Jennifer Ward-Lealand

Jennifer Ward-Lealand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand CNZM (born 8 November 1962) is a New Zealand actor and director whose screen credits includes the in 1993 movie Desperate Remedies as well as appearances in The Footstep Man, the soap Shortland Street and Australian comedy series Full Frontal.

Ward-Lealand was born in Wellington, New Zealand to Philippa "Pippa" Mary (née Ward) and Conrad Ainsley Lealand. She has an older sister, Diana Mary Ward-Pickering and a half brother Simcha Lindt.

She is married to actor Michael Hurst of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys fame. They have two sons, born in 1997, and 1999.

Her first ongoing television role was as Jan in Close to Home (1978–1980). After leaving school she spent a year touring New Zealand in a community theatre group, performing clown shows and Chekhov.

In 1982 Ward-Lealand completed a year-long diploma in acting from Auckland's then influential Theatre Corporate. In between the theatre work that followed, Ward-Lealand appeared in short-lived TV drama Seekers, before her breakthrough television role in "Danny and Raewyn", an episode from the About Face series. Filmed largely in an Auckland flat so cramped the cameraman sometimes had to sit on the stove, this tale of working class relationship breakdown would win Ward-Lealand a GOFTA Best Actress Award.

The same year Ward-Lealand made her big screen debut as nightclub singer Costello – and sang three songs – in Wellington crime thriller Dangerous Orphans.

From 1989 to 1990 she appeared with Harry Sinclair and Don McGlashan in theatre/musical group The Front Lawn, winning a number of awards and accolades, and acting in Front Lawn film Linda's Body. In 1993 she appeared in the first series of TV skit comedy show, Full Frontal.

As an actress, singer and director of theatre, Ward-Lealand has a number of credits and accolades, and acted in New Zealand plays The Bach, Via Satellite, and The Sex Fiend. In 2007, she toured her acclaimed Marlene Dietrich cabaret show, Falling in Love Again (also the name of her first solo CD) in New Zealand and Australia. She later toured with the same show in 2018.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand is fluent in Te Reo Māori, the native language of New Zealand. Ward-Lealand, who herself is not Māori, started learning the language after not being able to respond to a traditional mihi or welcome speech.

Ward-Lealand has also been an advocate for improving actors' working conditions and pay.

Movies for Jennifer Ward-Lealand...

Dead
Title: Dead
Character: Janine
Released: October 22, 2020
Type: Movie
Dane ‘Marbles’ Marbeck can see ghosts, thanks to a homemade drug: his late father’s neurological medication mixed with marijuana. Officer Jayson Tagg, a wannabe super-cop on the trail of a serial killer, ends up murdered. So when Marbles’ mum plans to sell the family farm, and the only way of buying the house off her is taking the money offered by Tagg in exchange for his help, Marbles accepts. The unlikely duo of stoner medium and ghost cop struggle to reconcile their differences while they navigate their way through ghouls, perverts, a mysterious hooded figure, and an unexpected shot at love. It becomes clear the only way Marbles and Tagg will solve the case with their souls intact is to confront their deepest regrets and overcome their prejudices.
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Chekhov's The Seagull
Title: Chekhov's The Seagull
Character: Arkadina
Released: May 8, 2020
Type: Movie
Chekhov's famous characters are reimagined with a Kiwi twist and congregate over Zoom. In a direct commentary of our world in lockdown, the characters are still searching for meaning in their lives while battling love, jealousy, dissatisfaction, dreams, hopes and plans - not to mention malfunctioning video calls! This drama all plays out in self-isolation and over virtual interactions with each other.
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Title: My Life Is Murder
Character: Eva Borges
Released: July 17, 2019
Type: TV
Investigator Alexa Crowe, cannot help fighting the good fight – whether it is solving murders or combatting the small frustrations of everyday life. Fearless and unapologetic, Alexa's unique skills and insights into the darker quirks of human nature, allows her to provoke, comfort and push the right buttons as she unravels the truth behind the most baffling of crimes.
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Vermilion
Title: Vermilion
Character: Darcy
Released: November 8, 2018
Type: Movie
Darcy, a composer, sees colors when she plays musical notes. When she notices her usually subtle colors changing, she realizes a profound change is upon her. Over a summer month, Darcy creates a time of music and reflection that help her make a final choice.
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Title: Dirty Laundry
Character: Donna Rafferty
Released: September 21, 2016
Type: TV
The Raffertys are a typical NZ family. But their entire life is based on a very dirty secret...
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Title: Terry Teo
Character: Barbara Bertinelli
Released: July 12, 2016
Type: TV
Young crook turned detective, Terry Teo is on a mission to avenge his father's murder. The 80s comic book hero is back!
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Title: Auckward Love
Character: Barbara
Released: November 5, 2015
Type: TV
Auckward Love is show about women doing women stuff. Follow Alice, Vicky, Zoe and Grace as they experience love, lust , and everything else.
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Title: Sunny Skies
Character: Penny
Released: February 8, 2013
Type: TV
Sunny Skies is a New Zealand comedy television show that is slated to air on TV3 in the summer of 2013. The show stars Tammy Davis and Oliver Driver as two brothers who unwittingly inherit a local campground.
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Title: Auckland Daze
Character: Wanda
Released: October 27, 2011
Type: TV
The series is a spoof comedy that follows four hapless wannabes - a model, a stuntman, a dwarf entertainer and a stand-up comedian who are all chasing fame in Auckland's ridiculously small entertainment industry. Starring a number of local talents including Millen Baird (The Millen Baird Show), Jennifer Ward-Lealand (Xena: Warrior Princess), Natalie Medlock (Shortland Street) and Glen Levy, the stuntman described by National Geographic as "the 20th deadliest man on the planet". Auckland Daze takes the interactive experience that made Reservoir Hill a success to the next level. Screening on TVNZ Ondemand, which has over three hundred thousand unique viewers per month, Auckland Daze will also be embedded into Facebook where viewers will be able to watch, "like" and share the episodes with their friends without having to leave their Facebook profile. After the episode, the audience will be prompted to say what they think.
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Title: The Almighty Johnsons
Character: Karen
Released: February 8, 2011
Type: TV
The four Johnson brothers have inherited the powers of the Norse gods. Because the gods lived eons ago, however, time has diluted the powers. The unique ability that each brother possesses isn't very strong, and they still have the same desires and faults that mortals do. Their lives include sibling rivalry, trying to get girls, and hanging out; but they also want to be stronger, and so they embark on a quest to fulfill an ancient prophecy in hope of gaining the full strength of their abilities.
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Title: The Jaquie Brown Diaries
Character: Louise Bouchet
Released: July 25, 2008
Type: TV
The Jaquie Brown Diaries is a satirical New Zealand sitcom in which real-life television personality Jaquie Brown plays a fictionalised, over-ambitious, status-obsessed version of herself. The series was created by Gerard Johnstone, Jaquie Brown and Hayley Cunningham and premiered 25 July 2008 on TV3. The US cable television channel Logo began broadcasting the series' episodes to date 12 June 2010.
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Fracture
Title: Fracture
Character: Ulla Peet
Released: September 4, 2004
Type: Movie
A young solo mother loves her son and his needs are formost, but she still has room in her heart for her very broken brother, even as her fundamentalist mother rejects her. But when the brother is responsible for a woman's broken neck, during his burglary of her house, families are changed as crisis amplifies and at times the young mother seems to be the only adult.
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Love Mussel
Title: Love Mussel
Character: Doctor
Released: July 19, 2001
Type: Movie
In this mockumentary, Kevin Smith plays himself covering the story of a New Zealand town after the discovery that a local shellfish, the geoduck (pronounced "gooey duck") has the properties of Viagra.
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I'll Make You Happy
Title: I'll Make You Happy
Character: Mel
Released: April 8, 1999
Type: Movie
Siggy (Jennifer Ward-Lealand) is a teenage "bad girl" who lives and works in a red-light district of Auckland, New Zealand. Just like her fellow streetwalkers, Siggy constantly dreams of leaving "the life" behind. When she learns one day that her pimp is planning a big drug score, Siggy decides to seize the day -- and her future -- by grabbing the loot.
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Title: Duggan
Character: Joanne Taylor
Released: October 1, 1997
Type: TV
Duggan was a TVNZ police drama from 1997, featuring New Zealand actor John Bach as Detective Inspector John Duggan and Fiona Mogridge as Ruth Duggan. Unlike other New Zealand police drama series, Duggan was produced as a series of one-off programmes, akin to British crime series of the time such as Inspector Morse and Midsomer Murders. In all, 13 episodes were made between 1997 and 1999.
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The Ugly
Title: The Ugly
Character: Evelyn Cartwright
Released: August 26, 1997
Type: Movie
A female psychologist wants to understand the minds of a confessed serial killer who spent the last five years in a mental hospital because of his state.
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Title: Xena: Warrior Princess
Character: Boadicea
Released: September 4, 1995
Type: TV
Xena is an infamous warrior on a quest to seek redemption for her past sins against the innocent. Accompanied by her comrade-in-arms Gabrielle, the campy couple use their formidable fighting skills to help those who are unable to defend themselves.
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Title: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Character: Voluptua
Released: January 29, 1995
Type: TV
The legendary son of Zeus journeys across the earth fighting monsters and helping people.
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A Game With No Rules
Title: A Game With No Rules
Character: Lauren
Released: October 1, 1994
Type: Movie
For Kane Harris and Vera Smith, what starts as an easy task of murder becomes a tangled web of deception and betrayal. Their target, Kane's wife, is no easy victim.
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I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Title: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Character: Jane
Released: April 16, 1994
Type: Movie
After Jane leaves Bill, they each meet unusual strangers as they travel on their own.
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Desperate Remedies
Title: Desperate Remedies
Character: Dorothea Brook
Released: November 26, 1993
Type: Movie
In a town called Hope on the edge of Britain's empire, desperations clash: the beautiful Dorothea Brook is desperate to free her pregnant sister Rose from the clutches of Fraser, a fortune hunter. A local politician, William Poyner, is desperate for cash and thinks marriage to Dorothea will save him. Dorothea hires Lawrence Hayes, a rough but handsome Argonaut, to bribe Fraser with jewels and to marry Rose; Hayes desperately loves Dorothea and may marry Rose to stay close to her. But Dorothea has a lover, the ravishing Anne Cooper, who encourages the match with Poyser to give the lovers cover. Are these remedies, each desperate in its turn, going to make anyone happy?
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The Footstep Man
Title: The Footstep Man
Character: Mireille
Released: June 20, 1992
Type: Movie
Sam is a sound technician, who must literally walk in the footsteps of the characters on the screen. A "film within a film" that connects the world of modern film-making to the Paris of painter Toulouse-Lautrec and his model/lover Mireille.
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Dangerous Orphans
Title: Dangerous Orphans
Character: Teresa Costello
Released: January 1, 1985
Type: Movie
Three orphaned boys - O'Malley, Rossi and Moir - become blood brothers. When they grow up, they plot revenge on the crooks who got away with shooting O'Malley's father. The crooks are doing very nicely importing heroin and laundering money. The boys begin by killing one of the crooks, stealing his indentification and cleaning out the guy's Swiss bank account. But their revenge does not stop here... And the American end of the operation is getting very curious.
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Title: Close to Home
Character: Jan
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: TV
Close to Home is a New Zealand television soap opera which ran on Television One from 1975 to 1983. Set in a suburb of Wellington, it originally revolved around the trials and tribulations of the Hearte family. Most of the Hearte children were written out of the show within its first two years. The older members of the Hearte family remained through most of the show's run and later storylines revolved around their interactions with neighbours and friends. A high point of the series occurred in 1982 with the wedding of Gayle and Gavin. Rehearsals took place in a local community hall in Avalon, and “Close to Home” was mostly shot in the largest NZBC TV studio, No 8, at Avalon Studios, Avalon, Lower Hutt, which had sets round the studio of rooms in various characters’ houses plus the bar of the local hotel. It was criticised for the number of scenes set in the bar, but that was the only place apart from private homes that scenes could be set in without going on location, which was infrequent. The show featured John Bach, who went on to have his own TV seris, Duggan, and appear in various films. Jennifer Ward-Lealand appeared as a school friend of Gayle's after Fiona Lovatt's contract expired. Jim Moriarty played a school teacher. Other cast members included Pat Evison, Ginette MacDonald, and, in a special appearance, The Kokatahi Band.