Rima Te Wiata: Imitation as the sincerest form of flattery...

Rima Te Wiata won fame with her impersonations of famous New Zealanders in comedy shows Laughinz and More Issues. Her most famous parody was of newsreader Judy Bailey. Te Wiata is also a successful dramatic actor, having appeared in Shark in the Park and Shortland Street. Her film credits include Via Satellite and — after this interview was conducted — Housebound and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Te Wiata talks about:

• Learning from legendary Australian actor Pat McDonald on Aussie soap Sons and Daughters
• The surprise of being asked to play a cop on Shark in the Park
• Having huge fun performing on comedy shows Issues and More Issues 
• Impersonating newsreader Judy Bailey, and Bailey's reaction to being parodied
• Heading to Australia to join sketch show Full Frontal
• Being conned by fellow Full Frontal actor Eric Bana
• Having to learn to drive for documentary Motormania
• Playing a "mean cow" who also had a sensitive side, in film Via Satellite

This video was first uploaded on 2 April 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