Profile
Pronoun
She/Her
Ethnicity
Māori
Iwi
Te Arawa, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāpuhi
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Height
164 cm
Age Range
23–36
Career Highlights
Michaela is a Māori creative hailing from Ngāti Whakaue (Te Arawa), Ngāti Manawa, and Ngāpuhi and graduated from Actors Program after completing studies at South Seas Film and Television School. She has featured in Broken Wood Mysteries as well as making her theatre debut in Nora: A Doll’s House directed by Kitan Petovski. She has starred in short films Think Tank and Te Wairua. Michaela's recent endeavour includes co-writing the short film "Tō te wai," which received funding from Someday Stories.
Awards.
| 2021 | Ahikāroa | ||
Short Film.
| 2022 | I Hate This Dance | Her Lead | Avis Panthera Dir. Leo Allan & Michaela Bird |
| 2022 | Think Tank | Zoe | Actors Program Dir. Caroline Bell-Booth |
| 2022 | What A View | Kay Lead | Avis Panthera Dir. Leo Allan |
| 2021 | Renters | Paris Lead | South Seas Film & TV Dir. Ruth Dudding |
| 2021 | Unwind | Sachi Core | South Seas Film & TV Dir. Everett Marston |
| 2020 | Anywhere But Here | Nikki (Lead) | South Seas Film & TV Dir. Luca Dombroski |
| 2020 | Te Wairua | Manaia (Lead) | South Seas Film & TV Dir. Lainey Bishop |
Short Film.
| 2020 | Fly Trap | Layla (Lead) | South Seas Film & TV Dir. Mitchell Murphy-Reid |
Television.
| 2024 | Only In Aotearoa | Mereana (Mama 3) | Kura Productions Dir. Maruia Jensen |
| 2023 | End of the Valley | Maika (Supporting) | Dir. Various |
| 2022 | Brokenwood Mysteries | Donna Guest | South Pacific Pictures Dir. Caroline Bell-Booth |
Theatre.
| 2024 | Red White and Brass | Aroha | Auckland Theatre Company Dir. Anapela Polataivao |
| 2023 | Things That Matter | April | Auckland Theatre Company Dir. Anapela Polataivao |
| 2022 | Nora: A Doll's House | Christine | Dir. Kitan Petkovski |
| 2022 | Table Read: The Miracle That Is Larry Rice | Jordan | Dir. Ian Hughes |
| 2022 | The Wheel | Beatriz (Lead ) | Dir. Benjamin Henson |
Voice.
| 2020 | Limbo Animation | Pogo (Core) | Auckland University of Technology |
Training.
| Actors Program - One Year Intensive Practical Workshop - 2022 | |||
| David Van Horn - Self Tape Workshop - 2022 | |||
| Gavin McGibbon - Script to Screen - 2022 | |||
| Jennifer Ward-Lealand - Intimacy Workshop - 2022 | |||
| Kacie Steton - Screen Acting Technique - 2022 | |||
| Miranda Harcourt - Screen Acting - 2022 | |||
| Jacque Drew - American Accent - 2021 | |||
| Andrea Kelland & Vicky Yiannoutsos - Workshop for film, TV & auditioning - 2020 | |||
| Erroll Shand 1-on-1 Audition Workshops - 2020 | |||
| South Seas Film & Television - Diploma on Screen Acting - 2020 |