ROSEANNE'S READY FOR ACTION 'ALL ROADS LED TO THIS'

The Kiwi director has been picked to direct a Hollywood blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry

When Kiwi director Roseanne Liang first calls "action" on Maude v Maude, starring Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry, there'll be one characteristic carrying her through helming the dream gig - simply "mucking in". While the style icons have naturally made Roseanne consider "upping my fashion game", she'll be more focused on getting down and dirty to make the greatest film possible. 

And that should come as no surprise to Angelina, given early Zoom meetings with Roseanne took place from the gritty set of Roseanne's series Creamerie.

"It grounded me because we were shooting in a boat shed - hot, sweaty, dusty, smelly - and that's the best way to think about making movies too because while people think we’re lounging on fancy sets, it’s hard, physical rigour,” explains Roseanne, 45.

“That’s no different whether I’m doing low-budget New Zealand television or a Hollywood blockbuster with two of the most wonderful female action actors in history. I’ll just be mucking in with them.”

Having grown up loving movies, directing’s a dream job for the talent, but one her mum didn’t envision when she told young Roseanne the world was her oyster if she got straights As.

Roseanne’s Hong Kong-born parents imagined her pursuing medicine, engineering or law. Conscious of how hard her dad had worked to put her through private school, she considered her love for speech and drama a hobby and focused on getting good grades.