Comedy legend Ginette McDonald on ‘jabbering’, learning from the young guns, and Lynn of Tawa

Ginette McDonald as the prickly Mrs Schrödinger in new Kiwi comedy series Warren's Vortex. Photo / Rebecca McMillan

More than half a century into her entertainment career, Kiwi comedy legend Ginette McDonald is still no stranger to saying it how it is. From her “shopping chromosome” and on-set fridge fail, to the possibility of revisiting her much-loved character Lynn of Tawa, she talks to Mitchell Hageman about the good, the bad and the bizarre of a life in stage and screen.

Roughly 35 minutes into our conversation, Ginette McDonald tells me she talks too much.

“That’s totally not a problem,” I say.

We’ve already discussed her utter disdain for rugby, the genius of Geeks on Wheels (who had recently fixed her computer), and how she “can’t believe she’s still alive, quite frankly”.

“I’m not apologising to you, I’m talking about on set sometimes,” she laughs.

“Because it’s quite tiring, my way of keeping going is to talk. I jabber away, and then that way, I pick up energy. But other people find it enormously irritating and I say, ‘well you don’t have to listen to me, I’ll just jabber jabber away in my corner’.”

Jabber she may, but any young actor – or journalist – would be a fool not to listen to her. This is the woman who brought us the classic Lynn of Tawa character after all. Any word, however blunt it may be, comes out with a remarkable essence of truth, wit and hilarity.

Ginette McDonald takes a candid pic of herself as Mrs Schrödinger in Warren's Vortex, the new series from the makers of Wellington Paranormal. Photo / Ginette McDonald

“I’ve been around so long now. I mean, I’ve played all sorts of characters in theatre and everything else. I’m no stranger to unpleasantness,” she says, referencing her latest role as the prickly Mrs Schrödinger in new TVNZ comedy series Warren’s Vortex.

McDonald, 73, describes herself as a “veteran” of stage and screen. You’d be pressed to find a Kiwi who would disagree with that sentiment.

“It’s like those BBC Two dramas of those old men looking back on their lives,” she says, as we talk about her early career fronting radio plays and stage, and how she gained “celebrity” status as Lynn of Tawa.

“There was one with Jim Broadbent playing an old man chucking things on the fire, and then they kept flash backing to younger days.”

Ginette McDonald as Lynn of Tawa, an iconic character of the 70s and 80s. Photo / NZ On Screen

No matter what forum she has, it’s clear McDonald is still a born storyteller. In a wondrously frank aside, she lets me in on a recent art department mishap involving a tricky-to-navigate fake fridge prop and some unsuspecting crew receiving “a face full of elderly crotch”.

“I had ended up with three random art department guys, and my skirt that they put me in was way too tight, so it was around my waist. I was going headfirst into this hole with my ass being pushed in by these three art department guys, and I had to sort of turn around in this hole,” she laughs.

Years ago, she might have felt embarrassed in a situation like this, but she tells me she’s adapted to a “keep calm and carry on” attitude as she’s got older.

“I pretended I was in hospital and they were sort of medics, you know. It all became a clinical operation. It would have been mortifying if I’d been younger, but I just thought, ah well, who cares now?”

Ginette McDonald is no stranger to unpleasantness. Photo / Rebecca McMillan

With age has come a chance to sit and look back at the industry McDonald has spent years of her life dedicated to. And forward, as well. Learning from up-and-coming talent is something she takes great pride in.

“I remember being in not the most agreeable stage production, with a lot of young ex-Toi (Whakaari New Zealand Drama School) people in it that I didn’t know. I said to somebody my age, ‘I’m learning, I’m taking my cue off the young ones’. And they thought that I was being sarcastic, but it’s true,” she says.

“I’m really proud of how the industry in New Zealand, even in this difficult climate, is still in such good heart. It cheers me up enormously.”

We circle back to Lynn of Tawa, the character McDonald created for the stage when she was 16 and who first graced Kiwi screens more than 40 years ago. Could McDonald’s laconic suburban housewife see a resurgence at some point?

“I wouldn’t be averse to doing something with Lynn using old footage,” she admits. “It would be a good opportunity for satire, because the world’s becoming very unamusing.”

For now though, McDonald says she still finds life “imminently interesting” spending time with her mokopuna, walking her dog, and immersing herself in causes she sees fit.

“You just want to feel useful. Do something useful, entertain people, not annoy them too much, and enjoy yourself as well.”

But there’s one weakness McDonald still grapples with, one that Lynn of Tawa also probably would’ve struggled with in this economy.

“I’ve got a shopping chromosome,” she laughs.

“Sometimes, I have to decide between a packet of [cigarettes] and some instant noodles.”

Catch Ginette McDonald in Warren’s Vortex premiering on TVNZ+ and TVNZ 2 on Sunday, August 24.

Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.