In Conversation: ‘The Mountain’ Director Rachel House and Actor Terence Daniel

by Heesun Park

Recognized as one of New Zealand’s biggest stars, Rachel House has become an illustrious voice across film, television, and theater. An actress, acting coach, and director for stage and short film, House now sets out to makes her voice heard as a feature film director.

A coming-of-age adventure film, The Mountain (2024) follows a trio of Kiwi pre-teens on their journey for healing, culture, and heritage as they attempt to scale the glorious Mount Taranaki.

I had the opportunity to speak with both Rachel House and Terence Daniel—a young actor making his debut through the role of Bronco, a sharp-minded Māori boy—on their personal influences, shooting experience, and thematic goals for the film. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

First, I want to just say happy Premiere Day! 

HOUSE: It's quite exciting. We're excited, aye, T? 

DANIEL: Yeah.

Congratulations, Rachel, for your debut as a feature film director. And congratulations, Terence, for your acting debut. 

DANIEL: Thanks.

HOUSE: Thank you.

To warm us up, Taranaki is its own character in The Mountain and the characters in this movie each have a strong personal connection to nature as well. What are your own personal connections to nature—it can be a memory or favorite place—and did these connections influence your creative choices for this film?

HOUSE: What are your favorite places, T? 

DANIEL: It was probably when I went to my Papa's house, and we went for a swim in the lakes. Or that time we went into the bush and we made houses—like little houses. But we're not that good, so we couldn’t make it in a tree. We just made it on the ground. 

HOUSE: What did you use for the huts? 

DANIEL: We found sticks on the ground . . . And we also go kayaking, because my papa has six kayaks under his house . . . Yeah, we walk all the way down [to the lakes], because we normally have my brother, my cousin, and my other cousin. And we always just hold two at a time: two people in the front, two in the back. And then the other person—like my brother—would have to carry his own. 

HOUSE: Yeah, that's beautiful . . . We did a lot of walking around Taranaki in preparation for this film and, I have to say, it's probably one of my favorite places now. I'm connected to that mountain, and that knowledge came a bit later in life—knowing that I am tribally connected. So it just makes it all the more special, you know, walking around Taranaki and all those beautiful places you see in the film. But I grew up in Whanganui, which is up north. It's top of the North Island. And there's a lot of beautiful bush around there. And I went walking around there as a kid a lot. 

I find walking around in the bush now just incredibly, incredibly calming and joyful. Look, in our country, there’s just beauty everywhere, to be honest. You don't have to go far before you find a really remarkably beautiful place to walk or be in. 

When I was watching the movie, I thought the way [Taranaki] was captured in those scenes was just so stunning. I thought so much justice was done to it. It just felt so vibrant. 

But, on that note, 90% of The Mountain does take place in these stunning exterior locations. And, as filmmakers, we know that filming exterior shots is notoriously hard. What was the location scouting and filming process like and what were your greatest hurdles as a director or actor when it came to filming in these outdoor locations? 

HOUSE: You know, we had kind of the normal thing. We had a location manager and he actually found—him and his son—found some extraordinary places. They were the ones who found that swing bridge because we were looking and looking and looking everywhere for something like that and they managed to find that for us. 

So that was a brilliant find. Me and the production designer Andy McLaren—we actually went and did a big scout along with one of the producers, Desray Armstrong. We did a big scout on our own. I also went up with the DOP, but it was raining a lot and we didn't quite have our sense of geography quite right at that stage. But by the time me and Andy McLaren and Desray Armstrong got there, I think we really found some of the best places in the film. 

Also, we just got straight to it. We knocked on doors and asked if we could [film on their property] and we were blown away by the generosity of people who were allowing us to shoot on their farms. The Council and also the Department of Conservation was quite a hard—you know—that was a bit difficult to get their permission because they're very, very protective. But the sort of trump card is that I'm local, I'm a Maori, I’m from there, and I’m connected tribally there, and so we were able to go to our people and ask permission. There was a lot of generosity and goodwill and I think [it was] because people mostly understood that we meant no harm and all we wanted to do was uplift and show the very best of our culture and our environment.  I will say probably the most difficult thing was going up Pouākai itself to film and also going into the wetlands—the swamp where the boardwalk is. Just on a practical level, that was difficult. [There was] a lot of equipment, we had to downsize the crew, and we had to camp up there for a couple of nights, aye, T? 

DANIEL: Yup. 

HOUSE: So the kids and the parents got to stay in the bunkhouse, aye. 

DANIEL: Yeah and then they had to sleep in tent city. 

HOUSE: We all had to pitch the little tents and freeze. But it was amazing. We all got up at four o'clock in the morning—. 

DANIEL:—and then, when we saw the sunrise come up, man, it was cool as. 

HOUSE: It was cool as. It made it all worthwhile and it made it into the film. It was great. You know, I don't think there's any film that doesn't come without its struggles. We were [also] amazed that it didn't rain as much as we thought it might. 

DANIEL: Mhm.

HOUSE: I think it rained one time and we were under shelter anyway. 

DANIEL: Oh, yeah. 

HOUSE: Under the bridge.

DANIEL: Oh, I don't think I was there. 

HOUSE: No, you weren’t. 

DANIEL: It rained on the haystack, on the hay bale things. 

HOUSE: Yes, it did. A lot actually. But there was really just that one day and it was during really early on in the shoot. And we thought, “Uh-oh it’s gonna be like this all the time” and it wasn't. So we felt like Taranaki was bestowing their good wishes upon us. 

On this note about Māori heritage and culture—watching The Mountain from the American perspective—I just thought that it was so rich. One thing that stood out to me especially was how each of the characters—Sam, Mallory, and Bronco—had varying degrees of connections to Māori heritage. 

I just thought that choice added so much thematic depth to the story. Especially given that so much of the American discourse over here is fueled by this idea of, “who can claim what.” So I'd love to hear your and Terence's thoughts on heritage and culture as people looking through a New Zealander and Māori lens. 

HOUSE: I think something that we are really proud of is our pre-colonial, indigenous beliefs. Which is that our environment is our family. And it’s much older than us and wiser—and whether you see that as this kind of mythical belief or spiritual or whatever—I think there is actually logical truth. That nature is extraordinary. It adapts to us. 

It adapts to what's thrown at it. And I think in that way, regardless of what your beliefs are or not, it is very, very wise. I also think that now is the time where these sorts of beliefs of being guardians of the earth are incredibly important. I think they should be shared and I hope that our indigenous beliefs inspire people. You don't have to be indigenous to be a guardian of the earth at all. 

It would be wonderful just to really bring back those beliefs to our world. 

Absolutely.

HOUSE: There is wisdom in our stories and our origin stories. And I think that's what I believe—well, that's what I wrote—what Taranaki was trying to gift them: “Listen to these stories—listen to our stories—and they will guide you in life.” 

As a final question to round things out: Would you say that the idea of being protectors of nature and also listening to those stories is the message that you want to send through this film? What's the biggest message you want to send? 

HOUSE: I don't know if this sounds professional or not, but to me, it kind of differs. It varies. There will be days where I feel like this is what this film is about. It's about the fact that our indigenous belief systems and knowledge is something that really needs to be embraced—to guide us to protect our planet. And then other days it feels like it's about the joys of the spirit of friendship and how healing that can be for all of us universally. 

Sam wasn't able to connect with her father and she never really got confirmation. She never connected with her father so she never really found out if she was one of the Taranaki tribes. But what she did come away with is chosen family and the importance of that.

I felt as if The Mountain had so much to say about culture and Māori culture and nature and friendship and family. I have it all listed out. And I totally agree with you. I feel as if with every watch you can get a new message out of it. And I just think that's lovely. 

HOUSE: That's good. That's good that you think that. I'm probably breaking rules—I don't know this is my first film [laughs]. I don't know how many mistakes I've made. But I'm glad that you got all of that out of it.