Acushla-Tara Kupe (left) stars with Richard Flood in the new drama The Gone. Photo / TVNZ
Acushla-Tara Kupe (left) stars with Richard Flood in the new drama The Gone. Photo / TVNZ
Welcome to the second season of the Herald’s dating podcast: It’s A Date. Join Herald dating columnist Lillie Rohan as she takes notable Kiwis on a fantasy date, finding out about their relationships and love lives along the way.
Acushla-Tara Kupe isn’t new to the world of acting. She’s been on the stage since her original plan of being a singer came crumbling down.
“I’m not a bad singer, but I’m not gonna sell any CDs any time soon, you know,” she laughs. Thankfully, things have taken a turn for the better and the rising star has landed a gig as the lead in TVNZ’s new show The Gone, a co-production with Ireland’s RTE.
The international series has Kupe starring alongside the likes of Game of Thrones’ Michelle Fairley and Grey’s Anatomy’s Richard Flood. It’s her first major leading role but it’s taken a few challenges to get there.
From an unexpected long-distance relationship to a stint on The Crown and even figuring out how to kiss on camera, Kupe has taken every experience in her stride and shares them with It’s A Datehost Lillie Rohan in the latest episode of the Herald’s dating podcast.
Long-distance love
Having returned to New Zealand from London for what was meant to be a quick trip in 2020, things quickly took a turn and Kupe reveals she ended up doing six months long-distance with her now-fiance.
After her flight back to London was cancelled and the borders snapped shut, the actress decided not to dwell on the situation and instead make the most of it.
But as anyone who does long-distance knows, the secret to your relationship surviving is pretty simple: “I would say my biggest bit of advice is just communicate honestly.”
“Fun fact, you will never see me but I did shoot a scene in the crowd,” Kupe reveals about season four of the hit Netflix show The Crown.
She performed with the London-based Māori group Ngāti Rānana in a kapa haka scene.
Revealing what the best moment of being on set was, she explains, “It was really cool... it was the first season where we had Diana come in and they hadn’t really released any publicity images of the actress, Emma Corin... so seeing her in the full get-up for the first time and just being quite shocked at how similar she looked to Princess Di. I think that was the coolest thing.”
Acushla-Tara Kupe stars in TVNZ's hit new drama, The Gone. Photo / TVNZ
The Gone
For an actress, Kupe is the complete opposite of the stereotype. She’s warm, bubbly, has a super-bright smile - and not in the “I just got veneers” way but more of an “I’m about to be your best friend” way. The point is, she’s fun, but for TVNZ’s new show The Gone, she had to take on a very serious role.
Playing a detective sergeant called Diana, she says: “She’s quite, quite different to who I am. I’m quite energetic and bubbly, and positive and optimistic, and she’s very serious and stoic.”
She adds that while filming she found there was a “power” in wearing her costume that looked so much like actual New Zealand Police uniforms that she actually got mistaken for an officer.
“If we were doing anything on location, the number of times people would come and be like, ‘Oh, can you point me in the direction of this?’”
For more fromAcushla-Tara Kupe and her long-distance romance tales, marriage plans and what’s next for her, listen to the full episode of It’s a Date.
Watch the full season of The Gone on TVNZ+ now.
It’s a Date is a NZ Herald podcast, with new episodes coming out every Thursday.
