Truth be told

It’s hard to get a word in edgeways when these much-loved Kiwi actors get together. They chat to Nicky Pellegrino about the movie project that fast-tracked their friendship, the reality of menopause, the heartbreak of losing a parent and how in their 50s they finally feel relaxed about how they look.

- Nicky Pellegrino

There seems no doubt that Robyn Malcolm and Rima Te Wiata were meant to be friends; the two have so much in common. They even like to smell the same (of the now discontinued Commes des Garçons fragrance Daphne), they share a love of beautiful lingerie (and wear it for their own pleasure rather than a man’s) and they were born two years apart on the same day, March 15, making them Pisces, if you believe in astrology, which they do. Oh and, of course, they have the same job.

“We’re both wussy actors and we cry a lot,” says Robyn.

At one point, years ago in their 20s, they also had the same taste in men, which led to an awkward first meeting, after Rima fell for a guy who had broken Robyn’s heart.

“I didn’t even know Robyn at that point but she came over and knocked on the door,” recalls Rima. “She said she’d heard who I was going out with and told me to be careful. I was really polite, but didn’t ask her in. Actually I thought, ‘Who does she think she is?’”

“Did I do that? I don’t remember. What a nosy minx!’ Robyn is laughing. “I must have been traumatised.”

“I think you were genuinely trying to protect me,” says Rima. “And of course you were right because then he moved on and I felt the same.”

Several decades have passed since then and, while they have seen each other perform in theatre productions and TV shows, Robyn and Rima haven’t ever worked together until now. They are making up for lost time. At their