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, 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, which was a New Zealand box office success. Sami co-hosted ''The Great Kiwi Bake Off''.

Early life

Sami is one of four children. Her parents are Christine Southee, who has Irish ancestry, and Naren Sami, a Fijian-Indian who settled in New Zealand. Her parents separated when she was 11. She attended Onehunga High School.

Career

Sami rose to prominence starring in Toa Fraser's play ''Bare,'' winning best actress at the 1999 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. She then was part of Fraser's next play, ''No. 2.'', which won

Perrier Comedy Award The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2011, Sami created, wrote, and starred in her own comedy series, '' Super City'', which was directed by Taika Waititi. Sami played five different characters in the show and won Best Performance by an Actress at the 2011 AFTA awards. She later co-hosted '' The Great Kiwi Bake Off'' and starred in the television series '' Golden Boy'' and ''

The Bad Seed ''The Bad Seed'' is a 1954 novel by American writer William March, the last of his major works published before his death. Nominated for the 1955 National Book Award for Fiction, ''The Bad Seed'' tells the story of a mother's realization that h ...

''. She made her TV directorial debut when she directed an episode of the second season of '' Funny Girls'', eventually directing eleven episodes of the series. Sami is a part of The Sami Sisters, a musical group consisting of herself and her two sisters. They released an album ''Happy Heartbreak'' in 2011. She co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the 2018 film '' The Breaker Upperers'', along with Jackie van Beek. 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. The pair will reunite to direct the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

film ''Hope'', starring

Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom ''Pa ...

. Sami also appeared in the 2019 film, ''Come to Daddy'', directed by

Ant Timpson Ant Timpson (born 21 April 1966) is a New Zealand film producer best known for producing '' The ABCs of Death'' series, ''Turbo Kid'', '' Deathgasm'' and '' The Greasy Strangler''. He founded and hosts the 48Hours film contest. Career In 200 ...

. On May 17, 2021 Sami appeared on ''

The Masked Singer NZ ''The Masked'' ''Singer NZ'' is a New Zealand reality singing competition television show based on the '' Masked Singer'' franchise which originated from the South Korean version of the show ''King of Mask Singer''. It premiered on Three on 9 Ma ...

'' as the "Monarch (Butterfly)", getting eliminated in the fourth episode.

Personal life

In January 2015, Sami married Pip Brown, known as the singer-songwriter Ladyhawke. Brown gave birth to their daughter on 20 October 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

*
NZ on Screen

TV3 Super City TV website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sami, Madeleine 1980 births Living people LGBT entertainers from New Zealand LGBT musicians from New Zealand LGBT actors from New Zealand New Zealand lesbian actresses New Zealand television actresses New Zealand film actresses New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand people of Indo-Fijian descent New Zealand comedians New Zealand women comedians New Zealand soap opera actresses People educated at Onehunga High School 20th-century New Zealand actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand directors