Angela's Shorty Coming's I'm Not Finished With Rachel Yet

The drama queen tells how her beloved character shaped her.

- Nicky Pellegrino

It may be 25 years ago, but Angela Bloomfield still vividly remembers her very first day on the set of Shortland Street.

She was only 19, with no acting training whatsoever, nervous but doing her best not to show it and mortified when she was yelled at by an assistant director for not saying her lines loudly enough.

“I might not recall all of the years in between, but I remember every inch of that first day,” laughs Angela, now 44. “I was very preoccupied with what I was going to wear to the studio. I told Mum I needed a new outfit, and ended up in denim pants and a matching jacket, which, looking back, was not the coolest thing in the world!”

Angela came of age playing the role of Rachel McKenna. At a time when her school friends were heading off on their OEs, she was appearing in New Zealand’s first soap opera and becoming a famous face. The experience changed her in ways she didn’t realise at the time.

“I learnt not to trust anyone,” she explains. “I realised people were judging me based on what they were seeing on TV, rather than on what I was really like, so I became wary and didn’t engage with strangers the way I do now.

“My friends and boyfriends were actors or members of the crew because they understood. And I really loved heading off overseas because no-one was watching me and I didn’t have to worry about not stepping out of line.”

At the same time, Angela felt like the luckiest person in the world. She was learning to act from the biggest talents in the country and being paid for it. Unlike most performers,she had job security and was able to save up to buy a house. And she loved her job.

“It was such a fun ride,” she recalls. “I was being invited to parties and getting dressed up for photo shoots – what’s not to love?”

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