ScreenTalk

Angela Bloomfield made a splash on Shortland Street when she first joined the show as messed up teenager Rachel McKenna. Over her long stint on the 20-year-old series, her character has battled bulimia, survived a lightning strike and recovered from alcoholism. Once voted NZ’s sexiest TV star, she has acted in the films Bonjour Timothy and Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners, and appeared in the TV shows Ride with the Devil, and Dancing with the Stars. As well as acting, Bloomfield has directed episodes of Shortland Street, Jackson’s Wharf and Go Girls.

In this ScreenTalk, Bloomfield talks about:

• Getting the bug for acting on the set of Bonjour Timothy
• Learning to act differently for film in The Frighteners
• Being terrified on her first day on the set of Shortland Street
• Enjoying playing the role of Rachel McKenna on the show
• Feeling flattered but surprised by being seen as a sex symbol
• How directing episodes of the soap has influenced her acting
• Treating her stint on Dancing with the Stars as another job
• Really wanting to have a lead role in a feature film

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Shortland Street producer Steven Zanoski’s first job in television was as a writer/reporter on the kids programme What Now? He went on to become a storyliner for Shortland Street and eventually the programme’s producer. During his time as a writer on the show, he also penned the screenplay for the one-off TV drama House of Sticks. Zanoski has also had a hand in the development of Outrageous Fortune and executive produced Mataku and Mercy Peak. In this ScreenTalk, Zanoski talks about:

• Getting a job on the kids show What Now? at the age of 19
• The genesis for writing the screenplay of the hour-long TV drama House of Sticks
• How he learnt to write storylines for Shortland Street
• The process of creating story arcs for the soap
• Having over-all control of the show in his role as producer
• Keeping the 20-year-old show fresh by bringing in new creative challenges
• His favourite storyline when the clinic was blown up
• How great storytelling will see Shortland Street into the future

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Actor Paul Ellis is best known for playing bad boy Fergus Kearney on Shortland Street. Since leaving the show, he has appeared in a number of New Zealand, US and UK television productions including The Chosen, Celebrity Treasure Island, Legend of the Seeker, Dream Team and Ice. He has also appeared in 2008 movie The Delphi Effect and online soap Auckland Daze.

In this ScreenTalk, Ellis talks about:

• Auditioning for a part on Shortland Street at the tender age of 18
• Viewing his character Fergus as a bad boy with a good heart
• Loving working with Claire Chitham on the show
• How a part on the UK show Dream Team challenged him as an actor
• Feeling nervous and a little out of place on Celebrity Treasure Island
• Being in the film The Delphi Effect (aka Kiss Me Deadly)
• Enjoying the large scale of production on Legend of the Seeker
• Having to shave his head for the role of a monk on the show
• Finding it weird playing ‘himself’ on Auckland Daze

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Actor Jeffrey Thomas has had a long and varied career in both TV and theatre. His best-known television role was as Inspector Brian Finn in the police series Shark in the Park. Thomas has also appeared in Mercy Peak, Shortland Street, Spartacus and Outrageous Fortune. He has just completed a small film role in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit.

In this ScreenTalk, Thomas talks about:

• How Close to Home was the perfect place to hone his acting skills
• Having lots of fun and laughter on the set of Gliding On
• How being seen as a ‘leader’ got him the main role in Shark in the Park
• How spending time with the police gave him the cues he needed for the role
• Being mistaken for a real cop by a robbery victim
• Loving the spectacle on the set of Hercules
• Playing a dying man on Shortland Street
• Enjoying working with John Hannah in Spartacus
• The reason he can’t tell anyone about his experience on The Hobbit
• Being surprised and humbled by his long career

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Actor Blair Strang shot to fame in New Zealand playing the likeable ambulance driver Rangi in Shortland Street. After six years, he quit the show and returned to law school. Since then, his acting career has been resurrected playing a range of characters in shows such as Go Girls, Spin Doctors, Doves of War, and Orange Roughies. He now plays the un-PC Brian on the hit show Nothing Trivial.

In this ScreenTalk, Strang talks about:

• Getting a role on The Billy T James Show through his friend Ilona Rodgers
• Noticing the shyness of the show’s star when not performing
• Being told off by his mother after getting a role on Shortland Street
• How the role of Rangi on the soap changed over time
• Why changes to the show led him to quit after six years
• Feeling he’d done a really bad acting job on Spin Doctors
• Why having a hangover helped him get a role on Doves of War
• Playing with guns and getting soaked in a boat in Orange Roughies
• How playing Brian on Nothing Trivial has been his favourite role to date

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Rima Te Wiata created a name for herself impersonating many famous New Zealanders in the comedy shows Laughinz, Issues, and More Issues. Her most famous parody was of newsreader Judy Bailey. Te Wiata is also a successful dramatic actor, having appeared in a number of TV dramas such as Shark in the Park, Sons and Daughters, and Shortland Street. Her film credits include 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous and Via Satellite.

In this ScreenTalk, Te Wiata talks about:

• Learning from the legendary Pat McDonald on the Aussie soap Sons and Daughters
• The joy of acting with other actor friends on Shark in the Park
• Having huge fun performing on the comedy shows Issues and More Issues
• How newsreader Judy Bailey asked her not to continue parodying her
• Heading to Australia to star in the sketch show Full Frontal
• Being conned by fellow star Eric Bana
• Having to learn to drive in order to host the doco Motormania
• Playing a ‘mean cow’ in the film Via Satellite

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Ken Blackburn is a British born actor and writer who emigrated to New Zealand as a child. In his long career, Blackburn has appeared in theatre and screen productions in New Zealand, Australia and Britain. He is best known in this country for his portrayal of The Boss in the popular sitcom Gliding On. His other TV credits include Close to Home, Hunter’s Gold, Moynihan and Shortland Street. His film credits include Skin Deep and Rest for the Wicked.

In this ScreenTalk, Blackburn talks about:

• Enjoying playing a devious lawyer on the soap Close to Home
• Working on location in Central Otago for the series Hunter’s Gold
• Wishing he’d bought the horse he worked with on the show
• Playing the quintessential bureaucratic boss in Gliding On
• How the actors were given freedom to add to the scripts
• Having a hair dying mishap on the set of Sea Urchins
• The joy of working with the three young Māori actors on the show
• Feeling that the writers made his character too abrasive in Shortland Street
• Narrowly escaping death jumping from a helicopter in The Grasscutter
• Why working on Rest for the Wicked was like a reunion with mates

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Nancy Brunning’s television debut was in the first episode of Shortland Street as series regular Nurse Jaki Manu. She turned in a memorable performance as gang girl Tania in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, and played a fun loving lesbian in When Love Comes.  Brunning has appeared in a number of TV projects including Mataku and Fish Skin Suit. As well as acting, she also directed the WWII-era short Journey to Ihipa.

In this ScreenTalk, Brunning talks about:

• How it took six months to get used to working on the set of Shortland Street
• Feeling the pressure of playing the only Māori female character on primetime TV
• Having to tell her father she was playing a lesbian in When Love Comes
• Writing a diary to develop her tough role in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
• Learning to stand up to director Ian Mune on set
• Finding it hard to work out the character of Joy in The Strength of Water
• Why a particular scene in the movie proved to be the hardest to shoot

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Donogh Rees is an accomplished actress in theatre and on screen. Her feature film debut was playing the lead role in Constance. She won a Film and TV award for her portrayal of a woman with a head injury in the film Crush, and in 2012 will be seen playing Lady Capulet in an unorthodox film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Her most well known television role was playing Nurse Judy Brownlee in Shortland Street, but she has been in a number of TV shows such as Marlin Bay, Xena and the mini-series Fallout.

In this ScreenTalk, Rees talks about:

• Learning on the set of Constance that every experience teaches something
• Discovering the nuances of emotional expression on the set of Iris
• Observing on-set tensions during filming of Crush
• Being asked if she’d done any porn while researching her role in the film
• Working hard to find the essence of her role as Marilyn Waring in Fallout
• Hanging upside down to play a volcano goddess in Xena
• Bringing out the ‘everyday’ racism of Judy Brownlee in Shortland Street
• Lip synching the role of Lady Capulet in a film re-working of Romeo and Juliet

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Actor Ian Hughes made a big impact on our screens playing the ‘sad clown’ Ant in the acclaimed TV series and movie Topless Women Talk About Their Lives. From there, he went on to play a number of roles on television shows such as Shortland Street, Hercules, Xena, and Doves of War. He has also appeared in feature films including The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and directed his own short film The Waiting Room.

In this ScreenTalk, Hughes talks about:

• Having no idea of the plot on Topless Women Talk About Their Lives
• Loving playing the ‘sad clown’ Ant on the show
• Watching in awe as Lucy Lawless kept things going on the set of Xena
• How being involved with Shortland Street became all consuming
• Realising being in The Lord of the Rings was a once in a lifetime opportunity
• Making the short film Bogans for $800
• How they got Peter Jackson to do a cameo in the film
• Making sure the character of George in the TV movie Bliss was not a ‘victim’

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.