Madeleine Sami

Madeleine Nalini Sami is a New Zealand actress, director, comedian, and musician. She started her acting career in theatre before moving to television, where she created, co-wrote, and starred in Super City. She co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the 2018 film The Breaker Upperers along with Jackie van Beek. Sami co-hosted The Great Kiwi Bake Off.

Madeleine Sami
Sami in 2018
Born	Madeleine Nalini Sami Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation(s)	Actress, director, comedian, musician
Spouse	Ladyhawke ​ (m. 2015⁠–⁠2023)​
Children	1

Early life and education

Madeleine Nalini Sami^{[citation needed]} is one of four children. Her parents are Christine Southee, who has Irish ancestry, and Naren Sami, a Fijian-Indian who settled in New Zealand.^[1] Her parents separated when she was twelve.^[1]

She attended Onehunga High School.^[2]

Career

Madeleine Sami performing at the King's Arms, Auckland, 2007

Sami rose to prominence starring in Toa Fraser's play Bare, directed by Michael Robinson,^[3] winning Best Actress at the 1999 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.^[1] She then was part of Fraser's next play, No. 2., which won Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.^[1]

In 2011, Sami created, co-wrote alongside Tom Sainsbury, and starred in her own comedy series, Super City, which was directed by Taika Waititi.^[4] Sami played five different characters in the show and won Best Performance by an Actress at the 2011 Aotearoa Film & Television Awards.^[5][6] She later co-hosted The Great Kiwi Bake Off and starred in the television series Golden Boy and The Bad Seed.^[7][8] She made her TV directorial debut with an episode of the second season of Funny Girls, eventually directing eleven episodes of the series.^[9]

Sami is a part of The Sami Sisters, a musical group consisting of herself and her two sisters. They released an album called Happy Heartbreak in 2011.^[10]

She co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the 2018 film The Breaker Upperers, along with Jackie van Beek.^[11] The film received positive reviews and was a box office hit in New Zealand, becoming the best selling New Zealand film of 2018 and is one of the top 20 grossing New Zealand films ever.^[12][13][14] The pair are set to direct the Netflix film Hope, starring Aubrey Plaza.^[15] Sami also appeared in the 2019 film Come to Daddy, directed by Ant Timpson.^[16]

On 17 May 2021, Sami appeared on The Masked Singer NZ as the "Monarch (Butterfly)", getting eliminated in the fourth episode. The same year, she was on the panel show Patriot Brains.

Sami starred in the 2023 Australian television series Deadloch. On July 9, 2024, Deadloch was be renewed for a second season, with Sami reprising the role of Eddie Redcliffe.^[17]

She was a voice actor in the Australian comedy sci-fi film Lesbian Space Princess, which premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2024.^[18]

Personal life

In January 2015, Sami married Phillippa "Pip" Brown, more commonly known by her stage name Ladyhawke.^[19] Brown gave birth to their daughter in 2017.^[20] Sami and Brown announced the end of their relationship in 2023.^[21]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Ice As: Ice House	Various
2000	Fish Skin Suit	Libby	TV movie
2000	Teach You a Lesson	Narrator	Short film
2003	Perfect Strangers	Andrea
2006	Sione's Wedding	Tania
2007	Eagle vs Shark	Burger Girl Customer
2009	Under the Mountain	Constable Green
2012	Sione's 2: Unfinished Business	Tania
2014	What We Do in the Shadows	Morana
2015	Slow West	Marimacho
2018	The Breaker Upperers	Mel	Also writer & director
2019	Come to Daddy	Gladys
2020	Baby Done	Hospital Midwife
2024	Lesbian Space Princess		Voice actor

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Pio!	Various
1999	Shortland Street	Dr. Shivani 'Vani' Naran
2000	Fish Skin Suit	Libby
2001	Xena: Warrior Princess	Tyro	Episode: "To Helicon and Back"
2004	Talent	Chemist
2004	The Insiders Guide to Happiness	Tess
2007	Rude Awakenings	Francesca Hoyle
2007	Outrageous Fortune	Linda
2006–2007	Bro'Town	Additional Voices/Bianca	5 episodes
2009	Diplomatic Immunity	Agent Amy Bickler
2008–2009	The Jaquie Brown Diaries	Serita Singh	13 episodes
2009–2013	Buzzy Bee and Friends	Buzzy Bee	14 episodes
2009–2024	7 Days	Herself	21 episodes
2010	Radiradirah	Various
2011	3 News	Self
2011–2013	Super City	Pasha/Georgie/Azeem	Creator/writer/executive director
2013	Top of the Lake	Zena
2013	Aroha Bridge	Mum/Aunty Winny/Angeline Hook
2016	All Talk with Anika Moa	Self
2016–2018	Funny Girls	Director
2014	Flat3	Madeline
2018–2021	The Great Kiwi Bake Off	Host
2019	Get Krack!n	Amy Bryan	1 episode
2019	The Bad Seed	Marie Da Silva	5 episodes
2019	Golden Boy	Claire	8 episodes
2019	What's Your Problem?	Self	1 episode
2019–	Have You Been Paying Attention?	Guest
2020, 2024	Taskmaster NZ	Self	10 episodes (contestant) 2 episodes (guest)
2021	The Masked Singer NZ	Monarch/Self	2 episodes
2023-present	Deadloch	Eddie Redcliffe	8 episodes
2023-present	Double Parked	Nat	9 episodes
2023	Our Flag Means Death	Archie	8 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Theatre
1998	Three People in a Cinema	Various	Silo Theatre
1999	Legacy	Ensemble	Aotearoa Young People's Theatre
2000	No. 2	Various	Edinburgh Festival
2001			NZ Tour
2001	Bare	Various	Wellington Fringe Festival
2002	The Vagina Monologues	Various	Auckland Theatre Company
2005- 2006	Bad Jelly the Witch	Bad Jelly	Silo Theatre
2007	Some Girl(s)	Tyler	Silo Theatre
2008	Rabbit	Emily	Silo Theatre
2008	Whero's New Net	Various	Massive Company
2008	The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee	Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre	Auckland Theatre Company[22]
2009	No. 2	Various	Silo Theatre
2010	Dance Troupe Supreme	Kellyanna	Maidment Theatre
2014	Jesus Christ Superstar	King Herod	Auckland Theatre Company