2. What step on your journey has felt most integral?
Bowling up at the absolute last minute to audition for The Court Jesters as a clueless 19 year old – from that came 5 years with Scared Scriptless (longest running comedy show in Australasia) and my first professional theatre contracts with The Court Theatre.

Penny Ashton being generous with her time and advice is the reason I started touring shows on the Canadian Fringe circuit, and then securing Circa Theatre seasons.

An interrogation room at the Police HQ. I will not elaborate.

I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism late in life. Finding my people and realising that everything i thought I knew about neurodivergence was wrong, not only saved my life – for real- but also led to the creation of my new play, The NeuroSpice Girls (staged reading in Otautahi September 21st and 22nd!)

Apparently, numbing all feeling is not a healthy coping mechanism. Wild, right?

Going home feeling like garbage is not a necessary part of making good art.

All my neurospice girlies who are kind and playful and brave and talented and very flirty. Bek Coogan, Waitahi Aniwaniwa McGee, Eve Gordon, Mel Dodge, Rachel Lenart, Emma Katene, Dea Doglione, Emma Brittenden, Kim Te Pairi Garrett.

Next year I’m touring Haus of Yolo to Canada with the Dust Palace (yay!) but I will have to learn speed sewing and a four person aerial straps routine for it (deranged laughter).

Hosting Equity’s Pōneke Performers Wānanga!

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Her newest project, THE NEUROSPICE GIRLS, features true stories, a diagnosis gameshow, shame spirals, unbridled 90s nostalgia, and the mystery of what exactly to do with the parts of yourself that you HIDE AND PRAY NOBODY NOTICES. Join the other high-masking weirdos as we zig-a-zig-ah our way out of existential crisis into hope.

For Acushla-Tara Kupe, spending a year immersed in study of her language and culture was perfect preparation for her role in NZ/Irish co-production, The Gone. As she tells Dea Doglione, it’s exciting to see contemporary Māori stories shown on international screens.

Equity New Zealand’s Youth Committee is an exciting initiative aimed at assisting creatives aged 18 to 35 to have fulfilling careers. Founding member Muna Arbon shares her experience of the committee’s first major event, a weekend-long festival of information and ideas.

When I saw the call-out for young creatives to join the Equity Youth Committee, I felt it would be a positive experience, so I put up my hand. A year later, I’m glad I did, as I have learnt so much and met a great bunch of people. Being part of a like-minded group who are willing to share ideas, personal experiences, industry knowledge, union backing and the joy of creativity has been fabulous. We have already achieved so much and are excited to continue working for our youth members.

A lot of credit is due to our wonderful committee leader, Marianne Infante, because this whole thing grew out of an exciting idea she had after attending the International Federation of Actors executive conference in London in October 2022. When she returned to New Zealand, she decided to see if local Equity could pull together its own youth committee, aimed at members aged 18 to 35, saying, “Knowing how energised and hungry we NZ actors are for better opportunities and working conditions… formalising this level of union support locally to secure, educate and engage with the future leaders of this industry… our NZ actors will continue to thrive, locally and internationally, and therefore our industry will blossom and grow, too.”

During my first session with the committee, we discussed our vision and potential mission statement. This involved articulating not only what being part of the committee meant for us personally but also what we wanted to achieve for the youth of Aotearoa. It was a gorgeous evening that resulted in a few happy tears from members who were feeling so hopeful for the future and what we were striving to do.

The Equity Youth Committee’s vision is: “An Aotearoa which supports young performing artists to have a sustainable and healthy career.” Our mission, that we are working hard towards, is: “The Equity Youth Committee builds and represents a community of youth artists that feel empowered within the wider performing arts industry. We provide support, opportunities and resources that allow young artists to build sustainable careers, such as workshops, ongoing training and mentorships. We empower youth to have a voice and be heard within our industry, and advocate for their safety and rights to be respected and upheld.” And boy, what an epic start we have made towards achieving those goals!

In 2015, Equity New Zealand held a packed members’ event about work involving intimacy. It became apparent that far too many actors were having very challenging, and in some cases very dangerous, experiences. The event led to the Equity Guidelines for Simulated Sex and Nudity on Stage and Screen, which were among the first of their kind in the world.

In the years since, Equity New Zealand has become a world leader in shifting practice and culture, establishing a pool of experienced intimacy coordinators under the mentorship of renowned coordinator Ita O’Brien of Intimacy on Set, UK.

In the #MeToo era, when it comes to handling intimate scenes safely, it’s not just actors looking for guidance but the industry at large, so it became necessary to update and expand the guidelines, with input from directors, producers and crew. Equity President Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Equity Vice-President Tandi Wright, in consultation with industry, have been developing the new guidelines for the last two years.

“During the consultation process with other guilds, it became clear that it is not just performers being affected by poor practices; it can be traumatising for other departments, too,” says Jennifer. “We had direct feedback from people in post-production and it’s very clear that a lot of crew have had enough, a lot of safety officers have had enough.”

Launched in Auckland in June 2020, the new guidelines are endorsed by the Screen Production and Development Association of New Zealand, the Screen Industry Guild, Directors & Editors Guild of New Zealand, Women in Film and Television NZ, and the Actors Agents Association of New Zealand.

Film director Gaysorn Thavat, who was among those providing extensive feedback, says: “The guidelines not only protect the actors from situations of serious potential harm, but also give directors much greater creative freedom and confidence because of the safety and trust created around the process. The guidelines also include comprehensive on-set and post-production protocols, so they’re for the benefit and safety of all of us, collectively, as an industry.”

The new gui­delines ensure that a safe and professional working environment starts at pre-production. “Performers cannot consent if they don’t know what ‘it’ is,” says Jennifer. “They need details early on in the process. The guidelines outline best practice for each stage of production: auditioning, contracting, preparation and rehearsal, performance, marketing and post-production. There are also guidelines for extras/stand-ins and doubles.”

Jennifer says intimate scenes require this carefully considered, industry-wide approach, because people can — and do — get hurt, physically or psychologically.

“Again and again we come back to the comparison with stunts, because it helps re-frame the way we all think about these scenes. What level of care would you put into a stunt scene — how much resource and planning? Would you hire a stunt coordinator?”

New Zealander of the Year Jennifer Te Atamira Ward-Lealand reflects on her formidable 40-year acting career, Equity’s biggest achievements during her time as President, and her passion for te reo Māori.

What was your first professional acting gig?
When I was 18, I joined the Town and Country Players and toured the lower half of the North Island. We’d arrive in some tiny little town, do a show at the school, then set up in the local hall to perform three separate shows in one evening, concluding with Chekhov’s, The Bear. After that, there’d be a potluck dinner with the audience. Just lovely.

Do you remember when you joined Equity and why?
In 1983, my first year out of Theatre Corporate Drama School. Honestly, it was just the done thing. There was always a card show before starting rehearsals and you would have been on the outer if you weren’t a member.

Why did you want to be an actor?
I first knew I wanted to do this when I was seven years old and my dad took me to a rehearsal of a play he was in — Oedipus at Unity Theatre, Wellington (now BATS Theatre). I walked into that rehearsal room and knew immediately that this was where I belonged — it was an epiphany. I went home and promptly informed my mother that I was going to be an actor. So my dad was my inspiration.

Where did your commitment to, and passion for, te reo Māori come from?
I think I’ve always known that it wasn’t a matter of if I’d learn the language but when. When I trace this feeling back, its genesis was at Te Aro primary school in Wellington. I had two influential teachers there — both Māori women — who made it their business to take us to ‘Māori Club’ at Ngāti Pōneke and to sing waiata Māori at assembly. So the sound and feel of te reo Māori was in my ears and on my tongue from a very early age.

It was in 2000 that I knew I had to make a start to learn. At the time, Michael [Hurst] was directing the feature film Jubilee, with lots of terrific Māori actors. It was Michael’s birthday during the shoot, so I went to join him for lunch on set. Naturally, all the Māori actors gathered to give a mihi to Michael and then a waiata, and then turned to us to respond, and every waiata I’d ever known had flown from my mind. I remember feeling so acutely embarrassed because it was a fairly basic and everyday tikanga of this country where I was born and I should at least have had some familiarity with the protocol. I realised that I no longer wanted to be so separate from this living culture that surrounded me.

Why is it important for you to champion te reo Māori?
Te iwi Māori connect to the land through whakapapa and Pākehā through our lived experience. The language is fundamentally connected to the natural world and is a window to te ao Māori. Learning the language gives us an opportunity to get more deeply in touch with our ‘Aotearoatanga’. Over the years I’ve been learning, I’ve connected to my Pākehā ancestry in a much deeper and more profound way than I ever had or would have. It’s also the most beautiful, poetic, witty, deep and naughty language I’ve ever had the pleasure to learn. My hope is that that te reo is heard, seen and spoken throughout the country, and is given the worth it is due as one of our official languages.

In late 2017, Sir Tīmoti Kāretu and [the late] Te Wharehuia Milroy bestowed on me the name Te Atamira (meaning ‘the stage’). At the time, I felt unworthy of such an honour, but I see what they did there — as well as acknowledging my work as an actor, kua takoto te mānuka, they laid down a challenge to me to use my time on the stage, which I’m lucky enough to have now, to champion te reo Māori. I will be forever grateful to them both — and to all my te reo teachers.

What’s been your favourite acting role to date and why?
Too many to list! But here are six of my top 10: Barbara in August: Osage County; Stevie in The Goat; Martha in That Face; Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation; Arkadina in The Seagull; and Marlene Dietrich in my cabaret, Falling in Love Again.