Morgana O'Reilly (born 19 August 1985) is a New Zealand film, television and theatre actress. She has appeared in several theatre productions and created the one-woman play ''The Height of the Eiffel Tower'', which she performed at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 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 2014. O'Reilly played Lynn Matthews in the biographical television film ''Billy'' and starred as Kylie Bucknell in the horror-comedy '' Housebound''. She has made appearances in ''

Nothing Trivial ''Nothing Trivial'' is a New Zealand comedy-drama television series, produced by South Pacific Pictures. The series is created by the duo of Gavin Strawhan and the co-creator of ''Outrageous Fortune'', Rachel Lang. The pair, who also created the ...

'', ''

Sunny Skies ''Sunny Skies'' is a New Zealand comedy television show that aired on TV3 in the summer of 2013. The show stars Tammy Davis and Oliver Driver as two brothers who unwittingly inherit a local campground. Plot ''Sunny Skies'' is a New Zealand com ...

'', ''

This is Littleton This is Littleton is a 4-part sketch comedy series produced by High Wire Films which premiered in Australia on ABC2. Overview The series is set in and around Littleton City Council. Its staff and ratepayers navigate busking licence auditions, ...

''. O'Reilly played Naomi Canning in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' from 2013 until 2015. She made a guest appearance in 2020. She stars in sitcom '' Mean Mums'' and joined the cast of ''

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

'' as Narelle Stang in 2019.

Early life

Morgana Le Fay Naomi Jane O'Reilly was born in New Zealand to Mary-Jane, a dancer and choreographer, and Phil O'Reilly, a graphic designer. She grew up in the Ponsonby/

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of the ...

area. O'Reilly said she got her love of performing from her mother and that she wanted to be an actor since she was 15. O'Reilly attended Unitec Institute of Technology and graduated in 2006.

Career

After graduating from Unitec, O'Reilly appeared in several theatre productions, including '' Three Sisters'', ''

Marat/Sade ''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade'' (german: Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgrupp ...

'' and ''

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''. She also undertook some bar work at The Basement Theatre in Auckland. After a stint in the comedy show ''A Thousand Apologies'', O'Reilly was cast in a new production of

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''. The director,

Oliver Driver Oliver Driver (born 22 November 1974) is a New Zealand actor, director, broadcaster and television presenter. Television Driver was the host of ''Let's Be Frank'', and the Creative Director of New Zealand's only alternative music television st ...

, said O'Reilly was cast because of her ability to play several different characters. In 2009, O'Reilly created a one-woman play called ''The Height of the Eiffel Tower''. The play focuses on Terri Hulme, a mother of four, who takes a closer look at her life when she goes on a coffee date with an old university friend. O'Reilly approached her friend Abigail Greenwood to direct and act as

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

. Her mother Mary-Jane O'Reilly danced a solo piece on stage for the first time in years, before O'Reilly premiered ''The Height of the Eiffel Tower''. The play was well-received and O'Reilly went on to perform it at the

New York Fringe Festival The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across seve ...

. After O'Reilly was cast as Amber in Thomas Sainsbury's black comedy ''Dance Troupe Supreme'', she turned to her mother for help researching the role due to her background in dance. In 2011, O'Reilly appeared in the biographical television film ''Billy'', where she played Lynn Matthews, the wife of comedian, musician and actor Billy T. James. She also starred as Desdemona in Jesse Peach's production of ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'' and made a guest appearance in the comedy-drama series ''

'', as lead character Mac's love interest, Alison. O'Reilly went on to star in the television film ''Safe House'', which aired during TV One's Sunday Night Theatre. She was also cast in

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

's comedy series ''

'' as Nicky, an "independent, organised campground owner". On 30 December 2013, it was announced O'Reilly had joined the cast of ''

'' as Naomi Canning. O'Reilly attended two rounds of auditions before she won the role. O'Reilly and her husband filmed her first audition in their garden in Sydney, before O'Reilly flew to Melbourne to audition in the studio, with cast members

Colette Mann Colette Mann (born 17 February 1950) is an Australian actress, singer, TV and radio presenter, choreographer and author/writer and media personality, she has been in the entertainment industry for over 50 years. Mann appeared in two Grundy Orga ...

and

Stefan Dennis Stefan Dennis (born 30 October 1958) is an Australian actor and singer best known for playing the role of cold-hearted and ruthless businessman Paul Robinson in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' from its first episode on March 18, 1985. He departed ...

. She made her first appearance as Naomi on 25 March 2014. O'Reilly appeared in ''

'' in February 2014. She also wrote for the series. O'Reilly stars as Kylie Bucknell in Gerard Johnstone's horror-comedy '' Housebound'', which had its world premiere at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

. For her performance as Kylie, O'Reilly earned a nomination for Best Actress at the

2014 Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards The 2014 Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards was the third presentation of the New Zealand Film Awards, a New Zealand film industry award. The 2014 ceremony took place in Shed 10 on Queen's Wharf in Auckland on Friday 12 December 2014. It wa ...

. O'Reilly performed ''The Height of the Eiffel Tower'' at the

in August 2014. O'Reilly departed ''Neighbours'' in mid-2015 to pursue new acting roles. The following year, she was cast as the female lead, Vanda, in the Auckland Theatre Company's production of '' Venus in Fur''. In 2017, O'Reilly directed a touring production of family drama ''deVINE'' with the RECollective Theatre Company. In August that year, she starred as Stella Kowalski in ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...

'' at the Silo Theatre. O'Reilly and

Anna Jullienne Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

appeared in the 2018 comedy pilot ''Mean Mums'', which competed against four other sitcoms as part of Three's Comedy Pilot Week. The pilot performed well and MediaWorks New Zealand picked it up to series. In 2019, O'Reilly joined the cast of ''

'', playing the role of "volatile" prisoner Narelle Stang. The following year, she returned to ''Neighbours'' for a guest stint, and appeared in mystery drama series '' The Sounds''. O'Reilly also starred in comedy-thriller ''INSiDE'', created with her husband Peter Salmon during New Zealand's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

lockdown. The series was filmed in the couple's house in Auckland.

Personal life

O'Reilly is married to filmmaker Peter Salmon. O'Reilly announced her pregnancy on 6 June 2015, and she gave birth to their daughter on 25 August. O'Reilly gave birth to her second child, a son, in 2018.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Morgana 1985 births Living people New Zealand television actresses New Zealand film actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses Place of birth missing (living people) Unitec Institute of Technology alumni