He’s wowed on-screen as rugged adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary in TV ONE’s series about the Kiwi icon, but when actor Andrew Munro first met his Hillary co-star Amy Usherwood, he was wearing
a dress and make-up!
Laughing, former Shortland Street actress Amy recalls, “It was years ago. We’re both from Dunedin and we used to do pantomimes in the town hall in our teens. I was playing Wendy in Peter Pan and he was in drag as one of the ugly stepsisters. He was hilarious.”
Watch a clip from Hillary in the video below – story continues after the video.
Perhaps conveniently, Andrew, 37, has no memory of their meeting, but he does recall when they were reunited years later, when the cast of his rugby movie The Kick and the stars of Shorty booked dinner at the same Auckland restaurant.
“We reconnected then and have been friends for four years now,” adds Amy, 31, who played nurse Emma Franklin on the TV2 soap. “When I heard he got cast in Hillary, I was so happy. Working with your mates is a lot easier, especially the intimate scenes. Those can be a little weird, but if you have the basis of friendship, you can be physically comfortable around each other.”
Andrew says, “It was fantastic for me because Amy was a pro. She’d just come off Shortland Street, while I’d only done support roles in a couple of TV features, never a massive lead, so I could learn off her. It’s been a big learning curve.”
TV One’s Hillary covers the legendary climber’s first marriage, which ended tragically in 1975 when Lady Louise and their 16-year-old daughter Belinda were killed in a plane crash in Nepal.
Amy and Andrew at a screening for Hillary earlier this year. Photo: Carmen Bird
Amy tells, “We’ve all heard, read and seen a lot about Sir Ed climbing to the top of the world’s highest peak, but this is a love story. He and Louise were a tight-knit team – they did everything together. Everyone I spoke to talked about how warm and funny she was, and how she helped him at events and in social situations.
“Louise wasn’t the average ’50s housewife – she wasn’t happy to just stay at home in the shadows. She was a New Age woman. She did a lot of climbing and trekking herself, and she wrote a lot of books. I don’t think Ed would have gotten where he was without her support.”
Andrew confesses he was intimidated about playing the iconic Kiwi hero, saying, “I certainly felt pressure to do a good job. I wanted to give an accurate portrayal for his family because I was playing someone’s dad, grandfather and uncle.”
He and Amy visited Sir Ed’s daughter Sarah, who showed them her father’s old letters and home movies. Andrew tells, “I really wanted to meet her to get an insight into him as a person, instead of just the Everest hype. He was a family man and he loved his wife.”
The most interesting thing he learnt about the legend? “That he was a yeti hunter,” says Andrew. “A group of Americans wanted his help finding yeti relics. He knew it was rubbish, but he went along with it as it was a chance to go back to Nepal and make a bit of coin.”
Andrew did some shooting in the “beautiful” Himalayas for the series but never got to see Mount Everest because of cloud cover. “We came so far so we really felt we should at least get a little glimpse,” he says. “However, I did get to stand on top of the 14th highest mountain in the world and go up in a helicopter.”
Amy’s filming was restricted to Aotearoa, but she also got to go flying in a small vintage plane. She recalls, “We did a lot of twists and drops. The turbulence was scary. The director told me, ‘That was great – you looked terrified.’ But I wasn’t acting. I felt I was going to throw up!”
Andrew with Jared Turner at the Hillary screening. Photo: Carmen Bird
The actress is now living in Sydney, where she has been performing Shakespeare, but she misses New Zealand desperately. “The lush green landscape tells me I’m home. Give me an unruly Kiwi beach over a manicured Aussie one any day.”
Andrew, meanwhile, has been in Los Angeles, visiting a friend who works on TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory and exploring writing and acting opportunities.
“I made some baby steps and tested the waters,” he tells. “I loved the challenge. It’s been a bit quiet on the acting front as no-one knows who I am, but hopefully they will after Hillary.”
