Taking no PRISONERS

Based on some of the headlines she’s made over the course of her acting career, you might have preconceived ideas about Teuila Blakely. Namely, that she is as bold, brash and ballsy in real life as she tends to be on screen. Spoiler alert: she is. But I’m still somewhat surprised when she sneaks through the door of a quiet café in West Auckland wearing her apparently standard off-duty uniform of nondescript activewear. She’s here to discuss her new role in Prime TV drama The Brokenwood Mysteries, where she’s been cast as prison superintendent and CEO Angela Lafferty, whose on-duty uniform is eye-catching power suits.

“I had a lot of fun with that,” says the 44-year-old best known for her four-year stint on playing polarising nurse