Madeleine Sami

Madeleine Nalini Sami is an actress, director, comedian and musician from New Zealand.[1] She started her acting career in theatre before eventually 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.

Madeleine Sami
Born
Madeleine Nalini Sami

(1980-05-10) 10 May 1980
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationActress
Spouse(s)Pip Brown (Ladyhawke)

Early life

Sami is one of four children. Her parents are Catherine Southee, who has Irish ancestry, and Naren Sami, a Fijian-Indian who settled in New Zealand.[2] Her parents separated when she was 11.[2] She attended Onehunga High School.[3]

Career
Madeleine Sami performing at the King's Arms, Auckland, 2007

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

In 2011, Sami created, wrote, and starred in her own comedy series, Super City, which was directed by Taika Waititi.[4] Sami played five different characters in the show and won Best Performance by an Actress at the 2011 AFTA awards.[5][6] She later co-hosted The Great Kiwi Bake Off and starred in the television series Golden Boy and The Bad Seed.[7][8] 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.[9]

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.[10]

She co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the 2018 film The Breaker Upperers, along with Jackie van Beek.[11] 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.[12][13][14] The pair will reunite to direct the Netflix film Hope, starring Aubrey Plaza.[15] Sami also appeared in the 2019 film, Come to Daddy, directed by Ant Timpson.[16]

Personal life

In January 2015, Sami married Pip Brown, also known as the singer-songwriter Ladyhawke.[17] They welcomed a baby girl on 20 October 2017.[18]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Ice As: Ice House Various
2000 Fish Skin Suit Libby TV movie
2000 Teach You a Lesson Narrator Short film
2003 Perfect Strangers Andrea
2006 Sione's Wedding Tania
2007 Eagle vs Shark Burger Girl Customer
2009 Under the Mountain Constable Green
2012 Sione's 2: Unfinished Business Tania
2015 Slow West Marimacho
2018 The Breaker Upperers Mel Also writer; director
2019 Come to Daddy Gladys

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1998 Pio! Various
1999 Shortland Street Dr. Shivani 'Vani' Naran
2000 Fish Skin Suit Libby
2001 Xena Tyro
2004 Talent Chemist
2004 The Insiders Guide to Happiness Tess
2007 Rude Awakenings Francesca Hoyle
2007 Outrageous Fortune Linda
2006-2007 Bro'Town Additional Voices/Bianca 5 episodes
2009 Diplomatic Immunity Agent Amy Bickler
2008-2009 The Jaquie Brown Diaries Serita Singh 13 episodes
2009-2013 Buzzy Bee and Friends Buzzy Bee 14 episodes
2009-2017 7 Days Herself 15 episodes
2010 Radiradirah Various
2011 3 News Herself
2011-2013 Super City Pasha/Georgie/Azeem Creator/Writer/Executive Director
2013 Top of the Lake Zena
2013 Aroha Bridge Mum/Aunty Winny/Angeline Hook
2016 All Talk with Anika Moa Herself
2016-2018 Funny Girls Director
2014 Flat3 Madeline
2018 The Bad Seed Marie Da Silva
2018- The Great Kiwi Bake Off Host
2019 Golden Boy Claire
2020 Taskmaster NZ Herself

Theatre
Year Title Role Theatre
1998 Three People in a Cinema Various Silo Theatre
1999 Legacy Ensemble Aotearoa Young People's Theatre
2000 No. 2 Various Edinburgh Festival
2001 NZ Tour
2001 Bare Various Wellington Fringe Festival
2002 The Vagina Monologues Various Auckland Theatre Company
2005- 2006 Bad Jelly the Witch Bad Jelly Silo Theatre
2007 Some Girl(s) Tyler Silo Theatre
2008 Rabbit Emily Silo Theatre
2008 Whero's New Net Various Massive Company
2008 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre Auckland Theatre Company[19]
2009 No. 2 Various Silo Theatre
2010 Dance Troupe Supreme Kellyanna Maidment Theatre

References
  1. Crombie, Nathan (2015-01-07). "Ladyhawke coy on hometown wedding". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  2. "Madeleine Sami, chameleon at the crossroads". NZ Herald. 2001-09-24. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  3. Husb, Dale; Sep 9, |; Read, 2018 | 0 | 10 Min (2018-09-08). "Madeleine Sami: No holding her back". E-Tangata. Retrieved 2020-04-22.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "ThreeNow | Search". Archived from the original on 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  5. Archived 2011-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Sami's 'Super City' satirises the stereotypes of Auckland". Otago Daily Times Online News. 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  7. "Madeleine Sami and Hayley Sproull back for more Great Kiwi Bake Off". Stuff. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  8. Fenwick, George (2019-04-03). "The Bad Seed: Madeleine Sami on how the crime show was a 'relief' from The Breaker Upperers". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  9. Metro. "Boots and all: Madeleine Sami steps behind the camera on Funny Girls". www.metromag.co.nz. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  10. "Musical Siblings - The Sami Sisters". RNZ. 2016-01-02. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  11. The Breaker Upperers, retrieved 2018-11-28
  12. "Disney dominated the New Zealand box office in 2018". Stuff. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  13. "The Breaker Upperers (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  14. "The Breaker Upperers grosses more than $1 million at Kiwi box office in first two weeks". New Zealand Herald.
  15. Jr, Anthony D'Alessandro,Mike Fleming; D'Alessandro, Anthony; Jr, Mike Fleming (2019-08-15). "Aubrey Plaza Feature Comedy 'Hope' Set At Netflix With Jackie van Beek & Madeleine Sami Directing". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  16. "Madeleine Sami on the attractions of acting in Come to Daddy". www.flicks.co.nz. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  17. Tapaleao, Vaimoana (9 January 2015). "Ladyhawke and Madeleine Sami to wed". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  18. "A Babyhawke lands: Comedian Madeleine Sami and rocker Ladyhawke welcome a baby". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  19. "The New Zealand Post Season of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". atc.co.nz. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
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