Throng

Weeknights, 7pm

Life as a celebrity in New Zealand isn’t all fast cars and cocktail parties, as some would have you believe. Sure, there’s the odd Paris Hiltonesque face lunching about town with designer sunglasses and a pocket-sized pooch, but as Shortland Street actor Kimberley Crossman tells it, being famous in New Zealand is a different story all together.

"I guess I can't deny that since being on Shortland Street I've become a more recognisable face," Crossman says, "but I wouldn't consider myself famous. Recognition comes with the territory of being on a popular television series - it's part of the job. But the hardest thing for me isn't being stopped in public or having to sign autographs, it is the fact that there's always someone who wants to put you down. Coping with those criticisms can be hard." Getting beamed into the lives and living rooms of hundreds of thousands of homes every weeknight is a pretty big responsibility for the driven actors who are part of the Shortland Street family.
"Being recognised for a skill such as acting in New Zealand means you get the chance to be a role model for younger people," Crossman says. "To be a confident role model you have to be really sure of who you are, which isn't easy when you're 19 and still learning about yourself." But the perks of the job certainly outweigh any negatives, she says.

"You get invited to more than your fair share of great events and have many opportunities to meet talented people from all sorts of fields. I feel really privileged that I get to be on Shortland Street - I'm so lucky I get paid to do something that I love every day."

Playing a core-cast role on New Zealand's leading serial drama means Kimberley Crossman essentially gets to lead a double life - in her case, that of sassy schoolgirl Sophie McKay. While she openly admits that things are on the right track in her own life, her alter ego Sophie is about to go through a somewhat rebellious streak.

Sophie is finding it hard to deal with the fact that her brother Hunter is old enough to drink and party while she's still at high school. "Sophie's quite fond of getting what she wants, so when she hears of a series of illegal dance parties going down, she makes it her prerogative to be there, even if it means telling a few tall stories along the way!"

Shortland Street, 7pm weeknights on TV2.