A show featuring te reo, tikanga and te Ao Māori has just hit the BBC. The Gone, an Irish/New Zealand co-production, stars Acushla-Tara Kupe (Ngāti Maniapoto) as Diana Huia, a hardened cop returning to her hometown to head up a missing persons case. But as Diana rolls up her sleeves, she finds herself torn between her job and her whānau, and spends the series not only trying to solve the case on her desk but also that of her mother’s disappearance years prior.

“I think it’s really exciting to see te Ao Māori and all it encompasses on screens,” Acushla-Tara says, brightening at the thought. “So often, in the best way, te Ao Māori on screen has lived in a historical context. It’s cool to see it exist in a genre that we don’t often see it so presently in.”

With 40 percent Māori kaimahi and 5 percent of the dialogue in te reo Māori, the story could be told with passion — and whakawhanaungatanga — more so having Ngāi Tahu/Rangitāne director Peter Burger on board.

Acushla-Tara Kupe (right) stars with Richard Flood in the NZ drama ‘The Gone’. Source: TVNZ.

“Week one, he gave me a direction and then said, ‘Ah, i te reo Māori’, and gave me the whole direction in te reo and then continued to do so,” Acushla-Tara says. “It made me feel so welcome. As someone who has reclaimed their reo and not been speaking it their entire life, it made me feel like, ‘Yes, I am supposed to be here’.

“We’ve started season two and at the read-through our producer Reikura [Kahi] did a karakia to start us off. She goes, ‘Haumi e, hui e’, and flipping Richard Flood [Irish actor and co-lead] next to me goes, ‘Tāiki e’! I was very vocal in my appreciation.”

It’s clear there was a respect that connected the locals with their Irish counterparts. Acushla-Tara explains: “There was an immediate understanding of each other. There is that cultural understanding − we all love getting to know each other over kaiand a bit of drink. The shared history with colonisation and the risk of losing our languages, and reclaiming our reo. The sense of humour. The Venn diagram crossover is massive.”

The Gone on BBC iPlayer. Source: BBC.

Now that it’s on the BBC, there’s a wider audience about to experience Māori culture in a new way − humble yet unapologetic, with the character Buster referring to “the fuckin’ English”. But the complexities run deep, with Manu Bennett playing a Māori businessman buying another iwi’s land from those who don’t really own it, for a kaupapa that isn’t supported.

Having spent several pre-COVID years in London, Acushla-Tara is stoked that her friends and whānau there can finally see the show. “It’s nice to hear feedback from Ngāti Rānana [London Māori Club], being able to experience their culture while they’re away. It gives you a grounding of home while you’re so far from the literal land. It’s been really exciting for a lot of Māori, seeing our people and hearing our reo. So many were asking about it when it first came out; people kept using the term ‘VPN’. What’s that? Who’s she? On a wider scale, it’s been great to introduce more of New Zealand to the UK and that side of the world.”

After completing her Wānanga Reo full-immersion year of relearning the tikanga and language that was almost lost through colonial structures, Acushla-Tara is aware it’s taken a lot to get to this point. “There are so many incredible pioneers who have laid a solid path and I feel like I am strengthening it for our youngsters coming through now. To be around while roles like Diana Huia are being written, in a co-pro, is so sick. At a time when rangatahi can get in touch online and say, ‘I want to be an actor, how do I do that?’, it’s nice to be able to show them, as someone who didn’t study, an untraditional path and that it’s different for everybody. For some, it’s study; for others, it’s learning on the job. For some, it’s the opportunities Equity offers, and upskilling that way. Half the people in our show aren’t traditionally trained. It’s great having Equity to protect us all as performers, in an industry where there are a lot of international productions coming over, and the work of getting better deals for our locals.”

In her everyday life, as in her work, Acushla-Tara is guided by wāhine wisdom, having gained inspiration at last year’s EQUALIZE events celebrating women in sport, business, and entertainment. “Moana Maniapoto [host of Te Ao with Moana] said, ‘What kind of tūpuna do you want to be?’, and that guides me every day” − she grins cheekily − “except when I’m gossiping!”