Miriama Smith: On making acting a career...

Actress and TV presenter Miriama Smith made her acting debut in cop show Shark in the Park. At 20 she graduated to Shortland Street, playing nurse Awhina Broughton. Since then, Smith has appeared in a raft of TV shows including Mercy Peak, Mataku and Serial Killers. She played lawyer Donna Hall in tele-feature Stolen, was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, and a judge on the Prime Television version of New Zealand’s Got Talent.

In this ScreenTalk, Smith talks about:

• Playing a ‘naughty friend’ on the set of Shark in the Park
• How Shortland Street provided a fantastic opportunity to hone her acting
• Feeling pressured to represent Māori with her character Awhina
• Loving the larger-than-life production sets on Xena
• Being ‘wowed’ by actress Lucy Lawless on the show
• Realising she could have an acting career while working on Mercy Peak
• Facing up to the immense pressure of Dancing with the Stars with cracked ribs
• Undergoing a physical and mental transformation for her role in Stolen
• Finding empathy for her character in Siege

This video was first uploaded on 19 June 2012, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside