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“We are constantly impressed by the actors graduating from this course, their professionalism, industry knowledge and work ethic is phenomenal.”
The Actors' Program provides the tools actors and directors need to be effective practitioners in the challenging and exciting world of stage and screen. New Zealand’s aspiring actors and directors are being offered a foot in the door of their chosen profession by some of the nation’s leading performers and teachers.
Graduate Success
THE ACTORS PROGRAM has been successfully running since 2012. We have a strong industry presence and a high rate of actor success. Over 80% have successfully gained work or created work as actors in the industry.
On screen, we have had grads in local shows, One Lane Bridge, Head High, Mean Mum’s, Black Hands, Golden Boy, Westside, Shortland St, Cul de Sac, Auckward Love, The Gulf, Fresh Eggs, 800 Words, Filthy Rich, Runaway Millionaires and Bad Seed. Plus, the International Amazon Series; Wheel of Time, DC: Legends of Tomorrow, CW series Nancy Drew, the Amazon pilot The Wilds, the Netflix shows The New Legends of Monkey and Falling Inn Love; and Power Rangers, all screening in the US.
On Stage we have had number of actors performing in The Pop-Up Globe, ATC shows, Silo Theatre, The Auckland Festival, Basement Theatre, Fringe Festival and in Professional theatres around the country.
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Zoe Robins
Zoe is a 2014 graduate. Since leaving TAP she has worked mainly on screen with roles in BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES, THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES for MTV, SHORTLAND STREET as Sabina Faraj and then in POWER RANGERS NINJA STEEL season 1 and 2. In 2018 Zoe was cast in an American pilot for ABC called THE FINEST. She also appears in the American horror film, BLACK CHRISTMAS, released in 2019. Her current project is THE WHEEL OF TIME, a new internationally cast historical fantasy series shooting in Prague. Based on a series of books by Robert Jordan, Zoe plays lead character, Nynaeve.
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Daniel Watterson
Daniel Watterson is a 2014 graduate who has worked consistently on both stage and screen since leaving TAP. Recent appearances on screen include roles on POWER RANGERS, the telefeature ABLAZE, the Netflix feature film, FALLING INN LOVE, Shaman in Netflix’s LEGEND OF MONKEY and in James Patterson’s MURDER IS FOREVER. Daniel was a series regular as Nathan in DIRTY LAUNDRY and Vern Gardiner on WESTSIDE S5. He recently appeared in the tele-feature ABLAZE. Previous TV credits include the tele-feature WHY DOES LOVE and the Amazon Prime series AMERICAN PLAYBOY: THE HUGH HEFNER STORY. On stage Daniel has performed as a lead in VENUS AND FUR at The Court Theatre and at the POP-UP GLOBE was lead role Olivia in TWELFTH NIGHT and Benvolio in ROMEO AND JULIET. He received critical acclaim in other stage productions THE EFFECT, LUCRECE and AIN’T THAT A BITCH.
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Jess Sayer
Jess Sayer is a 2012 graduate. Since leaving TAP Jess has worked continuously as both an actor and writer. She is most recognisable as Maeve Mullens, a core cast character on SHORTLAND STREET. Other recent acting credits are playing the lead character in the tele-feature RUNAWAY MILLIONAIRES, the Feature Film DEAD, TV series MEAN MUMS, and AUCKWARD LOVE series 1,2 and 3 (which she starred in and co-wrote). She toured NZ in the stage show MR. RED LIGHT with Nightsong Productions. Jess has written for screen on series such as SHORTLAND STREET, FILTHY RICH and DIRTY LAUNDRY and stage plays SHAM, CRUNCHY SILK, ELEVATOR and DEXTER”S DEEP SEA ADVENTURE. She won the 2020 Adam NZ Play Award for her play THIS PARTICULAR ROOM. Jess has also acted on stage in lead roles in ALWAYS MY SISTER, JUST ABOVE THE CLOUDS, MO AND JESS KILL SUZIE and FAMOUS FLORA.
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Mayen Mehta
Mayen Mehta is a 2013 Graduate. Since leaving TAP Mayen has appeared on stage and screen in numerous productions. He appeared most recently on our screens in FRESH EGGS and BAD SEED and in the popular web series AFK season 2, PSUSY and FRIDAY NIGHT BITES. Mayen has performed in the Auckland Arts Festival in TEA and for ATC in THE ADVENTURES OF RAMA. In 2019 he appeared in ATC’s A FINE BALANCE, Silo Theatre’s MY HEART GOES THADAK THADAK, and had a guest role on SHORTLAND STREET. Mayen has been a finalist for, or won, a number of awards including being a 2016 Fresh as Flick Comedy Competition winner, an Ignite Award winner in the Vancouver International Film Festival and a Grand Finalist in the 2017 RAW Comedy Quest.
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Henry Rolleston
Henry Rolleston is a 2017 graduate. Since leaving TAP Henry has co-created and starred in CONSTANCE a TVNZ New Blood finalist. He also appeared in the award winning web series TOUCH WOOD, the TV show THE GULF and has been in the short film A GIFT. He is currently appearing as Louis King on SHORTLAND STREET.
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Holly Shervey
Holly is a 2012 graduate. Since leaving TAP Holly has worked largely on screen and is immediately recognisable as Zoe Carlsen on SHORTLAND STREET for the last year and Tessa in MEAN MUMS. She also created, co-wrote and starred in AUCKWARD LOVE series 1, 2 and 3, as the lovelorn Alice. Other notable screen credits include AMERICAN PLAYBOY: THE HUGH HEFNER STORY, KIWI, feature films SHE’S CLOSE and IT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENS and short films PREQUEL 87 and RED RIBBON. On stage she starred in CRUNCHY SILK and THE ROYALS OF KIHIKIHI. Holly’s most recent creations is the original Insta-series @MillennialJenny exclusive to Instagram.
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Cherie Moore
Cherie Moore is a 2013 Graduate. Since leaving TAP Cherie has worked almost continuously as an actor, director and singing/voice teacher. Recently she toured NZ with the work VALERIE she co-created, which was named the stand out cabaret of the year by the Herald. She then travelled to Edinburgh with the show and won a fringe first award. Cherie has also recently been in TWELFTH NIGHT and INTO THE WOODS at the Fortune Theatre, and had a guest role of SHORTLAND STREET, been in KARAOKE BOIZ at Q Theatre, and created a multi-space work THE SPACE BETWEEN for the Auckland Fringe. Cherie regularly directs shows, aids in the development of new work, and also runs an auditioned youth musical theatre company.
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Mel Odedra
is a 2015 graduate. Since leaving TAP he has worked consistently on stage and screen. He has an ongoing guest role as Rajiv Prasad on SHORTLAND ST, featured in SHANNARA 2, in popular web series AFK Season 2 and in the TV series BAD SEED. On stage he has worked for ATC in THE CURIOIUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT, LIGHT Vs DARK, A FINE BALANCE, HEAD SAND and THE NEXT STAGE -TEA TIME. Last year he also featured in TEA for the Auckland Festival and The CHANGELING directed by Michael Hurst. Mel has recently finished filming an American Indie Feature NOMAL for TXL.
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Emily Campbell
Emily Campbell is a 2015 graduate. Since leaving TAP Emily has been in numerous productions on stage and screen. Most recently she has shot an ABC Drama series in Australia, was seen in the Feature film VERMILLION playing Jennifer Ward Lealand’s daughter and in another Feature SISTER PLEASE. On the small screen Emily was in SHANNARA and on stage in ATC’s WHEN SUN AND MOON COLLIDE and ONCE. She has also been in WOMB WITH A VIEW, ME AND MY SISTER TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING, SWIMMING WITH WHALES IN TONGA and the enormously popular FLAPS and FLAPS RETOUCHED, which she also co-wrote. Most recently she can be seen in the Instagram series @MillenialJenny.
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Timmie Cameron
Timmie Cameron is a 2015 graduate. Since leaving TAP Timmie has worked on both stage and screen. Her most recent TV credits include Ruby in the new TV drama THE GULF, and series regular Shereez Baker on SHORTLAND STREET. She has also been seen on screen in STRAIGHT FORWARD, MURDER FOREVER, ROMAN EMPIRE and Feature film THE REHEARSAL. On stage her most recent credits are I AIN’T MAD ATCHA and TENNESSEE RETRO.
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Jarred Blakiston
Jarred Blakiston is a 2016 graduate. Since leaving TAP he has worked mostly on screen, with roles in THE NEW LEGENDS OF MONKEY for ABC Australia/Netflix, THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES for MTV, THE WILDS for Amazon, PEARL IN PARADISE for Hallmark, and the upcoming local series, THE GULF.
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Jessi Williams
Jessi Williams is a 2016 graduate. Since leaving TAP she has worked as both an actor and producer for stage and screen. She appeared on screen in FILTHY RICH 2, TVNZ’S New Blood Finalist – CONSTANCE, and in the the TVNZ OnDemand series FIND MY KILLER. Her short film, UPSIDE DOWN, which she co-wrote, produced and starred in has picked up several awards on the international film festival circuit, including ‘Best Short’ and ‘Best Actress’ for Jessi at the Los Angeles Film Awards. She has also gone on to produce short films; RIPPLE, 13 SUSPECTS and SECRET SANTA for The Actors’ Program. On stage she starred in the sold out season of PRECIOUS LITTLE at the Basement Theatre and produced DANNY & THE DEEP BLUE SEA also at the Basement.
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Simon Mead
Simon Mead is a 2016 Graduate. While still training he filmed a lead role in the tele-feature WHY DOES LOVE and an ongoing role in CUL DE SAC (series 1, 2 and 3). Most recently he played the love interest the feature film SAME BUT DIFFERENT. On TV Simon appeared as Gary in WESTSIDE S5 and filmed pilots THIRD TERM and GOLDEN BOY - the latter of which went on to be picked up as a series for TV3. He has appeared on stage in UNDER THE MOUNTAIN for ATC in 2018. Simon has previously appeared in POWER RANGERS, NOTHING TRIVIAL and played the young Hillary in the mini-series, HILLARY. His most recent film project, the American horror film BLACK CHRISTMAS is due for release in December 2019.
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Torum Heng
Torum Heng is a 2012 graduate and has worked as an Actor, Writer and more recently a Director since leaving TAP. On stage, she has appeared in 25 professional productions around the country, including TIME STANDS STILL, ROPABLE, ALWAYS MY SISTER, SHAM, WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT and most recently as Kirsty Knight in SHORTLAND STREET THE MUSICAL for Auckland Theatre Company. Torum made her screen debut as Tiana in GO GIRLS, followed by roles in AFK, MAUI’S HOOK and appeared in the recent tele-feature ABLAZE. Torum has also worked as a comedy writer for THE PROJECT and 7 DAYS, and storylined for Television Soap FILTHY RICH. Her solo show KEEP OUT OF MY BOX (AND OTHER USEFUL ADVICE) won ‘Best Comedy’ at Auckland Fringe, and returned for the NZ International Comedy Festival before touring to Edinburgh Fringe in 2016. Torum began directing in 2017 with FLAPS RETOUCHED and PUSS, both stage shows were collaborations with fellow TAP grads. In 2018 she returned to TAP as the first Directing Apprentice in preparation for the Director Program’s launch this year.
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Arlo Gibson
Arlo Gibson is a 2013 Graduate. Since leaving TAP Arlo has been in numerous projects on both stage and screen. Most recently seen on stage in SECOND UNIT: WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS for Wellington’s Circa Theatre, playing to 800 people a night. Arlo is also recognisable on television as guitarist Chris Sheehan in telefeature WHY DOES LOVE, SHORTLAND STREET and two seasons of STEP DAVE. He has also been in films such as MEGA TIME SQUAD in the NZIFF 2018, DEAD and SUNDOWN UNDERGROUND and the TVNZ OnDemand series FIND MY KILLER. On the Auckland stage he has been in CULT SHOW: THE REVITALISATION OF THE WOMEN’S ARCHIVE, USHERS and MATING IN CAPTIVITY and in two productions directed by Michael Hurst – MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM and the hit show GENERATION OF Z which played in Auckland, Edinburgh and London for many weeks. He has also performed in Court Theatre’s production of THE EVENTS, and in Wellington IN UNEASY DREAMS, GRAND OPENING. He is currently in Red Leap’s production of OWLS DO CRY.
Arlo has produced, created and starred in a number of productions under the theatre company Thank You Real Good Party Time Ltd including ‘THOMUS', ‘SKYLOVING' and 'NON FLOWER ELEMENTS’.
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Phoebe McKellar
Phoebe McKellar is a 2017 graduate. Since leaving TAP Phoebe has done a number of screen roles including playing Danielle Fox on SHORTLAND STREET. She also appears in WESTSIDE series 4, STRAIGHT FORWARD a Danish/NZ co-production and currently she is filming the new series ONE LANE BRIDGE down in Queenstown. She is one of the leads in recent web -series TOUCH WOOD and recently filmed in THE GULF – a German/NZ Co -pro. On stage she acted in ATC’s HERE AND NOW Festival in ALICE.
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Ben Black
Ben Black is a 2017 graduate. Since leaving TAP Ben has appeared in CUL DE SAC, ROMAN EMPIRE season 2 and FILTHY RICH series 2. He will also appear in the American horror film BLACK CHRISTMAS, released in theatres in December 2019.
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Simone Walker
Simone Walker is a 2014 graduate. Since leaving TAP Simone has appeared on screen in Feature Film SAME BUT DIFFERENT, TV shows SHORTLAND STREET and FILTHY RICH and recently appeared in the Netflix film FALLING INN LOVE. On stage she has recently played a lead role in NGA PUKE at the Herald Theatre and has acted in productions SWIMMING WITH WHALES IN TONGA, SAINTHOOD, INSIDE A MOUTH and DAYS LIKE TODAY.
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Jaime McDermott
Jaime McDermott is a 2018 graduate. Whilst still at TAP Jaime shot WESTSIDE series 5 and in 2019 filmed WESTSIDE series 6. She is currently filming the new SPP TV series HEAD HIGH due for release in 2020.
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Steven Glyde
Steven Glyde is a 2018 graduate. Whilst training at TAP he starred in Short Film RINSE and since leaving TAP has appeared in LEGACY PROJECT 6 on stage and has filmed the IN THE RAINBOW series for TVNZ OnDemand. He is currently filming on the SPP TV series HEAD HIGH due for release in 2020.