Photo: RNZ
Young actors Joyena Sun and Sepi To'a are making their feature debut in Grafted.
They tell Jesse Mulligan the film explores the sometimes-dangerous need for social acceptance amongst a culturally diverse group of young New Zealanders.
In Grafted, Sun plays Wei - a Chinese student newly arrived in Auckland after her father's death and struggling hard to fit in.
Without a role model and afflicted with facial disfigurement, Wei takes her desire for social acceptance "to extreme lengths and extreme heights", Sun said.
Despite some gore, the film delivers laughs with a lot of jokes Kiwi audiences will enjoy, she said.
If you're a fan of psychological thrillers, Sun reckons you'll be really into Grafted.
"It deals a lot with humanity and human nature and what happens when you're faced with a really difficult situation, what that forces us to do out of survival instincts."
Actor Joyena Sun in the New Zealand black comedy film 'Grafted' Photo: Supplied
When it came to character-building, Sun and To'a say that Sasha Rainbow - the LA-based Kiwi director of Grafted - gave them many opportunities to contribute.
After their very first meeting, To'a said Rainbow asked her for tips on the Polynesian slang her character Jasmine would use and also the Polynesian food she would eat.
"I said she'd probably say 'sis' more. Then when I got the audition she had changed exactly what I told her. She put in 'sis' at the end of the lines and she had panikeke [Samoan banana pancakes] as, like, her main dish. I was like 'Wow, she actually listened'."
Jasmine, like Wei, deals with her own cultural and religious expectations, To'a said.
"You get to see her dealing with racism, just having different-coloured skin and hair, looking differently. She can see how Wei is feeling, being the new girl, the immigrant of the country."
To'a, who "bounces" between Australia and New Zealand for work, was struck by how much happened in her personal life during the year-long development of Grafted.
"You grow as a person and then you come back and you watch your 18-year-old self having her first shot at this big acting thing. You can't be mad at yourself. You're looking at it like 'Wow, so proud'. So much growth has happened."
Worked with a female director for the first time and seeing a woman in a position of power on set was really inspiring, To'a said.
"I thought 'Wow, I don't just have to be an actor. I can be behind screens and writing these words and helping girls grow as actors'."
