Amanda Billing: On leaving behind a much loved character...

Interview – 2016

Amanda Billing played the "neurotic, belligerent but deeply sensitive" Doctor Sarah Potts on Shortland Street for 10 years. Billing felt devastated when the beloved character died on the soap, but it gave her the impetus to pursue other work. She has gone on to act in acclaimed comedy Find Me a Māori Bride, sci-fi drama The Cul de Sac and murder mystery The Bad Seed.

In this ScreenTalk, Billing talks about:

Feeling out of her depth in her early days on Shortland Street
How her own emotions helped her flesh out the role of Sarah Potts
Taking a while to adjust to her character getting MS
Feeling bereft after leaving the show
Loving working with her co-stars on Find Me a Māori Bride
Finding the schedule of DNA Detectives gruelling
Getting used to the reality of being a freelance actor

This video was first uploaded on 18 January 2016, 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

When I began I didn't really know what I was doing. I felt quite out of my depth. Weirdly, though, I knew I was in the right place. I knew I was doing the right thing — I just didn't know how.
– Amanda Billing discusses how she felt at the start of her Shortland Street career