Rachel Rose decided the play is the thing as a member of the audience enjoying the Lord of the Rings star's sold-out one-man show in Wanaka in June last year. The Academy Award-nominated thespian said during question time that the best way into acting was to just get on stage and do it.
''I thought, there's an idea,'' Mrs Rose laughed.
''I love going to the theatre but I hadn't been in theatre since school.''
She caught the acting bug when she participated in Tracing Hamlet in Wanaka, which was ''a fantastic experience and a huge amount of fun''.
While rehearsing, Arrowtown entertainer David Cantwell suggested she audition for Calendar Girls, which is based on a true story and has been a hit film.
Hoping to be involved somehow backstage, Mrs Rose found herself auditioning in front of director Giles Burton for one of the six female characters who make up the core cast.
''I think he was looking for people who take direction, not necessarily the world's most experienced actors,'' Mrs Rose said.
''I thought the audition went terribly and I didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks,'' she said.
Production manager ''Melanie [Grindell] called me and my reaction was 'How am I going to break this to my husband?'''
Mrs Rose plays Chris, the alpha-female best friend of Annie whose husband is stricken with leukaemia, which prompts them to organise a fundraising calendar starring Women's Institute members posing tastefully nude. The calendar turns the group into unlikely international celebrities.
''I think I was probably a bit like Chris in my teens,'' Mrs Rose said.
''I was quite loud and I was the bad influence in my friendships. And that's the thing about Chris, she hasn't really grown up and doesn't have an off-button.''
Personality clashes between the women provide some of the deadpan Yorkshire humour of the play.
The English resident of New Zealand of 17 years is confident this will successfully cross over to Wakatipu audiences.
Calendar Girls is staged in the Queenstown Memorial Hall on September 12 to 14.
''It's such a human story, I think people will relate to it,'' Mrs Rose said.
