MY SPACE

“INDY” MAGNOLI

Whanganui film buff Anthony Magnoli has impersonated dozens of on-screen icons, from James Bond to Jack Sparrow – and the designer/prop maker has made some excellent “no budget” fan films on YouTube). As an archaeology student in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Magnoli acquired the nickname “Indy” due to his signature Indiana Jones hat. After completing his degree in 1999, he left the US to spend a year teaching at a Catholic school in Whanganui, which is where he met his future wife, Kathryn (they now have five children). Walking into their 1920s villa is like stepping into the Tardis. Beyond a long hallway is a complex that includes an indoor pool, offices and a large warehouse, none of which can be seen from the street. But the highlight is Magnoli’s Victorian-inspired study, complete with a mezzanine floor – just the sort of room you’d expect to find in a sea captain’s house. Magnoli’s career in the movies began after he made a reproduction of Indiana Jones’ diary from , then a small-scale version of the film’s Ark of the Covenant. Realising there was a market for historic replicas, he went into business, specialising in custom-made pieces for professionals and collectors (). Screen credits include a film; Jim Jarmusch’s , which featured a long close-up of a passport he created for the vampire played by Tilda Swinton; and TV spy-thriller series “Kathryn and I watched in horror as a dozen of my [painstakingly created] passports went up in smoke.” Magnoli’s love of films such as and has also inspired a range of reproduction vintage clothing and accessories, including Humphrey Bogart’s trench coat, Cary Grant’s dinner jacket, and a James Bond tie, cufflinks and sunglasses set. As for his character impersonations? That, says Magnoli, is just for fun.