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 Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

, in the comedy show '' Young Rock'' from 2021 to 2023.

Life and career

Leilua was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in 1982, and is of Samoan,

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

(

New Zealand European New Zealanders of European descent are mostly of British and Irish ancestry, with significantly smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as Germans, Poles, French, Dutch, Croats and other South Slavs, Greeks, and Scandinavian ...

) descent. She attended

Unitec Institute of Technology Unitec ( Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka) is the largest institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. 16,844 students study programmes from certificate to postgraduate degree level (levels 1 to 9) across a range of subjects. The main c ...

where she obtained a bachelor's degree in performing and screen arts. 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. 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 Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

as "New Zealand's first-ever Pacific musical". The show headlined the 2013

Auckland Arts Festival Formerly known as Auckland Festival, Auckland Arts Festival or is an annual arts and cultural festival held in Auckland, New Zealand. The Festival features works from New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia and beyond, including world premieres of new wo ...

, featured at the 2014

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, and was subsequently adapted into a 20-part webseries, in which Leilua also acted. 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 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts is a multi-arts biennial festival based in Wellington New Zealand that started in 1986. Previous names are the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, New Zealand International Arts Festival, New ...

and the 2019 Auckland Arts Festival. Leilua played the part of Avia. A 2016 review in ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'' 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". The show was performed for a 2-week run at the

SoHo Playhouse The SoHo Playhouse is an Off-Broadway theatre at 15 Vandam Street in the Hudson Square area of Manhattan. The theatre opened in 1962 as the Village South Theatre with the original production of Jean Erdman's musical play ''The Coach with the S ...

in New York City in 2020, and won The Fringe Encore Series 2019 Outstanding Production of the Year. From 2021 to 2023, Leilua played the mother of

, Ata, in the comedy show '' Young Rock''. A reviewer for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' described her as "quite magnetic to watch", and said that "her role, the least showy, is the most compelling surprise". 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.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leilua, Stacey 1982 births Actresses of Samoan descent Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand people of English descent Samoan actresses New Zealand television actresses Unitec Institute of Technology alumni