Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - Behind the Pike River Film: Robyn Malcolm & Melanie Lynskey

Episode Date: October 16, 2025

The team sits down with Robyn Malcolm and Melanie Lynskey, the stars of the upcoming film based on the Pike River mining disaster. They portray Anna and Sonya, two ordinary Kiwi women who became extraordinary voices for justice after tragedy struck. From racing to make it to the Greymouth premiere to bonding over Liquorice Allsorts (and regrettable tattoo choices), Robyn and Melanie share behind-the-scenes stories of filming in the West Coast and connecting with the real-life women they portray. They reflect on the emotional weight of telling a true story, the importance of community support, and the enduring fight for accountability. Instagram: @THEHITSBREAKFAST Facebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & MeganSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to Hello Fresh Cookies and delicious dinners, the whole family will love because nothing beats dinner time. And we had a connecting flight from Christchurch back up here for the Premier last night, so we had to rally drive across. Oh, they were stressing you weren't going to get here. Oh, damn. It was a race again, the clock. It was, but I rang the fam in Christchurch who were very good at disaster recovery. And I was like, we may need help. They didn't be helicopter, you're out.

Oh, and Roger was hilarious. He was like, what do you need? You need a chopper? And you were like going, no chopper please. I know, I heard her on the phone saying, we might need the chopper. I was like, no, we don't. We'll be fine.

We'll miss the premiere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we made it, which was good. Yeah. We are rolling, are we? We're rolling? Oh, we are rolling. Oh, you're good.

That's a great story. I was hoping we're rolling. Yeah, yeah. Rambling on. Yeah, no. Was it the first premiere, world premiere ever in Greymouth, do you think, for this movie? You mean the first premiere ever in Greymouth or the first premiere of the movie?

Well, no, ever in Greymouth, yeah. Oh, I don't know. There's that light between the oceans, that film, which was shot down there, and also Perfect Strangers, which was Galen Preston film, that was shot in the West Coast. But I don't know whether either of them had a premiere. Troy, our producer, he's from Greymouth. Well, you would know then. Have you been to a premiere there, mate?

Not much happening and not much in the ways of premieres. And such, you know, I mean, the story is, you know, so important to that region. You know, you filmed there and Troy was saying you could see the bakery and all the places. I mean, how important was it for you guys to have the buy-in of Grey Mouth and the community? Oh, so important. Yeah, we really needed everybody to be behind the film and want us to be there, honestly. So it was really nice to be there and feel like we had everybody's blessing. and then by the time the premiere happened

the families had already seen the movie and really responded positively to it that was a bit nerve-wracking because it's their story what's it like when meeting the people that you're playing because I understand dirty jokes came into play pretty quickly pretty quickly right with Sonia and Anna yeah very quickly

from you or them or bit of both what do you think Have you met them? I haven't met them, I met you. Oh, my God. I don't think we've got to dirty jokes stage yet. Oh, they were absolutely. They were brilliant.

They were brilliant. Like we met them, we met and then it was like two hours later, we met them. Is that right? Yeah. I think so. But you don't met before? No. No, no, no, no, no.

We loved from afar. Yeah, right. We would send each other messages on Instagram. And this was even before we knew we'd been. Yeah. You know, so every now and then. Like admiration. Oh, that's cool.

Yeah. You don't see me any of those, Robin. What? No, they didn't see me any of those on once again. Well, she said admiration. Oh, is that way? Yeah, it's not. Okay, sorry, yeah, okay.

We're sitting in a back and forth to each other. Yeah, we were. And then we were cast and we were like, oh my God, it was nice. We already had a mutual respect. Don't you're matching tattoos now? Yeah, you do. Do you?

On the movie? After the movie. Yeah. Are you telling people what they are? Yes. Yes. What is it? What are they?

Where are they? Lickrishaw sort. I haven't shaved my legs so I feel about showing it. Oh. Yeah. That's cute. Yeah. That's a good sock.

Don't look at my toes but there's my one. Oh, lovely. Yeah. And why a liquor? Don't look at my toes. She says putting up. Don't look at my bad. Don't look at my bad toe.

Everybody go for all those. Yeah. Get a lot of money from those. Get my toes out of this. I haven't had a pedicure in 400 years. My toes look exactly. Yeah. And what was with the Lickrish All Sorts?

What's the back story there? Well, Anna and Sonia initially bonded because they both were bringing lollies to court, like to get through like a long day. And they started to talk to each other finally after having not a great relationship. And in the movie, they gave us licorice all sorts to be the lollies that we were eating in that time. we were eating in that scene. So we were like, oh, it's like where they bonded and this is how we bonded and in honor of them and our friendship

and we've got licorice all sorts. And then Anna and Sonia were like, oh, we hate licorice all sorts. Oh, that's what they gave us in the movie. We were like, well that's what they gave us in the movie and they were like, well that's, we would never have eaten us. We would never have eaten us. In fact, we probably wouldn't even developed a friendship

with one of them and had a licorice or sort. It could have ruined the entire story. Do you think this is kind of bonded you two. It's obviously a very heavy story and it's one that's dear to New Zealanders. But do you think this has bonded the two of you for life? Well we got tattoos. Yeah, tattoos. That's a good step, right? Better have.

Better have. Imagine if we just like have a terrible falling out and then we have to see. You have to laser. That's true. I know because for the last couple of years we haven't seen each other because, you know, it's been in different countries. Different countries and you do that thing where you go, oh my God, we must catch up. Hold on a minute, I've got 4 a.m. calls for the next six months.

Well, you know, so eventually we would, when we saw it, but what was great was it every now and then, I'd go, oh, there she is. Yeah. It's beautiful. Okay, I've got 24 hours in Greymouth. What's one thing I need to do? From spending time there, filming, what would you recommend? Go up to the mine. Yeah.

Go to the entrance to the mine. Like, really do, because you just feel them in there. And it's, it's not as heavy as you, it is heavy, but it feels like just something, if you're going to visit Greymouth, you've got to go visit them. And it's a little memorial site. Yeah. It's before the entrance, but that's really beautiful. Yeah.

The families come and leave little trinkets and little things for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And there's a pub run by an old fernie friend of mine called John Kenneth. and it's the pub that the miners used to go to when they finish their night time shift so they'd go drinking there at 6 in the morning or they come at the end of their day shift at I can't remember the name of it someone will tell you and and so it's where they would sort of clock on and clock off and I mean you don't really have to do much down there because it's just so beautiful just walk out your front door the warehouse is very good The weird house. Right.

We name another 19 things we need to do in three hours. They have a weirdly well-stocked warehouse. They do. Kind of whatever you would need. And then Hannah, who was doing out here, said she found this like monster truck she's been looking for with out of stock everywhere. She said it was at the Greenmouth warehouse. Oh.

Yeah. And I said, I'm not surprised. It's a big adjustment, isn't it? The warehouse compared to where you live in America, I mentioned. Yeah. I mean, it's like New Zealand's Target. Yeah. Yeah.

Was it nice doing your original accent? It was voice again? Was it hard? My own voice is such a mess at this point. I've lived away for 27 years. Wow. Like, it's, yeah. So it's a beautiful hybrid.

I feel like it's good. More Kiwi than I would have expected. Okay, that's good. I feel like maybe your Kiwi's coming back. What's your American voice? What? My American accent. Depends who...

It's right down here, isn't it? That's going on. It depends where the person's from that I'm playing, I guess. Do they still in American? I don't, I talk like this in America. Yeah, what do they say in America? Because I went overseas and I get bin for Ben or PIN or Bean or like do they struggle to understand Melanie? That vowel is difficult.

Yeah. Like I did two and a half men for many years and a lot of my scenes involved, I had to go out onto the deck. And they would all, 13 years of every man just been like, It never got time. Yeah. Oh, Mel's on the dick again. Yeah. Basically.

Now, Jacinda's in this movie as well. And was it true that Sonia and Anna actually just texted? Yeah, Sonia texts or something, right? Yeah, they text all the time. So not you guys texting Jacinda, it was them. I do not have a texting relationship with Jacinda, I'd like one. Because she's amazing. Yeah.

But yeah, they do. Yeah, they do. And they, I think that's how it hacked. Do you want to be in the movie? Yeah. I think it was to start with Hey mate. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yeah, so Kiwit. Yes. When her husband was dying, Jacinda checked it on her two or three times a day. Wow. What do you need? What do you need?

What do you need? What do you want people to take away from, because we know the story, but watching the movie, what do you want people to take away from it? Do you want to go? Yeah, there you go. I think, like, how important it is to have a voice

and use your voice. And even though sometimes it feels impossible, just trying to make change happen and stand up to injustice. And, you know, there's a moment in the movie where they get a payout and they're like, it's actually not good enough and they keep fighting. So I do think at this moment in time it's important for everybody to keep fighting. Yeah. You get a feeling at the moment that everybody feels a bit over. everybody feels a bit overwhelmed.

And you couldn't get two more overwhelmed women at the beginning of the Pike story and disempowered. And watching these two, as they would call themselves, and as you said quite rightly, they call themselves ordinary Kiwi women and they're the last thing they are as ordinary. But this was not their world. And the way they just got their elbows right out

and they've stayed out and they're still, you know, they're still fighting. So the other great thing is that this film's coming out at a time when there is a lot to fight for, but also around the pipe disaster. The, you know, no one's been held accountable yet. Well, thank you for your time today and thank you for being part of, you know,

bringing this movie to the world in New Zealand. It's very special, so thank you. And Robin, will you come and do a prank with us? I know we have, we arrested for like five years and you said no, and we just wore you down. No, I did it. You did it. I did it.

You did it. I did it. I did it. The man, no, the man that I'll never forget the man. You know when I held that water bottle behind him and I sneezed and sprayed the water bottle under the back of his knee. Tell me he's like, why are you talking? He does not ask me to do that. We asked her for five years and then she did it finally.

She's like, I've done it now. We tick that box and we can move on. My son still remember that way. They love that day. And I honestly thought he. He was going to kill me. Yeah, he was pretty dark. He was quite dark.

We had a great time. We got some great... Yeah. Oh, we know who you were? Did he recognise him? I don't think he cared. I just think it was like... It was a real groovy in the record shop, wasn't it?

It was a real groovy. So I had to read two pages of... What is it? The 60 shades of grey. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had to just sit down and read a couple of customers, a couple of pages of that. Yeah, I had to sit down and read a couple of customers, a couple of that. had a big symbol you're like behind someone who was sitting yeah yeah and then I had to do the sneezing

thing and then I had to shame a guy who was buying okay let's not go through everything Robert let's just wrap it we're wrapping where should I wrap it up I'm going through I want to I want to relive it's not on your IMDB I know it's but anyway that's fun at what point in the world's COVID journey did you this is before this is before this is before COVID this is yeah yeah yeah it was way before time now I think it was different time anyway we're ready you Yeah, oh, you've actually got a spray bottle. We're going to wrap it up. Thank you so much, guys.

Thank you. Thank you. Do you guys want to get a quick? I would love one. Oh my God, that was traumatising. Sorry, sorry. I was just like, remember this. Yeah.

And I had to dance behind a guy when he wasn't watching. Now I say it I'm feel bad for you. No, don't. It was fun. I didn't mind it. Yeah, like controlling her like air peace. So we sit at the back and do it. You kept telling me, like, now do this.

Now do that. Shame him! Shame him more!