ChelsiePreston Crayford
- Director
- Actor
By the time she'd graduated from drama school Toi Whakaari, Chelsie Preston Crayford had won an award for acclaimed short Fog and acted in three features, including a starring role in Home by Christmas as her own grandmother. She has gone on to play a cult member (TV series The Cult) and Katherine Mansfield's lover (telemovie Bliss). She also won awards in Australia for TV thriller The Code and a starring role as a crimelord in the 1920s edition of Underbelly. In 2017 she acted in Kiwi movie drama The Inland Road. Sometimes credited as Chelsie Florence, she is the daughter of director Gaylene Preston and musician Jonathan Crayford.
Screenography
Awards
2024 New Zealand Television Awards / Ngā Taonga Whakaata O Aotearoa
Nominated for Best Actress: For Dark City: The Cleaner
2022 New Zealand Television Awards
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress: for The Panthers
“My mum was the director, so it was amazing to be able to work so closely together on a story we both knew so intimately. It was a once in a lifetime experience.”