By Virginia Winder

Pukekura Park has turned on its beauty for Hollywood actors, royalty and botanical stars.

And when the Tom Cruise-led movie, The Last Samurai, opened in December 2003, the park was able to be appreciated by a worldwide audience.

Camped Out: Imperial Japanese soldiers invade Pukekura Park for the making of The Last Samurai at the start of 2003.

Members of the British Royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II and the late Queen Mother, have all wandered around the New Plymouth park. In fact, the fountain that plays upon the lower lake commemorates the 9 January 1954 visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Strangely, the fountain wasn't ready during that tour - it was opened a year later to retrospectively honour the Royal couple's stopover. But the Queen Mother, in her 1958 visit, was able to see the water dancing upon the fountain lake. This was the royal matriarch's second visit to New Plymouth, having toured the country in 1927 with her husband, the Duke of York (later they became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth).

During her latter tour, the Queen Mother met Over My Dead Body author June Opie at the entrance to the fountain lake.

Extra time for locals 

This is also the place where extras for The Last Samurai waited under cool leaves for their star turns.

One of those bit actors was former All Black Peter Burke, who played a western diplomat for the day. "I was supposed to be a Russian soldier, but the uniform was far too small," he says. "They said 'that's OK, you can be a western diplomat'."

The tall, lean man was dressed in tails for his 12 hours on set, which was one of the hottest days of a long and fiery summer. That day it rose to 26 degrees Celsius, making it unpleasant for the actors, who were decked out in old-fashioned suits and dresses or military regalia.

"Every country was represented as far as the armed forces were concerned," Peter says. "There were French, Belgian, Italian," he lists a smattering of nationalities. "The admiral of the fleet was about 80. Matter of fact, he collapsed, he fainted."

Although all these extras were "beautifully dressed up" for the filming, they weren't allowed to have their photos taken. But Peter noticed one of the extras snapping away with a throwaway camera.

'Wolfie' to the rescue

Knowing his own camera was locked in his car, Peter asked one of the on-set chiefs if he could fetch it. "He said 'no way' and that if he found anyone with a camera he would rip the film off them."

So Peter did the right thing: "Christ, I wasn't going to blot my copy book!"

By chance, he did get some pictures of himself that day. "We were sheltering away from the heat by the fountain there and along came 'Wolfie' with his camera," he says, referring to another former All Black, Neil Wolfe.

Shady Shelter: Actors, crew and extras from The Last Samurai take refuge beneath the trees in Pukekura Park.

He snapped a couple of shots of Peter, "but my face wasn't really focused", he says.

Real estate agent Christina Harvey then wandered along with her camera and took a few pictures of her former colleague. Later, Neil Wolfe came back for more shots.

Meeting Billy and Tom

Peter was also able to meet some of the big shots, including Billy Connelly. "Yeh, I had a yarn with him. He was a bloody cracker of a guy."

He also had a word with Tom Cruise and his lookalike. "I spoke to them both, not long. Tom, he's a friendly sort of guy too, but you could tell he had a lot on his mind."

That day, when Tom walked upon red carpet to meet the Prime Minister of Japan, there was trouble with filming. "That took 15 or 16 filmings to get that right - Tom was getting a bit tired of this."

Director Ed Zwick also put pressure on the camera operators to do their job. "They eventually got it finished and they were happy with the outcome."

Looking back, Peter is rapt he had the chance to dress up and rub shoulders with the stars.

Even meeting the make-up artists and hair stylists was an experience. "The guy who did me was a guy from LA (Los Angeles). He said 'you've got the best hair here of anyone'."

While Peter's normal hairstyle wasn't changed in any way, he was given whiskers and a moustache. "He took a while too - he was very particular in getting the right colour."

Makeover excites namesake

Peter wasn't the only Taranaki icon to be dressed up for the February 2003 filming. The Brian Bellringer Pavilion was disguised as a Japanese Imperial Palace, while the cricket pitch became a parade ground and campsite for 500 Japanese soldiers.

Turning Japanese: The Bellringer Pavilion during its makeover for The Last Samurai.

The pavilion's namesake was honoured to have the building used in the film. "I thought that it was tremendous," says Brian Bellringer, a long-time cricket official and local body stalwart.

He took photographs of the building after its movie makeover. But it only turned Japanese for a short time. After its big-screen performance, the building was returned to its normal state. 

Pukekura Park continues to attract international stars.

In July 2003, environmental evangelist and television presenter David Bellamy was in New Plymouth to launch the Taranaki Rhododendron Festival.

During his Taranaki jaunt, the botanist spent a few hours wandering through the park, which he believes is the only botanical garden, to his knowledge, that is surrounded by native bush.

"If you enjoy the music of nature, then this is the Top of the Pops and it's right in the middle of your community," he told The Daily News.

And he gave his support to the controversial felling of kauri trees in the park, because they would leave room for other kauri to grow to full height and increase the production of oxygen.

Bellamy also took a stroll through Pukeiti, learning the history of the rhododendron sanctuary on the way.

But that is another Taranaki Story...