahi today. Poching's episode is all about marriage, including interviewing university students and rest home residents alike about their attitudes towards it. 'The title is quite provocative, but Don't really holds space for so many different cultural and social perspectives on what marriage represents, the origins of it and how we feel about it now,' he says. 'There's no sense of judgment in it at all.' A lot of that, he says, comes down to host Bubbah's own curiosity about the world. 'She has such an interesting lens and so much to say, but she's also an incredible listener.' Taking a leaf out of the beloved comedian's book, we carefully listened to Poching's eclectic life in television, including Scottish Wipe Out for kids and how Coca-Cola made him famous in Australia. My earliest TV memory is… I spent the first 19 years of my life in the UK, and so my TV memories are of CBBC, the children's BBC channel, and a show called Balamory. The jingle really sticks in my head – ' what's the story in Balamory, wouldn't you like to know?' It's one of those things that I'll say to myself, but then people here don't really know what I'm talking about. We also had lots of VHS tapes of The Wiggles, and they did a crossover episode with the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. It was like Avengers: Endgame. The show I would rush home from school to watch was… I watched so much TV as a kid. Superhero cartoons were huge for me – X Men, Spider Man, Fantastic Four. There was a game show called Raven that was like Wipe Out, but fantasy themed and for kids. The host was called Raven and he wore a feathered cloak and had a big staff. If a kid failed a challenge, he would like place his staff on the kid's shoulder, and then they disappeared. It was the most terrifying thing – that kid just applied to be on a TV show, now he's vanished. My first time on television was… A Coca-Cola commercial, just before Covid. I was playing an Uber Eats driver and I appear for two seconds at the end. Honestly, because of the way TV commercials work, that really helped me out through Covid. I didn't realise it played in Australia as well, so I had family sending me photos and it was a huge moment of pride. Now, I don't know how I would feel about doing a Coca-Cola commercial, but I needed that at the time. My favourite NZ TV ad is… This was such a phenomenon for me moving here, when I realised that a lot of these local ads have vice-like grip on people of a certain generation. I remember Ghost Chips was huge on YouTube. The 'do it yourself' kid tradies were also pretty big in my house because I have a dad who grew up in New Zealand and a mum who grew up in Australia. Any kind of recognition of those two countries was always nice. My TV guilty pleasure is… Any YouTube show where celebrities eat food, so things like Hot Ones and the Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw podcast Dish. I'll line up a bunch of those while I'm making food or cleaning up and just watch celebrities eating food. I love food, and I'm interested in celebrities as well. They are kind of like the modern talk show. A TV moment that haunts me is… Anything from the David Tennant Doctor Who era, which had a lot of really scary stuff in it. I remember there were these monsters that had pig faces and human bodies, or one big brain with a single eye and all these tentacles. It traumatised me – I asked my brother to wait outside the bathroom while I was showering, because I was so scared. My favourite TV character is… Mark Corrigan from Peep Show. Word for word, some of the funniest dialogue maybe ever put on television. I have a deep affection and appreciation for cringe humour and he's a character whose whole purpose is putting his foot in his mouth while also having that common trope of unearned confidence and being so certain of himself. He's so smart, he's done everything he was told to do growing up, and he's still a failure. It's so poetically funny. My favourite TV project I've ever been involved in is… North of North is a very special one because of the indigenous kaupapa. It feels like such a triumph to have that story on TV, and to be even peripheral to it was such an honour. But I have to make a special mention to Kid Sister, because Simone Nathan was kind enough to give me that opportunity and I had a blast. A TV project I wish I could be involved in is… I always romanticise the lifestyle of an SNL writer, where you pitch on Monday, and then you're up all Tuesday night writing the silliest stuff. And I feel like I've seen a picture of Bobby Moynihan smoking a cigarette out a window and they're all there with Bill Hader and Seth Meyers. This idea of working with your closest, funniest friends would be my dream. That, or doing a voice on a superhero cartoon. My controversial TV opinion is… We should be making weirder television and taking more creative risks. I think there's so much space for us to explore the weirder stories of New Zealand, rather than packaging up something neat for a global audience. There's a lot of idiosyncrasies and dark little stories for us to tell, and not just in the grim murder mystery way. I think there's so much to explore still in our underrepresented communities, and I dream of seeing abstract, surreal, artistic television made here. A TV show I will never watch, no matter how many people tell me I should is… The White Lotus is becoming that for me. I remember, with season one, seeing that it was a show about privilege, set in Hawaii, and that was the cast? I think this trend of shows about people with too much privilege is hopefully curving downward, because the more seasons it gets, the more it's too much homework now to catch up on. I'm sure it's actually incredible, but something about that initial idea turned me away from it. The last thing I watched on television was… The first season of Severance, which was really good. I got told to catch up before season two started, so I watched the whole of season one on a plane and it was gripping – I was totally locked in. Interesting craft, interesting filmmaking decisions, interesting writing decisions, and all just carried by great performance and production design. Well-crafted TV.
NZ Herald
30-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Auckland's best hummus? Comedian Mo Amer fails to get Gemmayze St hummus into Australia
Palestinian-American stand-up comedian Mo Amer told Australian television viewers the hummus he ate in Auckland was one of the smoothest he'd eaten. Chickpeas or a spreadable paste? Either way, a jar of hummus from an Auckland restaurant has won the highest possible praise from an international comedic connoisseur – even if he couldn't get it on to the next leg of his tour. Mo Amer, Palestinian-American stand-up comedian and Netflix television
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Scoop
Superheroes, Killer Robots, Cosplayers & Anime Icons Join Forces With A Scooby Snack At Wintergeddon On King's Birthday
Press Release – Armageddon Expo This King's Birthday Weekend, 31 May to 2 June, the Auckland Showgrounds will transform into a pop culture playground as Wintergeddon jumps in from the multiverse, bringing together superheroes, killer robots, cosplayers, and anime legends for a long weekend of pure fan-fuelled fun. At the heart of this year's star-studded lineup is Ioan Gruffudd, the charming Reed Richards from Fantastic Four and hero of Horatio Hornblower. He's joined by international stars Jeff Ward (One Piece, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.); T.J. Thyne (Bones); Kim Rhodes (Supernatural, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody); and Australian voice actor Neil Fanning, the voice behind Scooby-Doo himself! Kiwi fans are in for a very special treat with Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor, the iconic Xena and Gabrielle duo, reuniting on stage for a nostalgic deep dive into Xena: Warrior Princess (Sunday only). Rounding out the guest list are lineup is New Zealand's own Amie Donald (M3GAN, M3Gan 2.0) the actor/dancer whose unsettling moves terrified audiences worldwide. Plus anime voice stars Natalie Van Sistine (SPY x Family, Attack on Titan), Reagan Murdock (Chainsaw Man, One Piece), Jason Douglas (Dragon Ball, The Walking Dead), and Pete Capella (voice of Silver the Hedgehog). Together, they'll bring panels, signings, and unforgettable fan moments to life across the weekend. Cosplay fans are in for a treat too, with an all-star lineup of international cosplayers set to inspire with their craft and creativity. Alyson Tabbitha, master of transformations from Wonder Woman to Jack Sparrow, will appear alongside vintage crossover queen Rachel Maksy, Australia's own Vera Chimera, and international cosplay superstar Ridd1e – one of the main cast members on both season of the reality show, Heroes of Cosplay, and feature of two award winning cosplay documentaries. And it wouldn't be Wintergeddon without some crazy contraption to surprise and delight. This year marks the world debut of CARmageddon, a fully-drivable, fan-built supercar inspired by all those legendary cars from the likes of Batman, Nightrider and Back to the Future. This one-of-a-kind 1975 Cadillac Eldorado is packed with gadgets including a scissor-lift turret machine guns, missile launchers, smoke screens, voice warnings, and even a working flux capacitor – pure pop culture madness brought to life on four wheels. For fans of Stranger Things, costume designers Amy Parris and Daniel Selon will present an exclusive display of original costumes from the hit show, giving attendees a rare glimpse at the looks that defined the characters of Hawkins, Indiana – the fictional American town where all the supernatural events unfold. Amy has worked on television series and movies across various genres and time periods, including HBO's Westworld, Showtime's Yellowjackets, and Netflix's Stranger Things. And Daniel was an assistant costume designer on WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Thor: Love and Thunder, and the head costume designer for Agatha All Along. Wintergeddon also brings epic gaming action, with two massive esports tournaments – League of Legends and Marvel Rivals – a Minecraft VR zone, an Airsoft shooting range, X-Shot battle arena, Spookers horror hall, Just Dance disco, a Catan board game library, and live performances by the Auckland Wind Orchestra. Fans can also look forward to cosplay parades, author panels, anime screenings, wargaming displays, D&D sessions by Questbook, and a pop culture shopping paradise across Artist Alley and the retail floor. Wintergeddon runs Saturday 9am-6pm, Sunday 9am-5pm, and Monday 10am-5pm at the Auckland Showgrounds. Tickets and the full event schedule are available at
