Stacey Leilua

Last updated

Stacey Leilua
Born1982 (age 41–42)
Auckland, New Zealand
Education Unitec Institute of Technology (BA)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • producer
Known for Young Rock (2021–2023)
Children1

Stacey Leilua (born 1982) is a New Zealand actress and producer. Since the early 2000s she has regularly acted in Pasifika theatre in New Zealand and was a founding member of the Kila Kokonut Krew. She played Ata Johnson, the mother of Dwayne Johnson, in the comedy show Young Rock from 2021 to 2023.

Contents

Life and career

Leilua was born in Auckland in 1982, and is of Samoan, Māori and Pākehā (New Zealand European) descent. [1] [2] [3] She attended Unitec Institute of Technology where she obtained a bachelor's degree in performing and screen arts. [2] [4]

She was a founding member, and later company director, of Kila Kokonut Krew, a Pasifika performing arts company, in the early 2000s, and performed in and produced plays with other members on numerous occasions over the next decade. [3] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] In 2013 she was the co-producer of Kila Kokonut Krew musical The Factory, about a Samoan family who arrive in New Zealand in 1974. It was described by Radio New Zealand as "New Zealand's first-ever Pacific musical". [12] [13] The show headlined the 2013 Auckland Arts Festival, featured at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and was subsequently adapted into a 20-part webseries, in which Leilua also acted. [14] [15]

From 2016 to 2020 she was part of the ensemble cast for Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, a show based on Tusiata Avia's 2002 one-woman show and 2004 poetry collection, performed at the Māngere Arts Centre in 2016 and as part of the 2018 New Zealand Festival of the Arts and the 2019 Auckland Arts Festival. [16] [17] Leilua played the part of Avia. [18] [19] [20] A 2016 review in The New Zealand Herald said Leilua "captures the ironic, mocking persona of the poet who lives between two worlds as she carries the down-to-earth sensuality of her Pacific roots on an international odyssey". [21] The show was performed for a 2-week run at the SoHo Playhouse in New York City in 2020, and won The Fringe Encore Series 2019 Outstanding Production of the Year. [22] [23]

From 2021 to 2023, Leilua played the mother of Dwayne Johnson, Ata, in the comedy show Young Rock . [1] A reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle described her as "quite magnetic to watch", and said that "her role, the least showy, is the most compelling surprise". [24] She was nominated for the award for Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Comedy, at the 1st Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards. [25]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2010To'ona'iRuthShort film
2011 Love Birds Mom #3
2012TatauSinaShort film [26]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2003Good Hands – Lima LeleiJuddy [27]
2011Hōmai te PakipakiPresenterAired on Māori Television [28]
2021–2023 Young Rock Ata Johnson

Related Research Articles

Rosita Gibbons née Vai is a New Zealand singer who rose to musical fame as the winner of the second season of New Zealand Idol in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Chapple (writer)</span> New Zealand author and journalist

Geoffrey John Chapple is a New Zealand author and journalist. He conceived and founded Te Araroa, a walking track the length of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Malcolm</span> New Zealand actress

Robyn Jane Malcolm is a New Zealand actress, who first gained recognition for her role as nurse Ellen Crozier on the soap opera Shortland Street. She is best known for playing Cheryl West, matriarch to a sometimes criminal working-class family, in the television series Outrageous Fortune. She has also worked in Australia, including roles in the TV series Rake and Upper Middle Bogan. She plays the lead role in the six-part 2023 NZ drama After the Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tusiata Avia</span> New Zealand poet and childrens author

Donna Tusiata Avia is a New Zealand poet and children's author. She has been recognised for her work through receiving a 2020 Queen's Birthday Honour and in 2021 her collection The Savage Coloniser won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The Savage Coloniser and her previous work Wild Dogs Under My Skirt have been turned into live stage plays presented in a number of locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Rodger</span> New Zealand playwright

Victor John Rodger is a New Zealand journalist, actor and award-winning playwright of Samoan and Pākehā heritage. Rodger's play Sons won acclaim at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards (1998) and received the Best New Writer and Most Outstanding New New Zealand Play awards. In 2001, he won the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. Other plays include Ranterstantrum (2002) and My Name is Gary Cooper (2007), produced and staged by Auckland Theatre Company and starred a Samoan cast including Robbie Magasiva, Anapela Polataivao, Goretti Chadwick and Kiwi actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand.

Katie Wolfe is an actor, film and stage director from New Zealand. She appeared in television series including Marlin Bay (1990s), Shortland Street, and Mercy Peak. Her screen directing work has won awards, including Redemption at the ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival and This Is Her at the Prague International Short Film Festival. Wolfe wrote and directed a stage play, The Haka Party Incident that was presented in 2023 in New Zealand.

Alison Marie Quigan is a New Zealand actress, director and playwright.

Anapela Polataivao is a New Zealand actor, writer, and director of stage and screen.

Goretti Chadwick is a Samoan-New Zealand stage and television actress, writer, director and tutor.

Elisabeth Easther is a New Zealand actor, broadcaster, journalist and playwright. She played Carla Crozier on New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street from May 1995 to July 1996, and has since had a varied career in television, radio, journalism and playwriting. Her play Seed won the Adam NZ Play Award for Best Play in 2014.

Massive Theatre Company, also called Massive or Massive Company, is a professional theatre company in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Kila Kokonut Krew is a theatre company and music producer in Auckland, New Zealand. They have produced 12 music albums, a web series, a TV skit series as well as theatre productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māngere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku</span> Theatre and gallery space in Auckland, New Zealand

Māngere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku is an Auckland Council-owned and operated arts venue in the suburb of Māngere, in Auckland, New Zealand. The purpose-built facility was opened in 2010, and is considered by Auckland Council to be the home of Māori and Pacific visual art and performing arts in Auckland.

Silo Theatre is a theatre production company based in Auckland, New Zealand established in 1997 directed by Sophie Roberts.

Miriama McDowell is a New Zealand actor, director and playwright. She is a graduate of Toi Whakaari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanea Heke</span> New Zealand actor, producer and director

Tanea Jane Heke is an actor, director and producer of theatre in New Zealand. In 2019 she was appointed as Tumuaki/Director of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupe Lualua</span> New Zealand-Samoan choreographer

Tupe Lualua is a New Zealand–Samoan choreographer, director, founder of the dance company Le Moana. She is the artistic director and producer for the Measina Festival, and has worked with choreographer Tupua Tigafua. In 2019, Lualua was the Creative New Zealand Samoa artist-in-residence.

Suli Moa is a New Zealand playwright, actor, screenwriter and teacher of Tongan descent. He wrote and performed the first Tongan Play in New Zealand, Kingdom of Lote. As a playwright Moa has been awarded the Adam New Zealand Play Award for Best Pacific Play, 12th Round (2016), and Tales of a Princess (2018). Moa's acting credits include A love yarn (2021) andSweet Tooth (2021). His writing credits include The Panthers (2021) and Shortland Street (2021-2022). Moa has also appeared in multiple short films as an actor and served as a cultural advisor.

Vanessa Byrnes is a director, actress and educator in New Zealand. She has collaborated on many theatre and screen productions including feature films, short films, television commercials and theatre. As an educator she completed a PhD at the University of Waikato in 2015, titled Removing the ‘Cloak of Invisibility’: New Zealand Directors Discuss Theatre Directing Praxis. Byrnes has been in senior roles at both Toi Whakaari and Unitec Institute of Technology, leading drama training for many years. She is an experienced theatre director and as an actor was in popular television soap opera Shortland Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanaki Prescott-Faletau</span> Tongan-New Zealand performer and director

Amanaki Lelei Prescott-Faletau is an actor, writer, dancer, choreographer, producer and director of Tongan descent, living in New Zealand. As a playwright, she became the first fakaleitī to have her work published in New Zealand with Inky Pinky Ponky. This play was awarded Best Teenage Script (2015) by New Zealand Playmarket. As an actor, she was awarded best performance at the 2015 Auckland Fringe Festival for Victor Rodger's Girl on the Corner. Her acting credits include The Breaker Upperers (2018), SIS (2020), The Panthers (2021), The Pact (2021) and Sui Generis (2022), in which she is also a writer for the TV series. Faletau competed as a dancer in the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in 2011 and has been a judge at the National Hip Hop Championships in New Zealand over several years.

References

  1. 1 2 Schulz, Chris (15 April 2021). "Kiwi actor Stacey Leilua rocks as Dwayne Johnson's mum". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 "An Interview with Stacey Leilua". Mumble Theatre. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 Leilua, Stacey (24 June 2021). "When Time Stops". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Pacific acting alumni star in Young Rock TV series". Unitec. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Lisa Warrington; David O'Donnell (2017). Floating Islanders: Pacifika Theatre in Aotearoa. Dunedin: Otago University Press. pp. 171–172. ISBN   978-1-98-853107-6. OL   51036666M. Wikidata   Q106816829.
  6. ↑ Delilkan, Sharu. "REVIEW: Taro King (Kila Kokonut Krew)". Theatre Scenes. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  7. ↑ Smythe, John (24 July 2007). "Heartfelt and hilarious with a moral heart". Theatreview. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Its time to get Super Fresh". The Big Idea. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  9. ↑ White, Tina (23 July 2009). "Clever plot full of laughter". Manawatū Standard. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Theatre review: Plantation, Mangere Arts Centre". The New Zealand Herald. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  11. ↑ Herrick, Linda (9 August 2005). "Playwright finds inspiration in real-life events". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Vela Manusaute & Stacey Leilua: The Factory". Radio New Zealand. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Ross, John C (28 February 2011). "A lovely, heart-warming show". Theatreview. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  14. ↑ "The Factory". NZ On Screen - Iwi Whitiāhua. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  15. ↑ Jewell, Stephen (16 August 2014). "Meeting of the clans". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  16. ↑ Simei-Barton, Kolopa (7 March 2019). "Theatre review: Wild Dogs barks in triumph". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  17. ↑ Walls, Alison (15 January 2020). "Invigorating Ensemble Work". Theatreview. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  18. ↑ Swinnen, Lucy (9 March 2018). "NZ Festival: Make time to catch the fantastic Wild Dogs Under My Skirt". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "Empowering ensemble feeling fearless". The New Zealand Herald. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  20. ↑ Christian, Dionne (24 September 2016). "Into the wild". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Review: Wild dogs under my skirt, Mangere Arts Centre". The New Zealand Herald. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  22. ↑ Mandell, Jonathan (8 January 2020). "Wild Dogs Under My Skirt Review: When the Rainbow is Enuf in New Zealand". New York Theater. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "Wild Dogs Under My Skirt - by Tusiata Avia". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  24. ↑ Strauss, Bob (21 February 2021). "Review: The Rock runs for president and remembers an extraordinary youth in NBC comedy series". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  25. ↑ Pedersen, Eric (8 July 2021). "HCA TV Awards Nominations: 'Ted Lasso' Leads Programs For Inaugural Honors; NBC, HBO & Netflix Lead Nets". Deadline. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  26. ↑ "Tatau". NZ On Screen — Iwi Whitiāhua. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  27. ↑ "Credits – Good Hands – Lima Lelei". NZ On Screen - Iwi Whitiāhua. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  28. ↑ "Hōmai te Pakipaki Back the Paki Up". Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.