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  • New Zealand Listener

    ‘I’m not a big fan of labels’

    Feb 21, 2021 5 minutes
    by CLARE DE LORE
    photograph by SIMON YOUNG

    Caz Davis, the lead character in groundbreaking new film Rūrangi, faces a myriad of problems as he returns to his rural New Zealand hometown. After 10 years away, the town hasn’t changed much but Caz has – “she” is now “he” and even his father doesn’t immediately recognise him, let alone accept him.

    Elz Carrad’s portrayal of Caz has drawn critical acclaim – the Listener’s review (February 6) described his acting debut as “extraordinary” and “amazingly accomplished”.

    Carrad, 29, who’s been a trans male as long as he can remember, won the role when the film-makers decided to cast a trans-male actor to play Caz.

    Carrad is also from small-town New Zealand and his family dynamics might suggest a complicated or difficult life – he has six half-siblings and did not meet his biological father until he was 17.

    But as far as Carrad’s

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