MN: First we settle this Hungarian matter!

Csokas: My father left Hungary during the Second World War. He was a mechanical engineer. And an opera singer. But the former he had to forgo due to the circumstances at the time. He is a real survivor-type. As he ages, this survival mechanism shows more markedly in his behaviour, his emotions and in his everyday life. I can see in him this driving force, which I too inherited somewhat. Lately we’ve been together a lot, nearing six months, and the longest period that I’ve spent with him so far. The mirror effect is astounding: to recognise our own personality in each other.

MN: Did you travel together in Hungary?

Csokas: It’s taken me two years to return my visit. It is a strange thing to ‘belong’, to be proud of your nationality, where you’ve come from - yet left behind, and to live on the world’s other side. After the war, my father did not want to return. Of course, he had plenty of good memories of Hungary, but ones which he no longer wanted to look in the eye. But as soon as he returned, three years ago, he met it [Hungary] with great joy and renewed all connections with his homeland. Since then we’ve visited Hungary twice together.

MN: Lord of the Rings made your name famous. How long did you work on that film?

Csokas: Around about ten days. I played a small part. When I arrived on location, I was completely amazed by the scale. The amount of money and energy spent on such a production! I became extremely nervous. The enormity of it weighed on me.

MN: New Zealand is a pretty hard place to start a career.

Csokas: That was not a great concern to me. That’s how the circumstances were. For a while I worked in Australia, travelling between the two countries. After a turn, I had one month of spare time in which I had a look at Los Angeles for myself. For seven years I have not lived in New Zealand.

MN: Is Los Angeles your new home?

Csokas: In the past four years I’ve travelled every which way. If I didn’t have any other thing to do, then I went back to LA to meet with important people, to secure roles. But, in essence, I am a wandering gypsy.

MN: Do you still hold New Zealand close to you?

Csokas: Over there only nature surrounds us. We are separated from the rest of the world. This is isolation, and even if filtered, it affects a person’s outlook. We handle each culture we come into contact with at a distance. One of my favourite New Zealand artists* gave this title to his picture - "Landscape with too few lovers". This sums up quite well what this country means to me.

MN: In David Mackenzie’s Asylum you do away with your wife.

Csokas: Due to jealousy. Jealousy paired with alcoholism is a very dangerous combination. The more I immersed myself in this mad man’s role, the better I saw what went on in his mind, and the more I could become him, having experienced all this! But aside from that, my behaviour did not go to his extreme – or if it did, I’m not going to tell you. I conducted a lot of research. Since we’re dealing with a struggling artist, I went through all the 50’s artists’ works. I stumbled across an artist of East-European birth, raised in an orphanage, Frank Albachra, whose work methods I studied for this obsessed character [Edgar Stark], and in the end I even tried my hand at drawing. [undecipherable]. You can prepare yourself [for the role] to the greatest detail.

MN: This role is a real breakthrough. You are nearing stardom.

Csokas: Whether or not the so-called international circle recognises this does not worry me. One film or role does not start a career. You can be sure about that. Every experience more or less prepares you for your next. It’s important because these experiences shape and prepare you for things that you otherwise would have not have been capable of. New Zealand offers many opportunities. It’s a small country, and therefore necessary that one tries everything; in television, film, theatrical plays, otherwise you do not get toughened up. I am not picky. I like to approach every role in a professional manner. I perform thorough work. I am not the type who leaves things to good fortune. I am proud of each of my works.

MN: Next up you appear beside Charlize Theron, who plays the chief role in Aeon Flux.

Csokas: It’s a futuristic action-film, sci-fi drama. Charlize plays the leading role, I play Trevor, leader of the state - which is civilization’s last bastion after a virus kills off almost everyone in the world. Naturally, the plot is driven by love. It’s based on the Music Television animated cartoon, and says a few politically daring things. We filmed in Berlin, and at the end of the job, I again went to Hungary, to Eger and Tokaj where I drank quite a lot of wine. I also had a look around Budapest.

MN: Would you like to work in Hungary?

Csokas: With a thousand joys [gladly]. For example, with István Szabó and Béla Tarr, whose work I’m familiar with.