Madeleine Sami | |
|---|---|
| Sami in 2018 | |
| Born | Madeleine Nalini Sami Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, director, comedian, musician |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Madeleine Nalini Sami is a New Zealand actress, director, comedian, and musician. She started her acting career in theatre before moving to television, where she created, co-wrote, and starred in Super City. She co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the 2018 film The Breaker Upperers along with Jackie van Beek. Sami co-hosted The Great Kiwi Bake Off .
Madeleine Nalini Sami[ citation needed ] is one of four children. Her parents are Christine Southee, who has Irish ancestry, and Naren Sami, a Fijian-Indian who has Telugu ancestry, who settled in New Zealand. [1] Her parents separated when she was twelve. [1]
She attended Onehunga High School. [2]
Sami rose to prominence starring in Toa Fraser's play Bare, directed by Michael Robinson, [3] winning Best Actress at the 1999 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. [1] She then was part of Fraser's next play, No. 2., which won Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. [1]
In 2011, Sami created, co-wrote alongside Tom Sainsbury, and starred in her own comedy series, Super City , which was directed by Taika Waititi. [4] Sami played five different characters in the show and won Best Performance by an Actress at the 2011 Aotearoa Film & Television Awards. [5] [6] She later co-hosted The Great Kiwi Bake Off and starred in the television series Golden Boy and The Bad Seed . [7] [8] She made her TV directorial debut with an episode of the second season of Funny Girls , eventually directing eleven episodes of the series. [9]
Sami is a part of The Sami Sisters, a musical group consisting of herself and her two sisters. They released an album called Happy Heartbreak in 2011. [10]
She co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the 2018 film The Breaker Upperers , along with Jackie van Beek. [11] The film received positive reviews and was a box office hit in New Zealand, becoming the best selling New Zealand film of 2018 and is one of the top 20 grossing New Zealand films ever. [12] [13] [14] The pair are set to direct the Netflix film Hope, starring Aubrey Plaza. [15] Sami also appeared in the 2019 film Come to Daddy, directed by Ant Timpson. [16]
On 17 May 2021, Sami appeared on The Masked Singer NZ as the "Monarch (Butterfly)", getting eliminated in the fourth episode. The same year, she was on the panel show Patriot Brains .
Sami starred in the 2023 Australian television series Deadloch . On July 9, 2024, Deadloch was renewed for a second season, with Sami reprising the role of Eddie Redcliffe. [17]
She was a voice actor in the Australian comedy sci-fi film Lesbian Space Princess , which premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2024. [18]
In January 2015, Sami married Phillippa "Pip" Brown, more commonly known by her stage name Ladyhawke. [19] Brown gave birth to their daughter in 2017. [20] Sami and Brown announced the end of their relationship in 2023. [21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Ice As: Ice House | Various | |
| 2000 | Fish Skin Suit | Libby | TV movie |
| 2000 | Teach You a Lesson | Narrator | Short film |
| 2003 | Perfect Strangers | Andrea | |
| 2006 | Sione's Wedding | Tania | |
| 2007 | Eagle vs Shark | Burger Girl Customer | |
| 2009 | Under the Mountain | Constable Green | |
| 2012 | Sione's 2: Unfinished Business | Tania | |
| 2014 | What We Do in the Shadows | Morana | |
| 2015 | Slow West | Marimacho | |
| 2018 | The Breaker Upperers | Mel | Also writer & director |
| 2019 | Come to Daddy | Gladys | |
| 2020 | Baby Done | Hospital Midwife | |
| 2025 | Lesbian Space Princess | Queen Anne | Voice actor |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Pio! | Various | |
| 1999 | Shortland Street | Dr. Shivani 'Vani' Naran | |
| 2000 | Fish Skin Suit | Libby | |
| 2001 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Tyro | Episode: "To Helicon and Back" |
| 2004 | Talent | Chemist | |
| 2004 | The Insiders Guide to Happiness | Tess | |
| 2007 | Rude Awakenings | Francesca Hoyle | |
| 2007 | Outrageous Fortune | Linda | |
| 2006–2007 | Bro'Town | Additional Voices/Bianca | 5 episodes |
| 2009 | Diplomatic Immunity | Agent Amy Bickler | |
| 2008–2009 | The Jaquie Brown Diaries | Serita Singh | 13 episodes |
| 2009–2013 | Buzzy Bee and Friends | Buzzy Bee | 14 episodes |
| 2009–2024 | 7 Days | Herself | 21 episodes |
| 2010 | Radiradirah | Various | |
| 2011 | 3 News | Self | |
| 2011–2013 | Super City | Pasha/Georgie/Azeem | Creator/writer/executive director |
| 2013 | Top of the Lake | Zena | |
| 2013 | Aroha Bridge | Mum/Aunty Winny/Angeline Hook | |
| 2016 | All Talk with Anika Moa | Self | |
| 2016–2018 | Funny Girls | Director | |
| 2014 | Flat3 | Madeline | |
| 2018–2021 | The Great Kiwi Bake Off | Host | |
| 2019 | Get Krack!n | Amy Bryan | 1 episode |
| 2019 | The Bad Seed | Marie Da Silva | 5 episodes |
| 2019 | Golden Boy | Claire | 8 episodes |
| 2019 | What's Your Problem? | Self | 1 episode |
| 2019– | Have You Been Paying Attention? | Guest | |
| 2020, 2024 | Taskmaster NZ | Self | 10 episodes (contestant) 2 episodes (guest) |
| 2021 | The Masked Singer NZ | Monarch/Self | 2 episodes |
| 2023-present | Deadloch | Eddie Redcliffe | 8 episodes |
| 2023-present | Double Parked | Nat | 9 episodes |
| 2023 | Our Flag Means Death | Archie | 8 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Three People in a Cinema | Various | Silo Theatre |
| 1999 | Legacy | Ensemble | Aotearoa Young People's Theatre |
| 2000 | No. 2 | Various | Edinburgh Festival |
| 2001 | NZ Tour | ||
| 2001 | Bare | Various | Wellington Fringe Festival |
| 2002 | The Vagina Monologues | Various | Auckland Theatre Company |
| 2005- 2006 | Bad Jelly the Witch | Bad Jelly | Silo Theatre |
| 2007 | Some Girl(s) | Tyler | Silo Theatre |
| 2008 | Rabbit | Emily | Silo Theatre |
| 2008 | Whero's New Net | Various | Massive Company |
| 2008 | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre | Auckland Theatre Company [22] |
| 2009 | No. 2 | Various | Silo Theatre |
| 2010 | Dance Troupe Supreme | Kellyanna | Maidment Theatre |
| 2014 | Jesus Christ Superstar | King Herod | Auckland Theatre Company |