The Plating Game: Anna Paquin

We asked actor, producer and face of The Glenlivet Australia and New Zealand Anna Paquin to share her food loves so we could create a dish especially for her.

Anna Paquin’s first acting role was as a skunk in her school play. But after the Canadian-born Kiwi actress was picked to act in Jane Campion’s The Piano from more than 5,000 candidates, her star rose rapidly.

When she scooped the 1993 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 11, she became the second-youngest Oscar winner ever – and her acting career since has encompassed everything from blockbuster hits (the X-Men franchise) to seductive vampire television (True Blood), as well as turns in the theatre and a spot of voiceovering. She’s now no less than a global superstar.

On top of acting, she has a steady career as a producer and is a fierce advocate for racial equality and gay and trans rights. She’s also mum to nine-year-old twins and two stepchildren with her husband and True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer.

In the kitchen, Anna likes to keep it simple, preparing nutritious meals for her family. We caught up with the star about her go-to kid-friendly meals, her takeaways of choice and her favourite tipple.

Between a successful acting career and family life, you’re pretty busy. But do you like to cook?

Anna: Yes I do – but as you say, I’m a busy lady. When I’m home and able to cook, it’s quite focused on family meals. Our kids are pretty normal – they like their pasta and bolognese, their roast chicken and mashed potatoes and, you know, the three or four vegetables they’ll actually eat on any given day! So my cooking is mostly just mundane parental stuff, trying to make sure that the little growing humans are getting as much well-balanced nutrition as possible.

What’s your signature dish?

Anna: I do make a pretty killer bolognese! It has been commented on by people outside of my family, so I’ll take credit for that.

Anna: My husband and I love lots of very spicy food – I’m of the ‘I put hot sauce on my hot sauce’ camp – although we’re yet to get our kids on that track yet. But because I love spicy food, I’m a big fan of Thai and Indian and Mexican; anything that has nice strong flavours and a bit of a kick.

Tell us about a standard day in the food life of Anna Paquin.

Anna: I’ve got to be honest – there is no regular food schedule as such, because of the funny gypsy circus life that I live. When you get to set, no matter what time of day it is, they serve ‘breakfast’, and six hours later, they serve ‘lunch’ – but sometimes that means ‘breakfast’ is at 5pm and ‘lunch’ is in the middle of the night.

I can tell you I like my coffee with almond milk, and I tend to be pretty simple with what I do food-wise while I’m working – I just want to know that I’m going to have enough energy to get through my day. I like to do a bit of meal prep when I can.

But mostly I have to be a bit adaptable because I travel a lot and you don’t always necessarily have access to the same stuff. One of the things I’ve got more specific about is creating routines for my kids, especially when they were little – so that no matter where we were, things were sort of relatively the same. As good little California babies, they love their tacos, so where possible I’d try to find the ingredients for that – although that’s not always easy, depending on where you are! I’d also be absolutely lost without my ninja nanny who is my co-pilot; she does a lot of the cooking when the kids and I are travelling.

Do you like to entertain, and if so, in what style?

Anna: The whole pandemic has put a little bit of a blinker on group gatherings for us. I think the last time we actually had people round was for my birthday, and we had a socially distanced outdoor potluck dinner. Everyone just brought a plate and it was fun. But honestly, the main entertaining we do now would be kids’ birthday parties. The kids and I like baking together, especially. Between my stepkids and biological babies, my husband and I have had small children for about 15 years, so it’s very family-oriented.

Are there any foods you don’t eat?

Anna: Yes! Anchovies and blue cheese are a hard pass from me – absolutely no way, not if you paid me. My husband likes both and we’ve learnt to live
with that.

And what about your favourite foods?

Anna: I love a Thai green curry – like Thai spicy, not western spicy! And a Thai green papaya salad is great, too. Also, I’ve spent a lot of time in London and there’s a ton of amazing Indian food there… I have a soft spot for a vindaloo. When we do eat out or order in, it’s usually something that would be really complicated or time-consuming to make at home.

You’ve recently become the face of The Glenlivet Australia and New Zealand – tell us a bit about that. What’s your favourite way to enjoy whisky?

Anna: I had never really been a whisky drinker. But then I did a movie in Scotland a few years ago and did get into Glenlivet whisky, as one does in Scotland! I used to have a little post-work nightcap with my make-up artist at the end of the day, usually out of whatever clean coffee mugs were hanging around in the make-up trailer, and you know, sometimes we’d add a little tonic or a little of something else, just play around a bit. As the ad campaign says, I enjoy Glenlivet however the f*** I want!

Are there any foods you particularly crave when you’re away from Aotearoa?

Anna: Not so much anymore. In general, I do try to eat locally sourced food wherever possible to save on my carbon footprint. And food has become so global anyway – I think it’s been quite a while since there were things I would crave from home that they didn’t just sell in the supermarket here. That being said, the fresh fruit and veg in New Zealand is pretty killer.

What’s your go-to food treat?

Anna: I’m not so much of a treat gal. I find that going for a nice long run or doing a CrossFit class lifts my mood pretty nicely – a little endorphin and serotonin rush is my preference. But I am very fond of pretty much all flavours of kombucha. I’m not terribly exciting, I’m not going to lie!

Click here to find the recipe for Anna's Chipotle Braised Beef with Polenta Dumplings.