{"id":550934,"date":"2026-07-30T08:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/550934\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T08:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:06:11","slug":"society-insider-hollywood-stars-touring-nz-as-minecraft-sequel-filming-ends-and-hunt-for-gollum-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/550934\/","title":{"rendered":"Society Insider: Hollywood stars touring NZ as Minecraft sequel filming ends and Hunt for Gollum begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hunt for Gollum (THFG) director and star Andy Serkis (Gollum)<\/a> is also said to be a fan of the Park Hyatt. The actor has been in the country for a few months preparing for the THFG shoot. <\/p>\n

\"AndyAndy Serkis on his first day of filming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum in Wellington. Photo \/ @Andyserkis<\/p>\n

In May, Serkis performed a special monologue at Starship children\u2019s hospital\u2019s Star Gala<\/a> at the Auckland Town Hall. <\/p>\n

With him were his wife, fellow Brit and actor Lorraine Ashbourne and THFG co-producer and co-writer Philippa Boyens. <\/p>\n

\"TaikaTaika Waititi (left), Phoebe Gittins, Mel Booth, Andy Serkis, Janine Hedley, Philippa Boyens, Cliff Curtis, Arty Papageorgiou, James Friend and Lorraine Ashbourne at the Star Gala. Photo \/ Alisha Lovrich <\/p>\n

At the recent All Blacks game against Ireland at Eden Park<\/a>, Momoa and his son Wolf socialised with Serkis and other stars, including Elijah Wood (Frodo), The White Lotus star Leo Woodall (Halvard), and Fifty Shades of Grey star, Irish actor Jamie Dornan (Aragorn), who had to watch as Momoa celebrated the All Blacks\u2019 win. <\/p>\n

\"JasonJason Momoa and Jamie Dornan in the stands at Eden Park. Photo \/ @Allthingsrugbygram<\/p>\n

The week before, the Gollum stars were joined by Gandalf himself, Sir Ian McKellen at the All Blacks versus Italy test in Wellington. <\/p>\n

While in Auckland, Wood was spotted dining at Mexican hotspot Taco Loco in Westmere with Kiwi director Ant Timpson, who directed Wood in his 2024 movie Bookworm. <\/p>\n

In May Wood presented Sir Peter Jackson with his honorary Palme d\u2019Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"InIn May, Elijah Wood presented Sir Peter Jackson with his honorary Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. Photo \/ Getty Images <\/p>\n

McKellen was a surprise guest on Friday evening at a screening of the documentary There\u2019s a Hole in My Bucket by Royd Tolkien, the great-grandson of LOTR literary great J.R.R. Tolkien. <\/p>\n

\"RoydRoyd Tolkien and Sir Ian McKellen at the Roxy Theatre. Photo \/ @Roydtolkien<\/p>\n

Tolkien gave a Q&A session at the Doc Edge Festival at the Roxy Cinema in Miramar, where he explained that the film was his way of ticking off his late brother Mike\u2019s mostly-New-Zealand\u2011based bucket list. Mike died of motor neurone disease in 2014. <\/p>\n

The documentary is narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, with Sir Peter Jackson, Billy Boyd and John Rhys-Davies also featuring. <\/p>\n

Wood has also been spotted back on his old stomping ground Cuba St Mall, and it is understood his wife of one year, Danish film producer Mette-Marie Kongsved, has visited. <\/p>\n

\"ElijahElijah Wood and his wife Mette-Marie Kongsved. Photo \/ Getty Images <\/p>\n

Society Insider is told the Wellington haunts of cast and crew include Monsoon Poon, Wellington Sea Market and The Larder in Miramar. <\/p>\n

Dornan is currently in Wellington; his wife, English composer Amelia Warner<\/a>, and their three young daughters are said to have joined him. <\/p>\n

\"JamieJamie Dornan and Amelia Warner on a previous holiday together. Photo \/ @Awarnermusic<\/p>\n

The family also enjoyed the All Blacks\u2019 game together in the capital and are said to have visited Breaker Bay in Miramar, and AdventureRama in Lower Hutt. <\/p>\n

Serkis had his youngest son, actor Louis<\/a>, with him at the All Blacks\u2019 game in Wellington. Louis celebrated his 22nd birthday in the capital, and father and son have been making the most of the rugged Kiwi outdoors, with hikes at Paraparaumu on the K\u0101piti Coast. <\/p>\n

\"AndyAndy Serkis and his son Louis (left) explore the K\u0101piti Coast. Photo \/ @Louis.serkis<\/p>\n

Still to surface are the movie\u2019s female lead, Oscar winner Kate Winslet (Marigol), and Anna Taylor-Joy (Seren), who will soon star in Dune: Part Three. <\/p>\n

Winslet has reportedly arrived in Wellington, while Taylor-Joy is expected any day now \u2013 she was last seen in New York attending the 2026 Fifa World Cup Final between her native Argentina and Spain. <\/p>\n

Gollum<\/a> producers Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh own an extensive slice of real estate in Karaka Bay on the Miramar Peninsula and live minutes away from the film set. The film\u2019s stars may also get the invite to Jackson and Walsh\u2019s private 37-hectare rural estate in the Wairarapa. <\/p>\n

Party People of the Week<\/p>\n

Vichy Laboratoires launch <\/p>\n

Vichy Laboratoires painted the town red for its New Zealand launch last Wednesday evening, turning Darling on Drake<\/a> into a dramatic claret-coloured lounge in honour of the French brand arriving in New Zealand. <\/p>\n

L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s Imogen Sutcliffe welcomed guests before handing the microphone to Coast Breakfast star Toni Street, who had been announced as the face of Vichy Laboratoires<\/a> earlier that day in Viva. <\/p>\n

\"ToniToni Street and Danielle Crooks. Photo \/ Hope Patterson <\/p>\n

Street hosted a panel alongside L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s medical representative Danielle Crooks, leading dermatologist Dr Monique McKenzie and Andrea O\u2019Hagan, head of marketing for Chemist Warehouse, where Vichy is exclusively available. <\/p>\n

A dynamic DJ and violin duo then turned the music up as guests mingled, enjoying champagne, bespoke cocktails and delicious bites. <\/p>\n

Other guests included founder of Sauce, Zeenat Wilkinson; fashion and beauty influencer Jungwon Jo; model Maya Silwood; The Lit List\u2019s Rachel Soo Thow and L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s Poppy Compston. <\/p>\n

\"PoppyPoppy Compston and Imogen Sutcliffe. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"ZeenatZeenat Wilkinson and Junwon Jo. Photo \/ Hope Patterson\"MayaMaya Silwood. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"SteveSteve Huynh and Rachel Soo Thow. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"VanessaVanessa Marshall and Megan Bedford. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"JordiJordi Grace, Georgia Bradley, Shannen Frear and Courtney Sammut. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"LouiseLouise Hilz and Trudi Brewer. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"FatimaFatima Savea. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"CaitlinCaitlin Kunz and Kelly Walsh. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"AkhilAkhil Roy and Teena S Mathew. Photo \/ Hope Patterson \"StephanieStephanie Lai, Varsha Reddy and Amanda Bradley. Photo \/ Hope Patterson <\/p>\n

Ricardo Simich<\/a> has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hunt for Gollum (THFG) director and star Andy Serkis (Gollum) is also said to be a fan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2840,95,9526,806,1558,11154,10141,196029,3246,3071,90820,6097,4726,156,99278,2082,270382,4223,10937,2936,5511,29137,136019,111,139,69,8417,61610,2935,5436,94423,1065,52,6123,79638,19135],"class_list":["post-550934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-across","tag-and","tag-another","tag-as","tag-been","tag-begins","tag-begun","tag-bigbudget","tag-both","tag-cities","tag-contingent","tag-down","tag-ends","tag-entertainment","tag-filming","tag-for","tag-gollum","tag-hollywood","tag-hunt","tag-insider","tag-just","tag-keeping","tag-minecraft","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-production","tag-sequel","tag-society","tag-stars","tag-tabs","tag-touring","tag-wellington","tag-while","tag-winding","tag-working"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}