Director Jennifer Peedom on assembling the cast of ‘TENZING,’ from finding Genden Phuntsok to bringing Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe on board: “I discovered [Genden] through the work of the late great Tibetan director Pema Tseden. [...] I watched these films and I knew that this was our Tenzing. [...] What I needed in [Tom] was the spirit of generosity because it’s Tenzing’s movie. [...] I talked to [Willem] about the way I wanted to do it, my relationship with the Sherpa community, and he said, ‘Sign me up.’ [...] It was somehow destined to be.” ‘TENZING’ is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Willem Dafoe tells us what drew him to ‘TENZING’: “I thought [my role] would probably be some English official in Kathmandu or something like that. But then when [director Jennifer Peedom] said, ‘Actually, you’ll be the head of the expedition and you’ll be climbing,’ I said, ‘Great.’ When you do something that has such a physical element, I always enjoy that. It’s always an adventure.” ‘TENZING’ is now streaming on Apple TV+.