Goodbye Pork Pie, hello Maketu Pies: James Rolleston and co on the road to promote movie

A fleet of Minis and a few famous faces made their way to Maketu on Saturday, where a pie-eating contest helped to promote the remake of the Goodbye Pork Pie film.

Two-thirds of the Blondini gang - James Rolleston (Boy, The Dark Horse) and Ashleigh Cummings (Puberty Blues, Tomorrow When the War Began) - were parked up across the road from Maketu Pies as the tour made its way down the North Island.

Rolleston, who played Luke in the film, was signing autographs and taking pictures with fans who had come to meet him and watch or participate in the pie-eating contest.

"It's awesome to spend some time here and travel down the East Coast a bit," the young actor said.

He described his character as "adventurous and up for anything,", and said he decided not to watch the original Goodbye Pork Pie before starring in the new version, called just Pork Pie.

"Purely because I didn't want to be influenced by the performance of the original character, I wanted my own take on the character. I hope I did it justice," he said.

"I was a little bit nervous because of the strong legacy the film has but I was excited to portray the story - be a part of the story but still keep the foundations of it."

He was looking forward to returning to Central Otago.

"I love Lake Tekapo, that was awesome, it was my first experience there. We saw beautiful places all over New Zealand on the trip."

Australian actress Ashleigh Cummings played Kiera in the film, and said both the character and "fun script" caught her eye.

"She was a fun, strong, woman to play. Reading the script was the first attraction. I hadn't seen a woman that was strong and independent ... In the roles I had been receiving.

"The parts I always auditioned for was the girlfriend, cheerleader or two-dimensional characters. Kiera was someone I always aspired to be like, in her strength and conviction."

Cummings had enjoyed travelling around the New Zealand countryside, after visiting only a few months beforefilming.

"I love it here, I almost want to buy a house and live here. I love the people, the lifestyle."

After the promo tour, which isscheduled to finish in Invercargill on Wednesday,Rolleston willbe taking a break from acting.

The young actor, whose first big starring role was in Taika Waititi's Boy,was seriously injured in an Opotiki car crash on July 26.

"What's next for me ... Just relaxing, doing my rehab, recovering and slowly getting better. And at the end or mid of this year hopefully getting back in front of the camera, that's my goal."

The car he was travelling in hit a bridge, and "half the bridge" ended up in the car, according to a volunteer firefighter who attended.

Rolleston was taken to Waikato Hospital's Intensive Care Unit where he remained for nearly a month.

In cinemas:
The reboot is set to hit cinemas just ahead of Waitangi Weekend, on Thursday, February 2, 2017.