Skip to main content

VanessaRare

Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Pu, Tamaterā, Ngāpuhi
  • Actor
Vanessa-Rare-Key-Profile.jpg

Vanessa Rare's first time in front of a camera was in a starring role: playing scheming solo mum Rata, in Gaylene Preston comedy hit Ruby and Rata (1990). Herald critic Peter Calder wrote that she filled "the screen with a presence one would expect of a veteran performer". Daughter of a runner and a champion ballet dancer, Rare went on to co-star in one-off drama Kahu & Maia and act in Barry Barclay's Te Rua and movie The Z-Nail Gang. She also had an extended role on Shortland Street, as poor but proud nurse Te Hana Hudson. Rare has written and directed for anthology series Mataku, and directed shorts Koa Means Joy and Pikowae.

Screenography

Friends Like Her
2024 As: Winnie Series
The Gone
2023 As: Wiki Series
Rūrangi (web series)
2020 - 2023 As: Aunty Beth Series
The Sounds
2020 As: Pania Cottle Series
Fresh Eggs
2019 As: Beth Television

Awards

2014 Rialto Channel NZ Film Awards (The Moas)
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress: for The Z-Nail Gang

2003 New Zealand Television Awards
Nominated for Best Script - Single Episode of a Drama Series or Serial: for Mataku

“...there are so many talented Māori out there, much more talented than me. So my message to them is, just keep on doing it, keep on dreaming — if it can happen to me it can happen to you.”

Vanessa Rare, in an October 1990 article on Ruby and Rata