Australian actor and The Lord of the Rings star David Wenham has been busy clocking up more trans-Tasman frequent-flyer miles.
But he is not back in New Zealand for The Hobbit, like some of his former Rings cast-mates.
Wenham is filming Oscar-winner Jane Campion's new television thriller, Top of the Lake, alongside Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss, Holly Hunter and Kiwi actress Lucy Lawless in Queenstown.
"It's an amazing collection of great creative minds I feel very privileged to be a part of," says Wenham, who has also starred in 300, Gettin' Square and Killing Time.
"I'm sort of commuting at the moment, which, when I get a direct flight, I love, but otherwise having to go Sydney via Auckland and then overnight and then down to Queenstown - you could be in the Middle East by then."
While Top of the Lake won't be out until next year, Wenham can be seen this weekend in the world premiere of UKTV telemovie Dripping in Chocolate.
He plays a Sydney police detective who is "detoxing from life's excesses" while investigating a series of murders connected to the sultry owner of a chocolate store (played by CSI star Louise Lombard).
The international cast also includes New Zealand's Chelsie Preston-Crayford, who was last seen in Underbelly: Razor.
For Wenham, Dripping in Chocolate held personal significance.
You're a fan of murder-mysteries, but this is your first role in the genre.
Yeah, that's true. It reminded me of the things my mother used to love.
My mother loved crime fiction and watching crime series on television and movies with whodunit elements, so [Dripping in Chocolate] was rather nostalgic for me. These were the sorts of things that brought great enjoyment into our household in my childhood.
Your character is pitched as a modern-day Humphrey Bogart. Is that how you see him?
That's how [director Mark Joffe] described the character to me and he said it was a film-noir piece. It did give me an opportunity to get out some Bogart films. My God, he was an extraordinary actor, far better than I even remembered. He was extremely natural, obviously very charismatic and not mannered at all. I think he'd blow most contemporary actors off the screen.
But when I started work on Dripping in Chocolate, I had to forget about the Bogart thing, otherwise you'd end up doing bad impersonations of him, which nobody wants to watch.
How do you prevent film noir from becoming parody?
Well, I suppose this is unashamedly leaping into film noir. It's also unashamedly a piece of entertainment. It's a whodunit. It's not a project that's going to change the world in any way, but it's a project that, hopefully, will just entertain people.
What makes television so attractive to actors these days?
Times have changed dramatically. When I first started, there was definitely a two-tiered system - there were film actors and there were television actors. That has been completely been blown out of the water now.
[American pay-TV channel] HBO, I think, was the game changer in terms of the world stage. Really respected actors and directors went in there and did stuff and we've seen extraordinary television projects. In fact, a lot of people see television as the preferable medium, because you can explore characters in greater depth and detail, and, stating the obvious, you also have access to a far bigger audience.
Speaking of HBO, Game of Thrones fans are keen to see you cast in the fantasy series. Would you be interested?
I'd love to. But unfortunately, I think the reason I can't be in that series is because I don't have an EU passport. I'm thinking that's going to prevent me because of the way the show's funded.
Do you still get a lot of approaches to play fantasy roles?
I've got to say I'm pretty fortunate. I haven't been thrown in one particular box in the casting office. I've been able to play a wide variety of characters which interest me. I've got a relatively short concentration span, so it stops me from being bored.
Will you attend The Hobbit premiere?
I don't know. I'd love to be able to. I love it in New Zealand. What Peter [Jackson's] created in Wellington is something quite extraordinary and to then work as well with Jane, who's an icon of the New Zealand film world - I love working with Kiwis.
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The Dominion Post