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
''The Breaker Upperers'' is a New Zealand romantic-comedy film written, directed by, and starring Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek. It was executive produced by Taika Waititi. The film is about two women cynical about love, who run an agency ...
'', along with
Jackie van Beek
Jackie van Beek (born 10 May 1976) is a New Zealand film and television director, writer and actress.
Early life
Van Beek was born and raised in Wellington and attended Onslow College. She studied contemporary dance at the Wellington Performi ...
, 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
Onehunga High School is a state co-educational secondary school in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga, New Zealand.
The school incorporates a business school, founded by Just Water International's creator Tony Falkenstein, which is sponsored by bre ...
.
Career
Sami rose to prominence starring in
Toa Fraser
Toa Fraser (born 1975) is a New Zealand born playwright and film director, of Fijian heritage. His first feature film, '' No. 2'', starring Ruby Dee won the Audience Award (World Dramatic) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His second, ''Dean ...
's play ''Bare,'' winning best actress at the 1999
Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards
The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards were the main theatre awards in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, from 1992–2014, and have been succeeded by the Wellington Theatre Awards.
Established in 1992 and sponsored by law firm Chapman Tripp, ...
.
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
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
.
In 2011, Sami created, wrote, and starred in her own comedy series, ''
Super City'', which was directed by
Taika Waititi
Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...
. 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
''The Great Kiwi Bake Off'' is a New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smalle ...
'' 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
Funny Girls is a burlesque cabaret showbar on the North Shore of Blackpool, England, owned by English entrepreneur and businessman Basil Newby. The cast of the show comprise male dancers and drag performers. The showbar is in what was once t ...
'', 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
''The Breaker Upperers'' is a New Zealand romantic-comedy film written, directed by, and starring Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek. It was executive produced by Taika Waititi. The film is about two women cynical about love, who run an agency ...
'', along with
Jackie van Beek
Jackie van Beek (born 10 May 1976) is a New Zealand film and television director, writer and actress.
Early life
Van Beek was born and raised in Wellington and attended Onslow College. She studied contemporary dance at the Wellington Performi ...
. 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 fil ...
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 '' Par ...
. 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 May ...
'' 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 ScreenTV3 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