Screentalk

Actor Stelios Yiakmis created a name for himself playing doctor Johnny Marinovich for five years on Shortland Street. He gained further acting credentials in a range of Australian and Kiwi TV shows such as McLeod's Daughters, All Saints, and Underbelly – Land of the Long White Cloud, and the Australian feature film Jindabyne. Yiakmis is currently appearing as bad guy Derek Peterson in crime drama The Blue Rose. 

In this ScreenTalk, Yiakmis talks about:

• Being overawed by his first scene on Shortland Street
• How a fellow actor couldn’t help him adjust to the work schedule
• Loving the polarising nature of his character Johnny Marinovich
• How a role in Street Legal gave him a chance to stretch his acting wings
• Confusing the local population on the set of McLeod's Daughters
• Wanting to punch director Ray Lawrence while filming Jindabyne
• Playing a real life criminal in the Kiwi version of Underbelly
• Relishing the chance to be a 'bastard' in The Blue Rose
• How not knowing the plot in advance made the role harder

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

Award-winning actor Jennifer Ludlam has played a range of strong female characters in TV shows such as Cover Story, Gloss, and Undercover. She spent time in Australia appearing in a number of dramas including Prisoner and Sons and Daughters. Returning to New Zealand, Ludlam starred in Sima Urale’s feature film Apron Strings. She is currently appearing in TV thriller The Blue Rose.

In this ScreenTalk, Ludlam talks about:

• Playing a country girl in a city pub in A Going Concern
• Lying about her horse riding ability for a role in Radio Waves
• Having trouble singing and dancing in Gather Your Dreams
• Forgetting all about one of her roles in Shark in the Park
• Loving the camaraderie on the set of Prisoner
• Playing a 'toughie' on Sons and Daughters
• Being an embarrassment to Ilona Rodgers in Gloss
• Being cast as a strong and forthright woman in Cover Story
• Enjoying playing a homophobic mother in Shortland Street
• Feeling nervous in her first scene in Apron Strings
• Giving up a theatre tour for a role in The Blue Rose
• Her one last ambition in TV

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

Award-winning actor Sarah Peirse is best known for her portrayals of two very different mothers — the ill-fated Honorah Rieper in Heavenly Creatures, and the disaffected sophisticate in Rain. Peirse’s first film was the 80s short Queen Street, followed by tele-feature A Woman of Good Character. More recently, she has appeared in tele-movies Bliss: The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield and Aftershock.

In this ScreenTalk, Peirse talks about:

• Having an intense acting journey in A Woman of Good Character
• Playing the gloriously named Vivienne Wallop in Sylvia
• Being heavily pregnant on the set of The Navigator
• Her experience of working with director Vincent Ward
• Being told not to watch Peter Jackson’s previous films prior to working with him on Heavenly Creatures
• Dreaming about the character she played in the film
• Finding the story in the feature film Rain compelling
• Perspectives on her character’s grief and self-destruction
• Playing a 'constrained and compromised' mother in Bliss: The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield
• Not knowing whether or not her work on the Hobbit films will make the final cut
• Feeling blessed to have been able to do roles integral to many films

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

Actor and director Murray Keane's first big role on screen was in 1980s television series Peppermint Twist. His acting credits also include Away Laughing, Chunuk Bair and Braindead. In the 1990s, Keane moved into directing, working on popular drama series Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons and Go Girls. In this ScreenTalk, Keane talks about:

• Playing a semi-mute drummer on Peppermint Twist
• Working in mud and unwashed costumes for movie Chunuk Bair
• Why the film Braindead was the worst experience of his career
• The pressure of directing episodes of Shortland Street
• Being proud of directing Diplomatic Immunity despite its disappointing ratings
• Enjoying public praise for his contribution to Outrageous Fortune
• How Go Girls proved a great way of improving his directing skills

After making her television debut on Shortland Street in 2004, Siobhan Marshall won fame as straight-talking sister Pascalle West over six seasons of Outrageous Fortune. In 2005 she won celebrity singing contest Sing Like a Superstar. More recently she made a guest appearance on The Almighty Johnsons, and will next join her Outrageous screen sister Antonia Prebble as co-star of The Blue Rose. In this ScreenTalk, Marshall talks about:

• Being inspired into acting by seeing Les Miserables
• Playing her name-sake in Shortland Street
• Being accused of playing a slut on the show
• Moving from comic relief to ‘meaty’ drama in Outrageous Fortune
• Getting room to develop her acting and character on the show
• Having a serious migraine while taping Sing Like a Superstar
• Learning how to behave like a man on The Almighty Johnsons
• Discovering a penchant for bending the truth on Would I Lie to You?
• Being one of the only actors in the cast of Duncan’s Lady to speak English
• Playing a cool Kiwi girl in new drama series The Blue Rose
• Believing acting is the only thing she’s good at

Fiona Samuel has found success as an actor, writer and director. Her first acting job was in long-running soap Close to Home, and she followed that with appearances in a number of film and TV shows. Samuel’s greatest passion, however, is for writing and directing. She was the creative force behind The Marching Girls, and has written scripts for shows such as Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons and Rude Awakenings. Samuel also wrote and directed award-winning one-off dramas Piece of My Heart, and Bliss: The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield. In this ScreenTalk, Samuel talks about:

• Being too theatrical on the set of Close to Home
• Creating the concept for The Marching Girls
• Discovering her scriptwriting skills needed an overhaul
• Adding a prostitute to the original story in Home Movie
• How a surprising statistic led her to create the documentary Virginity
• Taking 10 years to get Piece of My Heart funded
• The reasons she picked the main actresses
• Bringing a fresh but authentic feel to Bliss
• Wishing she’d had even more opportunities in her career

Simon Prast made his television debut in cop drama Mortimer’s Patch. Best known for playing spoilt rich kid Alistair Redfern in Gloss, Prast’s biggest film role was playing a gay man in 1998 movie When Love Comes. He also has a strong background in theatre, and for 11 years ran the Auckland Theatre Company. In this ScreenTalk, Prast talks about:

• Learning how to ‘deliver the goods’ on Mortimer’s Patch
• The satisfying intensity of acting on ground-breaking AIDS drama A Death in the Family
• Auditioning alongside Peter Elliott for Gloss
• Finding the show very urban and fresh
• Enjoying playing a psychopath on Shortland Street
• Love and dignity being at the heart of the film When Love Comes
• The irony of the transition from playing sons to fathers on Go Girls
• Realising that an aging actor can develop new roles

Sean Duffy started his TV career as a news and documentary editor, then later began mixing in acting roles on film and television. His major breakthrough role was in Mortimer’s Patch. Since then he has starred in numerous TV shows including Willy Nilly, Plain Clothes, Tiger Country and The Neighbourhood Network. His film credits include Utu, Came a Hot Friday and Smash Palace. Duffy has also directed a number of TV documentary series. In this ScreenTalk, Duffy talks about:

• Being laughed at for his acting in The Governor
• Mortimer’s Patch being his favourite acting experience
• How the pace of the show was incredibly slow by modern standards
• Seeing a horse being spray-painted on the set of the film Utu
• Ending up buried under a concrete airport runway on Gloss
• Terrifying fellow actor Simon Prast in one scene
• Being surprised that TV3 commissioned quirky comedy The Neighbourhood Network
• How illness ruined his performance in Tiger Country
• Forming a brilliant working partnership with Mark Hadlow on Willy Nilly
• Not understanding why the show was cancelled

Marshall Napier has forged a successful acting career playing strong supporting roles in a swathe of Kiwi and Aussie TV dramas and films. His numerous credits include The Governor, Goodbye Pork Pie, Came a Hot Friday, Blue Heelers, Babe, McLeod’s Daughters and Water Rats. He also has a strong pedigree in theatre, and took his own play Freak Winds to New York in 2006. In this ScreenTalk, Napier talks about:

• Having only one costume to wear as Sir Richard Seddon in The Governor
• Almost driving off the road during a car chase in Goodbye Pork Pie
• Being told to smile by director Ian Mune on the set of Came a Hot Friday
• The chaotic nature of filming on Vincent Ward’s The Navigator
• How people assumed he was a real farmer after his long stint on Australian TV favourite McLeod’s Daughters
• Being directed by his nephew in I’m Not Harry Jenson
• Being surrounded by grotesque characters in Picnic at Rock Island
• Playing a hard-nosed ‘prick’ on City Homicide
• How an actor’s life is a tough one

Shavaughn Ruakere began her career as a presenter on kids TV show What Now?. She graduated to a more adult role as a presenter on music channel C4, after a stint co-presenting UK morning show SM:TV. Since then Ruakere has made the switch to acting and appeared in a number of shows including The Jaquie Brown Diaries and Legend of the Seeker. She is currently starring in Shortland Street as core cast member Roimata Ngatai. In this ScreenTalk, Ruakere talks about:

• Being scared by going on live TV for What Now?
• Not being shy about being a ‘dick’ on a kids show
• Witnessing two experienced actors ‘ad-libbing’ on the set of River Queen
• Managing not to do a nude scene in the film
• How presenting on C4 showed a more mature side of herself
• Getting a chance to wear leather and high heels in Legend of the Seeker
• How her role on Shortland Street pulled her out of a slump
• The similarities and differences between her and her character Roimata
• Coping with the time restraints and pace of shooting on the show
• Loving working with her on-camera family
• How ‘being someone else’ on set helps her overcome doubt