Cameron Rhodes loves to be in the cinema enjoying a glass of wine. Photo / Chris Loufte
My happy place is going to the movies in the middle of the day. It feels naughty, like being a truant. At the moment, I'm acting and directing in a number of projects, mainly in the theatre but also in films. Going to a movie means I can completely turn
my brain off - just relax and be swept away in a different world for a couple of hours. It's a completely escapist experience. I love it.
I'm surrounded by people all the time in my job. Whether I'm acting or directing or teaching, it's all people, people, people. Going to the movies is a contrast to that. My ideal session would be one where there was nobody else there.
Because I work mostly in the theatre, when I go to a play it feels a bit like work. I love theatre but it's hard for me to turn off the analytical side. But because films are so naturalistic I can get swept up in it and forget people are acting.
I went to a lot of films as a kid growing up in the Hutt. I remember going to the first Star Wars with my father at the Cinerama theatre in Courtenay Place and being blown away. I must have been about 12, and I thought about it for years and years. I think that idea of going into an imaginary world influenced my choice of career. It's still one of my favourite films.
I love extremely well-acted and directed films. Some of my top films are Goodfellas and Apocalypse Now - gritty films with extraordinary actors and auteur directors. I also like art-house, like a German film called Barbara that was on recently. It was very slow and austere but wonderful and transfixing.
