Ria Vandervis (born 5 July 1984) is a New Zealand actress. She is most known for her role as

Harper Whitley Harper McCaskill (also Whitley) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera '' Shortland Street'' portrayed by Ria Vandervis. She made her first screen appearance on the 1 May 2013. She was introduced as close friend to established chara ...

in ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

'' and Miratrix in ''

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive ''Power Rangers Operation Overdrive'' is the fifteenth season of the television franchise Power Rangers. The season uses footage and other material from the 30th ''Super Sentai'' series ''GoGo Sentai Boukenger'', which celebrates the thirtieth a ...

''.

Career

From 2002 to 2006, Vandervis acted in multiple UNITEC theatre productions and short films. Between 2004 and 2006 Vandervis starred in various short films such as the ''Lovely Creature'', ''A Telling Time'', ''Tough Fortune Cookies'' and ''Billy for Lilly'' as Siren, Julia, Fran and Sarah respectively. In 2007, Vandervis played a supporting role as Cindy Cockburn in the film ''The Devil Dared Me To''. Vandervis also played Miratrix in the film ''

''. In 2009 Vandervis played various television roles, starting in ''

Packed to the Rafters ''Packed to the Rafters'' was an Australian family-oriented comedy drama television program which premiered on the Seven Network on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 8:30 pm. The show continued on Tuesdays in this timeslot for its entire run. The d ...

'' as Layla Soubrani, ''The Cut'', ''Underbelly'' and '' Rescue: Special Ops''. In 2010, Vandervis played the regular role of Senior Constable Roxanne Perez in the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

police drama ''

Cops L.A.C. ''Cops L.A.C.'' (''Cops: Local Area Command'') is a 2010 Australian television police drama, which screened on the Nine Network. The series followed the work of officers at the Seaview Local Area Command, a fictitious police response area of th ...

'' In 2013, Vandervis played Detective Christie Mills in the TV3 police drama ''Harry''. Later in 2013 Vandervis was cast as

in TV2 New Zealand soap opera ''

''. Vandervis was originally hired under a 6-month recurring contract that was later extended to a regular role. Vandervis originally commuted between Dunedin and Auckland for filming. A fan of the soap named her daughter 'Harper Ria' in honour of Vandervis and her character. Vandervis also has stated that she gets stopped for autographs and photos.

Personal life

Vandervis was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand in 1984. She attended

Columba College Columba College (Irish language, Irish: Coláiste Choilm) is an integrated Presbyterian school in Roslyn, Otago, Roslyn, Dunedin, New Zealand. The roll is made up of pupils of all ages. The majority of pupils are in the girls' secondary, day ...

in the Dunedin suburb of Roslyn, followed by

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

's UNITEC School of Performing & Screen Arts, where she completed a three-year course in acting. Vandervis later moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to pursue more acting roles. She is married to Chris Ashton as of 2012. When cast in the regular role of Harper Whitley, Vandervis struggled with the extension of her contract due to personal relationship issues and considered quitting the show. She also works as a marriage celebrant and helps out in her husband's clothing business.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Johnson & Laird Agency Talent Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandervis, Ria 1984 births Living people Actors from Dunedin People educated at Columba College Unitec Institute of Technology alumni