One of the unforgettable characters in the film is Pete, a boarding house resident. He’s larger than life, and full of innocent wisdom. He stands out particularly because of the great talent which Lee Tuson brings to the role. During auditions, Lee turned up wearing a hearing aid and coke bottle glasses. We were initially unsure whether he required them to augment his senses, and it was a relief to know he had simply brought them as props.

The next drawback was when Lee opened his mouth with a characteristic smile. He revealed a set of gold teeth which sparkled under the lights and would have made Oddjob from Goldfinger proud. Rosemary was initially non-plussed, but Lee, clearly used to such reactions, assured her they could be blacked down in makeup. Once that was sorted, there was never any question but that he would get the role. Lee brought a wonderful combination of humour and poignancy to the part.

On set he became the friendly teddy-bear who was uniformly cheerful, willing and encouraging. He rapidly become friends with the other boarding house figures, and these guys seemed to have a perpetual party rolling. The fact that Lee had to drive two and a half hours to get to Auckland made his impish humour all the more remarkable. Often we would find that he was the first on set, having left home around 4am! In a small speech which he got to make in one scene of the film, Lee delivered such poignancy that it still brings the hint of a tear to my eye, even after seeing it so many times. The mark of a great actor!

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