I've never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.
New Zealand is the only country I know well enough to write about. It can sometimes lead to complications.
Everybody recommends New Zealand. I really want to learn this haka, the traditional dance - I love it; it's so cool.
I moved out to New Zealand to live as I thought the warmth and peace and quiet would help me. I went away and changed my whole life routine.
That was the big effect Lord of the Rings had on me. It was discovering New Zealand. And even more precious were the people- not at all like the Australians.
I grew up watching the 'Muppets.' In New Zealand, the 'Muppets' were as big as anywhere else I think. It was a pretty global phenomenon.
I don't know that you're ever going to persuade New Zealanders that they're not going to own their own homes and I'm not going to try.
New Zealand as a whole needs to save more, spend less and reduce our reliance on foreign debt.
New Zealand, by the way, where I was ambassador, has had two women prime ministers - one from either party.
I've only been to New Zealand once, about 1989. It was incredibly beautiful, kind of like the ideal of where I live in New England - all that and then some - but I can't say I was there long enough to get any very clear idea.
If I have the choice of traveling to Russia, India or New Zealand alone for a week for preliminary discussions or to spend that week with my family, I routinely choose my family.
I have heard that in the New Zealand native tradition, the soul, when it dies, becomes a star.
I grew up in the New Zealand countryside. We didn't have television until I was 14, so sing-alongs were our only entertainment.
If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push 'em closer.
New Zealand was one of the most beautiful countries to drive through for the scenery and the vast scale of the place.
I've spent half my life on planes. I have a lot of love for New Zealand, though. That is where the really arty, whimsical side of the family resided - in Hobbitland.
I think that's what all New Zealanders who are fair-minded want - a good chance for everybody to get ahead, whether it's education or housing.
I was born accidentally. I lived accidentally in London. We nearly migrated to New Zealand. So much of my life has been a product of chance, I can't see a meaning in it at all.
New Zealand needs to balance its environmental responsibilities with its economic opportunities, because the risk is that if you don't do that - and you want to lead the world - then you might end up getting unintended consequences.
Living in New Zealand, that's something that you'd like to do as an actor, but very rarely do you get an opportunity to get such a good springboard as 'The Hobbit' to help you get international work.
I really wanted to write an adventure story, a murder-mystery that was set during the gold-rush years in New Zealand.
