“I was sitting next to a girl in my math class and she’s like, ‘you look like this one girl on Shortland Street I was watching last night’, and I was just smiling the whole time.”
Rotorua's Madison Southall, 12, landed her first acting job on Shortland Street. Photo / Supplied
Madison said her acting training came into play when her character had to throw a tantrum over the amputation.
“At home I’m not much of a tantrum thrower.
“It was a cool, fun scene to film, but I was nervous because I didn’t want to break anything,” she said.
“The director basically said, ‘let’s scream with her to get her amped up’, so on the count of three, we all screamed really loud.
“The thing that I was pushing onto the ground did break but they didn’t care,” she said.
Taking nine days off school for shooting, and being on set for the first time in Auckland with her mum, was “the best experience”, Madison said.
She said watching Emma Watson play Hermione Granger in Harry Potter first made her want to be an actor about three years ago. Sandra Bullock was another inspiration.
Her advice to aspiring young actors was not to take it personally if they did not get an audition or a call back.
“Maybe you’re not brunette or you’re not blonde, or you don’t have the blue eyes that they’re looking for. Sometimes they have someone in mind, or they see someone else and change their mind,” she said.
Madison landed her audition in October through her agent, Bay of Plenty Actors Studio founder Tanya Horo (Taranaki iwi).
Madison attends the studio’s acting school in Tauranga and had decided to focus on screen acting over theatre. She hoped for a scholarship to New York University after high school.
Horo described her as determined and compassionate - a casting agent’s dream.
“She always listens, has been very kind and very genuine - for a casting agency, they love that and they want to support a young actor who is compassionate,” Horo said.
Tanya Horo signed actress Madison Southall to her agency Tanya Horo Management in 2023. Photo / Supplied
Horo said when she was starting the studio, she could not understand why there was a lack of agents and actors in Bay of Plenty.
“Rotorua’s got what I think to be quite a strong industry that’s building quite solidly and I was just surprised that there was no agent,” she said.
To date, hundreds of students have come through her doors.
“There’s so much talent down here, and it’s this beautiful, untapped talent that feels like it can’t have a voice because it’s not based in Auckland, which I don’t agree with - talent doesn’t limit itself by geography,” she said.
Horo said these days the only limits for aspiring actors in Bay of Plenty were “their own limitations”.
The internet had made it much easier for independent agents and actors to find casting directors in New Zealand and overseas.
Distribution companies like Netflix, Amazon or Apple bought New Zealand-made content, and casting agents would come looking for talent.
TV series such as Friends Like Her on Netflix were made in New Zealand, and Kiwi actors were being cast in shows such as East of Eden, Horo said.
She said it was becoming more acceptable for young actors to have additional trades.
“[Acting is] a great job and it’s beautiful. [Some of ] my actors are graphic designers or they’re also writers and directors or on-set runners.”
The episodes featuring Madison are available to watch on TVNZ+.
Aleyna Martinez is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. She moved to the region in 2024 and has previously reported in Wairarapa and at Pacific Media Network.
