Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne
Actor [Ngāti Porou, Ngai Tūhoe]
Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne rode into her career on horseback, playing confident teen Kahu in Taika Waititi hit Hunt For The Wilderpeople. Born on the East Coast,the fluent te reo speaker completed a Bachelor of Arts in acting at drama school Toi Whakaari in 2020. Her movie credits include Cousins and Whina (playing Whina Cooper as a teen). In 2023 the Toronto International Film Festival named her a Rising Star for her role in Lee Tamahori's colonial feature The Convert. Her TV credits include Mystic and Kairākau. Melbourne's first short film E Rangi Rā screened at international festivals and in 2023 she wrote her first play, Tiaho Te Mārama.
With my acting mahi, I see it as fun, challenging and electric, and then my writing mahi is grounding — it’s purposeful . . . like a medicine. Because I am telling the story of my people, it’s grounding and brings me back to earth. Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne on different ways of being creative, Stuff, 2 September 2023
