Photo: New Zealand Listener/Tony Nyberg.
How are you spending this summer?
We’ll be in Sydney, where I’m shooting a thriller series, while my husband takes the kids [Luna and Ziggy] to all the beaches.
What are you most looking forward to in 2025?
I can’t wait to share our film Stories About My Body! Based on my stage show, made with the amazing support of my community, co-directed with my husband Peter Salmon, this one is going to be special. And, of course, for The White Lotus 3 to drop, so I can prove to myself it really happened.
Are you someone who makes New Year’s resolutions? If so, what are they for 2025?
My resolution is to make more holiday plans with family and friends. If you don’t plan them, they rarely happen.
If you could relive one summer from your past, which one would it be?
A road trip through the Coromandel with two of my best girlfriends in 2009. Not much money, but petrol was affordable and we had only the day to live for.
What traditions are you passing on to your children?
I feel strongly about trying to re-enforce ritual and reason to our holidays, which are often inherited from the Northern Hemisphere or a brand’s marketing team. We’re not religious, but December 25 has been historically celebrated for hundreds of years for many reasons. It’s the birthday of Dionysus, the god of theatre and wine! But I hope to always remind them, for us, we come together to feast, give and to be kind to one another, not to get and be given to. Your Christmas money means something, so spend it with care and kindness for the planet and community, avoid the mall and remember what it’s all about.
What is your favourite summer sport or outdoor activity?
Kubb [lawn game].
Best place to swim in New Zealand?
Basically anywhere, we are so lucky. I often joke that I have turned my nose up at beaches all over the world. I have been to lots of places, trust me, but even the most basic New Zealand beach is phenomenal.
How do you keep your kids entertained during the long summer days?
Nature, nature, nature!
What five things most define a Kiwi summer?
Sand in the car, wet towels, the smell of sunscreen, Pōhutukawa, ice cream from the dairy and tan lines.
If money was no object, what kind of summer party would you host?
I’d host all my best people at some kind of glorious hippy commune in the Coromandel, where we’d live like witches and wizards for a week of festival, feast, river swimming and dancing.
Morgana stars in Season 3 of The White Lotus, which screens from February 17 on Neon and Sky’s HBO.
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