Speaking just before his death, the actor recalled his hostile hunting dog Zag, director Taika Waititi’s comedy genius – and the wild boar scene that left children traumatised
• Warning: contains spoilers
Taika Waititi’s film Boy is one of my favourites ever, so when I got the Wilderpeople script I was already well disposed to it. Hec is sort of a New Zealand archetype. When I was at university, during the holidays I’d work at cutting hay and shifting sheep and fertiliser. There was always a Hec driving the truck. They were men of very few words, but when they did say something it meant a lot. It was clear I was never going to have many lines in the film.
