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And you’re working behind the scenes on a New Zealand drama now?

Yes, I’m in the art department for a one hour drama called Outrageous Fortune. It’s about a New Zealand crime family. Like our version of The Sopranos.

You played Lulu Chatfield on the New Zealand series Shortland Street. Isn’t there a law that says any actor who’s been on that show once has to come back?

[laughs] You know what? That’s exactly it. That’s definitely the perception of how it was, and there’s a reality in that. People that have taken very small roles, and then two or three years later they’ve been recycled as another small role. But I think that for myself, personally, if I went back there then I could only ever be that same character and that’s pretty much up to the storyline. I think there is a small window of opportunity there but it’s nothing that you can count on.

Perhaps you could play Lulu’s evil twin?

[laughs] That’s so soap opera…that’s not out of the question.

Have you been in any other work that we will see coming up? Anything that hasn’t been released yet?

No. Actually I’m, not by choice, but I’ve moved away from acting for right now and I’ve got more regular work behind the scenes. Which I also really enjoy, because you have a different type of ownership of the projects that you do, but at the same time it’s not like I‘m done acting. People always ask me if I’ve given up acting, and it’s not a case of that at all. It’s just that I haven’t done anything lately, but in saying that it’s like a slow burning thing. And it’s really a hard thing to gauge...success. There are no one-hit wonders. Really. Even the people who’ve made it very quickly have usually put some work in that you never see in the first place.

You worked for a while at the talent agency that represents you. Did you find that enjoyable?

Oh totally. It was in the office/business side of being an actor. It was interesting for seeing how the deals are made and I enjoyed it, but it was always going to be an office job. And ultimately I don’t want to be in an office all day. It’s not creative. You’re working within a creative industry but you’re actually not creating, you’re doing business. It was very beneficial for me to learn stuff like that, but it was a good time to leave at the same time. But I learned about the negotiations and the stuff that you discuss and all those things. What’s important to the production and to the people that are making them. It’s a completely different headspace from an actor and why you take a role. It’s another look at the bigger picture. I wanted to do it and it was definitely worth doing it, but as I say, it was never going to be forever. But the knowledge I gained was great.

part 5