Kate Rodger sits in Muriwai’s Woodhill Forest watching her son Max weave between trees and soar over jumps on his mountain bike.
She marvels that just a fortnight earlier, she was sitting in a forest in Bachelor Gulch, Colorado, hanging out with Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt. By the end of the week, she will be sitting in an Auckland radio studio, chatting with the famous and the fascinating, as stand-in host on RNZ’s Saturday Morning.
As Kate watches her teenage son hurtling through the forest, there’s another big date on her mind – hosting the New Zealand Screen Awards on Auckland’s waterfront on November 19. The gig is already making her nervous.
For now, though, the movie guru and versatile broadcaster is revelling in her newfound freedom.
“The flexibility and the joy I get from not knowing what’s going to happen from one week to another can be addictive,” says Kate, 59.
“I’ve only been freelancing for a couple of years, but I love that I can say yes to everything.
“One minute I’m in a car with [cameraman] Billy Paine, driving around the country visiting independent cinemas, then I’m hanging out with Brad Pitt in Colorado and Nashville. Now I’m in a forest park with bikes whizzing past me.
“There’s the element of this new life that really dials into my Geminian traits.”
A whirlwind career
Quick-witted, eloquent, charming, inquisitive and adaptable: those qualities have really come to the fore since Kate’s 21-year stint at Three ended with the devastating closure of Newshub.
“There’s no blueprint for what I’ve done in my career, and there’s a true nourishment and satisfaction out of that,” she says.
The entertainment reporter and movie critic now wears several hats, including emcee, radio host, podcaster, French Film Festival patron and marriage celebrant.
“Now that I don’t necessarily ‘belong’ to anyone, then anyone can come to me with things. I feel lucky that a good portion of my work is the thing that really makes my heart sing – film and screen.”
Kate was thrilled with a “really delicious, addictive adrenaline rush” at the red carpet in Nashville in September for the world premiere of Heart of the Beast – “or Brad Pitt’s dog movie”, she quips.
“It’s been a long time since I had the opportunity for genuine red-carpet face time. And it was special because the movie was shot in Aotearoa, and every single person I spoke to, from dog whisperer Andrew Simpson, through to the director David Ayer – and Brad – just raved about our country. As soon as they saw me, from New Zealand, it was ‘boom!’, straight into it.
“And Brad’s looking pretty good for 62, I’m not going to lie. He gives the double handshake where he puts his other hand on top of yours. Tom Cruise does it as well.”
Family time
Although her six days in the US were hectic, Kate found time to recharge.
“In Nashville, the home of Dolly Parton, I sat at her SongTeller Hotel and soaked up a bit of her joy. I came home feeling like I’d been plugged back into the mains. I really needed it.”
But she was also happy to return home to Max, who turns 14 this month.
“He has quite a high EQ [emotional intelligence], my boy. I’ve been travelling his entire life and he understands the long-haul flight isn’t glamorous. And he knows I always come back. I got the sense he missed me a little this time – and I certainly missed him.”
About to finish his first year of high school, Max has become “a complete bike obsessive – which I love”, says his proud mum.
“There’s a pack of kids who cruise around the neighbourhood with little shovels in their backpacks – looking like little grave diggers – making jumps to ride over. It means he’s not at home on his device – he’s out on his bike, out of trouble.”
Embracing the change
Filling in as host of Saturday Morning has been a revelation for Kate.
“It feels like I spent the last 50 years working up to hosting four hours of live radio. It’s so delicious, talking to interesting people for 20 minutes at a time – and I don’t have to wear a full face of makeup!”
She was initially overawed at the prospect of hosting the Screen Awards.
“At first, I said, ‘No, no, I’m not going to do this.’ If I stand in front of a room full of people I love and respect, and I cake, I’m never gonna work in this town again,” she says. “But now I’m super-pumped. It’s a room I want to be in – full of people I worship, who’ve been telling stories for decades.
“We’ve had a banger of a year in film and television, too, so there’s lots to celebrate.”
