'I'M ON SHORTY & BROKENWOOD!'

'I was horrendous... Thinking back on it now, I'm like, What a monster I was!"

- Rebekah Hebenton

She’s either been on our screens or behind the scenes helping create some of New Zealand’s most beloved shows for the past 20 years. But former Shortland Street star Laura Hill says her flourishing creative career has mostly come down to luck.

“I’ve never had a life plan,” she admits. “I would be terrible in one of those interviews where they ask you to share your five-year plan. I’ve always known that acting is what I loved. And because of my parents, I knew that there were jobs where you could do that.” 

Laura’s mum Helena Ross is a theatre actress, who has also made a brief appearance on Shorty, and her dad Peter Hill is a police officer-turned-writer who has worked in TV, as well as publishing crime novels.

Though their career paths showed Laura she could pursue a creative pathway, she was also fully aware of the harsh realities of not having a traditional nine-to-five job.

“I knew because of their experience how hard it was. So, I kind of felt I should try and have a back-up plan, but I never quite figured out what it was,” she laughs. “I’m lucky that it’s worked out for me – touch wood – and I’ve managed to have jobs where I get to be creative and still have money to pay the bills.”