Hey, Shorty! TURIA'S TV DREAM COMES TRUE

This Kiwi star's hit the big-time as she makes her soap debut

- Sharon Stephenson

Ask actress Turia Schmidt-Peke if she feels lucky to have scored a role in iconic Kiwi soap Shortland Street and the Auckland beauty laughs.

“Luck does play a part and I'm really proud of what I've achieved, but success for me is about the collective," says the star, who's of Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Pamaterā and Samoan descent. "I was raised in the Māori and Pasifika worlds, where people succeed because of the whole community, so my success belongs to my friends and whānau."

That isn't to say the talented 28-year-old - who plays Steph, a member of the Iron Dogs gang, in Shorty - hasn't put in the hard yards. But as Turia admits, “I'm not a trained actor. I'm just the kind of person who takes every opportunity that comes my way.”

Though she finds auditions tricky, she adds, “I simply try to prepare as much as I can and then hope for the best.”

Turia might be modest, but there's no denying she's had a swift ascent from production assistant to appearing in the long-running TVNZ 2 drama that she grew up watching.

“I was really nervous when my agent asked me to audition for Shortland Street's summer series Retribution, especially when I heard Tammy Davis was going to be there because I loved Outrageous Fortune," she confesses. “But work is work and my philosophy is to always say yes."