
Acting
May 9, 1980
Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
Madeleine Sami
Acting
Biography
Actor Madeleine Sami won international acclaim starring in two Toa Fraser plays: 1998's Bare and solo show No 2. Aged 18, she debuted on screen on Shortland Street and Pio. Following Insiders Guide to Happiness, she played Oscar Kightley's romantic interest in Sione's Wedding. Sami went on to win an NZ acting award for Super City, in which she created and played multiple characters. In 2018 comedy The Breaker Upperers hit cinemas; Sami co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred with Jackie van Beek.
Feature Films (14)

Meet best friends Michael, Albert, Stanley and Sefa; the ladies' man, the good boy, the weird one and the party boy. They're staring down the barrel of their thirtieth birthdays, but still act as if they're sixteen; they get drunk, they chase the wrong women and they have a remarkable record of misbehaving and causing chaos at every wedding they attend. But now Michael's younger brother Sione is getting married, and everything is about to change. Sione is their boy, the kid they used to look after, who grew up while they were still partying. And to ensure his big day isn't spoiled by his boys and their idiot antics, Sione has issued an ultimatum; the guys all have to bring dates to the wedding. And not just any dates; real girlfriends, someone they've made a commitment to. They have one month. So just how hard can it be to get a date for your best boy's wedding?
Sione's Wedding

In this alarming early short from Gregory King a 13-year-old boy's shoplifting escapade is narrated brilliantly by actress Madeleine Sami who performs the teenage boy incarnation of the Adult Man whose account of domestic abuse this is, while adult actors play the kids in the remembered story. What starts out as teen shenanigans (a porn stash is accrued with the five-finger discount) turns unsettling as a beating is doled out by Dad as punishment. The contrast between the naive voice and what is seen on screen - shot in hand-held close ups - is something unforgettable.
Teach You a Lesson

When Melanie goes home from the pub with a handsome stranger, she’s captivated by his charm and attentiveness. He sails her away to his ‘castle’- a rundown shack on a deserted island. But when seduction becomes deception and passion becomes possession, Melanie realizes that she has been kidnapped. Torn between fear and desire, Melanie must escape – but her ardent admirer has other plans.
Perfect Strangers

Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
What We Do in the Shadows

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.
Slow West

Love blossoms for Lily over double Meaty Boy burgers at mid-day when uber-computer nerd Jarrod comes in and leaves with free extra large fries. After gatecrashing Jarrod's party and proving her skills on the game console, Lily goes down to Jarrod's home town with him so he can settle an old score with a past school bully.
Eagle vs Shark

Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.
Boy

Two women run a business breaking up couples for cash but when one develops a conscience their friendship unravels.
The Breaker Upperers

After receiving a cryptic letter from his estranged father, Norval travels to his dad’s oceanfront home for what he hopes will be a positive experience. If only he’d known the dark truth about his old man beforehand.
Come to Daddy

Wannabe-adventurer Zoe freaks out when she falls pregnant to her long-term boyfriend Tim. As Tim embraces the prospect of fatherhood, Zoe attempts to rush through her dreams.
Baby Done

It's a tough day for the phone reps at the Time Travel Centre. Charlie is adept at solving time zone problems for her clients, helping one jump from ancient Egypt back to present day Auckland. Cynical colleague Grant is less patient. When Grant sends an unhappy client Charlie's way, a glitch hits the system.
(Time) Travel Centre
Television & Series (24)

The Insiders Guide To Happiness is a New Zealand drama series that explores the lives of a group of six previously unconnected people. Each life is connected by a bizarre car accident, the outcome of which forces them to examine and explore the happiness in their own lives. The series was followed by a prequel, The Insider's Guide To Love, with James the only character in common.
The Insider's Guide To Happiness

Super City was a New Zealand television comedy series starring Madeleine Sami. Season one was directed by Taika Waititi while season two was directed by Oscar Kightley.
Super City

The Jaquie Brown Diaries is a satirical New Zealand sitcom in which real-life television personality Jaquie Brown plays a fictionalised, over-ambitious, status-obsessed version of herself. The series was created by Gerard Johnstone, Jaquie Brown and Hayley Cunningham and premiered 25 July 2008 on TV3. The US cable television channel Logo began broadcasting the series' episodes to date 12 June 2010.
The Jaquie Brown Diaries

Two vastly different female detectives are thrown together to solve the murder of a local man in the sleepy seaside hamlet of Deadloch.
Deadloch

Young lesbian couple Nat and Steph are left dumbfounded when a 'disappointing' trip to the IVF clinic and a 'botched' home insemination job actually leaves both women pregnant.








