Making her talk-show debut on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show, Wellington actor Thomasin McKenzie kept it real.
She joked about the exotic offerings of the US, mainly megastore Target, and questioned Colbert about why he didn’t visit her during his last trip to Wellington.
McKenzie was on The Late Show ahead of the release of Last Night in Soho, which sees her star alongside The Queen’s Gambit’s Anya Taylor-Joy in a glamorous psychological horror.
The 21-year-old actor missed the film’s red carpet debut at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year due to the pandemic, but made it for the US launch this week.
She attended the Los Angeles premiere on Monday (local time), at a star-studded and sparkly launch party at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
McKenzie played a somewhat naive and wide-eyed fashion student in Last Night in Soho, a highly anticipated horror film from director Edgar Wright, which had been years in the making.
She made waves in Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, but had also starred in New Zealand-shot productions including The Hobbit and Shortland Street. The past few years have been huge for the young actor, with four productions coming out in the past year – The Justice of Bunny King, Old, The Power of the Dog and, of course, Last Night in Soho.
During her appearance on The Late Show, McKenzie touched on “tall poppy syndrome” in New Zealand, saying it was a reason to keep grounded.
”You don’t get a chance to get too big for your boots, there’s something called ‘tall poppy syndrome’ – people in New Zealand don’t tolerate people being a…, basically,” she said.
She also joked about being excited to be in the US, and being able to visit places that weren’t available back in Wellington – like Target.
“My little sister is 14 and she’s TikTok obsessed, and when she found out I would be coming to America she didn’t say ‘oh I’m going to miss you’, she said ‘OK, can you go to Target for me’,” McKenzie said.
However, she had some sad news for her sister: she was unlikely to be visiting Target. “It’s not for me,” she said. “I get overwhelmed very easily, even going to the supermarket it’s too much, so I think Target would just be a little bit too far.”
McKenzie appeared to win new fans after making her talk-show debut, with comments flooding into The Late Show in praise of her genuine, straight-talking and charming interview.
Many commenters wondered if it really was her first time on a talk show, saying she played it incredibly cool.
