This time last year, few people had heard the name Julian Dennison. While not quite an average teen – the young actor from New Zealand had made a couple of film appearances, of varying size and substance – most moviegoers would have struggled to pick him out of a line-up.
Then came Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a lauded Kiwi comedy-drama in which Dennison takes the lead alongside Jurassic Park star Sam Neill. It has been a hit with critics and audiences alike – it has a 98 per cent approval rating on review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, and won audience-choice awards at festivals from Edinburgh to San Francisco.
In its home country, the film is a bona fide phenomenon, officially the highest-grossing New Zealand film to date.
All of which means that this precocious 13-year-old is suddenly an unlikely superstar. What’s the worst thing about this sudden rise to fame?
“The hardest thing is when you’re in public and you need to go to the toilet, and someone asks for a photo,” says Dennison. “And their phone is either flat, dead, or they’ve turned it off completely. You’re trying to rush to the toilet and they want your autograph – and I hate saying no, I feel so bad.
“[The film] has changed my life. I’ve realised that it is pretty awesome that people recognise you – but you’ve also got to keep grounded. I do miss being able to just walk down the street with my friends.”
Dennison was in Dubai last week, celebrating the film’s UAE release, which was marked with a red-carpet premiere at Vox Mall of the Emirates on Wednesday, hosted by the Dubai International Film Festival.
A touching buddy comedy-drama about a rebellious hip-hop-loving orphan (Dennison) and a grumpy father figure (Neill) on the run in the New Zealand wilderness, the film is on general release now.
Dennison arrived in Dubai fresh from his latest round of promotional duties, in London, where he embarrassed Neill on national television by admitting he had not heard of his veteran co-star before filming – and had fallen asleep while watching him in dinosaur adventure Jurassic Park.
When we spoke to the teenager, he had been in the Emirates less than 36 hours and was looking forward to a trip to the capital and visits to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Emirates Palace. However, he was already deliberating whether Dubai might be his favourite city in the world.
“It’s in the top two – it probably is the top. Probably,” he says. “Number one? About a week ago we got back from London and a few days later we’re here. It’s so hard – definitely Dubai is, yes, it is the top, actually. Maybe. It’s so nice here, the weather’s always good and sunny.”
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the latest film from celebrated Kiwi filmmaker Taika Waititi. It broke the record for New Zealand's highest-grossing film, which was set by his 2010 movie Boy. He also co-directed the 2014 cult vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows, alongside Flight of the Conchords star Jemaine Clement.
Dennison says he would “absolutely love” to work with the director again, describing him as a role model and mentor. The youngster is also already talking about moving into directing himself, saying his ideal project would be something similarly “funny but on the meaningful side”.
But for all his success, charm and confidence, Dennison is still an adolescent – and he admits his biggest acting dream is to appear in a superhero movie. Then again, that might be many an adult's dream, too. He should have a word with Waititi, who has been filming Thor: Ragnarok for Marvel.
“Before I found out you couldn’t get bitten by a radioactive spider and shoot webs out of your wrist, I wanted to be a superhero when I grew up, until I was, like, 8,” he says. “It would be a really great to do a Marvel film – not even playing a superhero, just being part of that universe would be amazing.”
Aside from this, where does he see himself in five years?
“A little bit taller, maybe driving a car,” he says. “A lot of people have been asking about Hollywood – we have been getting stuff sent over from America we’re looking at, so we might have some stuff over there.”
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is in cinemas now
rgarratt@thenational.ae
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Ejari
Based: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Founders: Yazeed Al Shamsi, Fahad Albedah, Mohammed Alkhelewy and Khalid Almunif
Sector: PropTech
Total funding: $1 million
Investors: Sanabil 500 Mena, Hambro Perks' Oryx Fund and angel investors
Number of employees: 8
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
Scorebox
Dubai Sports City Eagles 7 Bahrain 88
Eagles
Try: Penalty
Bahrain
Tries: Gibson 2, Morete 2, Bishop 2, Bell 2, Behan, Fameitau, Sanson, Roberts, Bennett, Radley
Cons: Radley 4, Whittingham 5
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
The five pillars of Islam
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)