Robyn Malcolm
{{Short description|New Zealand actress}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Robyn Malcolm
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=100%}}
| image = Robyn Malcolm MNZM (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Malcolm in 2019
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1965}}
| birth_place = Ashburton, Canterbury, New Zealand
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1988–present
| relatives = Roger Sutton (brother-in-law)
| website =
}}
Robyn Jane Malcolm {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM}} (born 1965) is a New Zealand actress, who first gained recognition for her role as nurse Ellen Crozier on the soap opera Shortland Street. She is best known for playing Cheryl West, matriarch to a sometimes criminal working-class family, in the television series Outrageous Fortune. She has also worked in Australia, including roles in the TV series Rake and Upper Middle Bogan. She plays the lead role in the six-part 2023 NZ drama After the Party.
Early life and education
Robyn Jane Malcolm{{cite web | title=Mike King, David Tua, Scott Dixon, Robyn Malcolm & more honoured on Queen's Birthday | website= The Rock | date=2 June 2019 | url=https://www.therock.net.nz/home/archive/2019/06/mike-king-david-tua-scott-dixon-robyn-malcolm-more-honoured-on-queens-birthday-.html | access-date=6 May 2024}} was born in 1965{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/3203484/TV-star-tells-why-shes-joined-Greenpeace|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105034404/http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/3203484/TV-star-tells-why-shes-joined-Greenpeace|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 January 2010|title=TV star tells why she's joined Greenpeace|first=Neil|last=Reid|work=Sunday News|date=3 January 2010|access-date=21 June 2010|quote =Malcolm, 44, }}{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10633359|title=TV stars' outrageous sexiness|first=Alice|last=Neville|date=21 March 2010|work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=21 June 2010|quote =45-year-old Malcolm}} in Ashburton, New Zealand.
She attended Ashburton College,{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10585695|title=Celebs go toe-to-toe on smacks|last=Collins|first=Simon |date=21 July 2009|work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=16 February 2010}} and graduated from Toi Whakaari (New Zealand Drama School) with a Diploma in Acting in 1987.{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-job-tour/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502847&objectid=10611852|title=The Job Tour: Movie and acting careers in Wellington|last1=Hughes|first1=Andrew|last2=Wix|first2=Olivia|date=26 November 2009|work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=16 February 2010}}{{Cite web|title=Graduate|url=https://www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/graduate|access-date=2021-08-09|website=www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz}}
Career
Malcolm's first long-running television role was nurse Ellen Crozier in soap opera Shortland Street. She appeared on the show for over five years.{{cite web|title=ROBYN MALCOLM (plays Cheryl West)|url=http://www.tv3.co.nz/Shows/OutrageousFortune/Cast.aspx|work=TV3|publisher=Media Works NZ|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223043519/http://www.tv3.co.nz/Shows/OutrageousFortune/Cast.aspx|archive-date=23 February 2013}}
She played the lead role in television feature, Clare, based on the cervical cancer experiment at Auckland's National Women's Hospital which resulted in the Cartwright Inquiry.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/clare-2000|title=Clare|publisher=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiāhua|access-date=7 May 2024}}
In 1999, Malcolm was one of the founding members of the New Zealand Actors' Company along with Tim Balme, Katie Wolfe, and Simon Bennett. The company produced and toured a number of successful stage productions throughout New Zealand.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/robyn-malcolm/biography|title=Robyn Malcolm|publisher=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiāhua|access-date=7 May 2024}}
In 2005, Malcolm took on the role of Cheryl West, matriarch of the West family, in Outrageous Fortune. Mixing comedy and drama, the show became one of the highest-rated and most honoured in New Zealand history.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/outrageous-fortune-2005/series|title=Outrageous Fortune|publisher=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiāhua|access-date=7 May 2024}}
Malcolm co-starred in 2010 feature film The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell, playing mother to a family obsessed with go-karting and motorsports.{{cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/movie-review-ithe-hopes-and-dreams-of-gazza-snelli/T7B2E6KU47NJBCTBNIIS4O5JUE/|title=Movie Review: The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell|newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |date=27 January 2011|first=Russell|last=Baillie}} She has also had small roles in movies Absent Without Leave directed by John Laing,{{cite web|url=https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F21913/|title=Absent Without Leave|publisher=Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision|access-date=7 May 2024}} The Last Tattoo directed by John Reid,{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-last-tattoo-1994|title=The Last Tattoo|publisher=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiāhua|access-date=7 May 2024}} Gaylene Preston's Perfect Strangers,{{cite web|url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150646118|title=Perfect Strangers (Original)|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=7 May 2024}} and Christine Jeffs' Sylvia.{{cite news|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/113149300/actor-robyn-malcolm-surprised-and-delighted-by-queens-birthday-honour|title=Actor Robyn Malcolm 'surprised and delighted' by Queen's Birthday Honour|publisher=Stuff |date=3 June 2019|first=Grant|last=Smithies}} She had a minor role as Morwen in the second film of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/robyn-malcolm/screenography|title=Robyn Malcolm|publisher=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiāhua|access-date=7 May 2024}}
She played Kirsty Corella in the Australian television series Rake, and Julie Wheeler in Upper Middle Bogan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzwomansweekly.co.nz/celebrity/robyn-malcolms-brave-new-world/|title = Robyn Malcolm's brave new world| date=27 January 2013 }}
She plays Mrs Keene on the 2023 drama series Black Bird.{{cite news|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/300635508/huge-energy-robyn-malcolm-pays-tribute-to-late-black-bird-star-ray-liotta|title='Huge energy': Robyn Malcolm pays tribute to late Black Bird star Ray Liotta|publisher=Stuff |date=15 July 2022|first=David|last=Skipwith}}
Malcolm plays the lead role in the six-part drama After the Party, which aired on TVNZ from 29 October 2023.{{cite web | last=Greive | first=Duncan | title=Review: After the Party is queasy, morally complex and NZ's best TV drama in years | website=The Spinoff | date=25 October 2023 | url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/25-10-2023/review-after-the-party-is-queasy-morally-complex-and-nzs-best-tv-drama-in-years | access-date=28 April 2024}} The Guardian reviewer Luke Buckmaster called it "one of the greatest performances in any TV show in years".{{cite web | last=Buckmaster | first=Luke | title=After the Party review – one of the greatest performances in any TV show in years | website= The Guardian | date=29 April 2024 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/29/after-the-party-review-tv-series-robyn-malcolm-abc | access-date=5 May 2024}}
On 31 January 2025, Malcolm was named in the cast for Netflix series The Survivors.{{Cite web |last=Knox |first=David |date=2025-01-31 |title=Cast announced for The Survivors {{!}} TV Tonight |url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2025/01/cast-announced-for-the-survivors.html |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=tvtonight.com.au |language=en-AU}}
Recognition, awards, and honours
Malcolm was nominated for Best Actress at the 1998 TV Guide Television Awards for her work in Shortland Street. She was nominated again for her role in Clare.{{cn|date=May 2024}}
In 2003, Malcolm won an International Actors Fellowship at the Globe Theatre in London.{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=3503230|title=Artists take their talent to the world|date=22 May 2003|work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=16 February 2010}}
For her role in Outrageous Fortune, Malcolm won several television awards, including the Qantas TV Awards for Best Actress in 2005 and 2008, TV Guide Best Actress in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and Air NZ Screen Awards Best Actress in 2007.{{cn|date=May 2024}}
Malcolm won the Woman's Day Readers' Choice Award for Favourite New Zealand Female Personality in 2005, and New Zealand's sexiest woman at the 2007 TV Guide Best on the Box awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/4011|title=Westie named NZ's sexiest woman |date=15 November 2007|work=Stuff |access-date=16 February 2010}}
In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Malcolm was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to television and theatre.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2019 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2019 |date=3 June 2019 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=3 June 2019}}
In March 2024 she was honoured with a Best Actress accolade at the Series Mania film festival in Lille, France. She received this prestigious award in the International Panorama section for her outstanding performance in After the Party, a series she co-created with writer Dianne Taylor. This recognition marked a significant milestone as the first time a New Zealand entry had been considered for an award at the festival.{{cite news|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512529/robyn-malcolm-takes-out-best-actress-gong-at-france-film-festival|title=Robyn Malcolm takes out best actress gong at France film festival|publisher=Radio New Zealand |date=24 March 2024}}
Filmography
= Films =
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+ ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
| 1992
! scope="row" | Absent Without Leave | Betty | |
| 1994
! scope="row" | The Last Tattoo | Working girl | |
| 2002
! scope="row" | {{sortname|The|Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers}} | Morwen | |
| 2003
! scope="row" | Perfect Strangers | Aileen | |
| 2003
! scope="row" | Sylvia | 1st woman at Ted Hughes' lecture | |
| 2005
! scope="row" | Boogeyman | Dr. Matheson | |
| 2009
! scope="row" | {{sortname|The|Lovely Bones|The Lovely Bones (film)}} | Foreman's wife | uncredited |
| 2010
! scope="row" | {{sortname|The|Hopes & Dreams of Gazza Snell|nolink=1}} | Gail Snell | |
| 2011
! scope="row" | Burning Man | Kathryn Dent | |
| 2013
! scope="row" | Drift | Kat Kelly | |
| 2015
! scope="row" | Dream Baby | Marianne | Short film |
| 2016
! scope="row" | Edith | Barmaid | Short film |
| 2017
! scope="row" | Goodness Grows Here | Trish | Short film |
| 2017
! scope="row" | Hostiles | Minnie McGowan | |
| 2018
! scope="row" |Twenty One Points |Mum |Short film |
| 2018
! scope="row" |Charmer |Woman |Short film |
| 2020
! scope="row" |This Town |Pam | |
| 2024
! scope="row" |The Moon Is Upside Down |Hilary |{{cite web |title=The Moon is Upside Down |url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/moon-upside-down |publisher=New Zealand Film Commission |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517213414/https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/moon-upside-down |archive-date=17 May 2024 |url-status=live}} |
| 2025
! scope="row" | Pike River |Sonya Rockhouse |
| class="wikitable"
|+Key | style="background:#FFFFCC;"| {{dagger|alt=Films that have not yet been released}} |Denotes films that have not yet been released |
= Television =
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col"| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes |
| 1989
! scope="row" | Shark in the Park | Janice | Guest role (1 episode) |
| 1990–91
! scope="row" | Shark in the Park | Janet Finn | Guest role (2 episodes) |
| 1992
! scope="row" | Married | Maddie | |
| 1993
! scope="row" | Joyful & Triumphant | Raewyn | Television film |
| 1994–99
! scope="row" | Shortland Street | Main role (600 episodes) |
| 1999
! scope="row" |{{sortname|The|Tribe|The Tribe (1999 TV series)}} | Ma'am | Guest role (1 episode) |
| 2000
! scope="row" | Clare | Clare Matheson | Television film |
| 2000
! scope="row" | Op' Stars | Narrator | Television documentary |
| 2001
! scope="row" | Atlantis High | Violet Profusion | Guest role (1 episode) |
| 2003
! scope="row" | Mercy Peak | Liz | Guest role (2 episodes) |
| 2003
! scope="row" | Intrepid Journeys | Herself | 1 episode |
| 2004
! scope="row" | Serial Killers | Pauline | Lead role (7 episodes) |
| 2005–10
! scope="row" | Outrageous Fortune | Lead role |
| 2009
! scope="row" | bro'Town | Herself | 1 episode |
| 2009
! scope="row" | Big Night In | Herself | Television special |
| 2009
! scope="row" | The Jaquie Brown Diaries | Herself | Guest (1 episode) |
| 2010–14
! scope="row" | Rake | Kirsty Corella | Recurring role (11 episodes) |
| 2013
! scope="row" | Top of the Lake | Anita | Main role (series 1; 7 episodes) |
| 2013–14
! scope="row" | Agent Anna | Anna Kingston | Lead role; also executive producer |
| 2013–16
! scope="row" | Upper Middle Bogan | Julie Wheeler | Main role |
| 2014
! scope="row" | Charlotte: A Life Without Limbs | Presenter | Television documentary |
| 2015
! scope="row" | {{sortname|The|Brokenwood Mysteries|The Brokenwood Mysteries}} | Ruth Phelps | Episode: "To Die or Not to Die" |
| 2015
! scope="row" | The Principal | Sonya | Guest role (1 episode) |
| 2016–18
! scope="row" | Wanted | Donna Walsh | Recurring role (10 episodes) |
| 2016
! scope="row" | The Code | Marina Baxter | Main role (series 2: 6 episodes) |
| 2017
! scope="row" | Wake in Fright | Ursula Hynes | miniseries |
| 2018–21
! scope="row" | Harrow | Maxine Pavich | Main role |
| 2018
! scope="row" |Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You |Irene Newton-John |miniseries |
| 2018–19
! scope="row" | The Outpost | Elinor | Main role (season 1–2: 23 episodes) |
| 2021
! scope="row" | My Life is Murder | Tamara Innes | Episode : "Call of the Wild" |
| 2022
! scope="row" | Black Bird | Sammy Keen | Recurring role |
| rowspan="2" | 2023
! scope="row" | Far North | Heather | Main role (season 1) |
| scope="row" | After the Party
| Penny Wilding | Main role |
|---|
| 2024
! scope="row" | Heartbreak High | Cait White | Guest role (Season 2, Episode 5) |
| 2025
|Verity Elliott |TV series |
| class="wikitable"
|+Key | style="background:#FFFFCC;"| {{dagger|alt=Television series that have not yet been aired}} |Denotes television series that have not yet been aired |
Theatre
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year || Title || Role || Theatre | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | {{sortname|The|Threepenny Opera}} | Lucy Brown | Downstage Theatre |
| 1988 | {{sortname|The|Rivers of China|nolink=1}} | Various | Downstage Theatre |
| 1988 | Les Liaisons Dangereuses | Cecile de Valonges | Downstage Theatre |
| 1988 | Judy | Various | Downstage Theatre |
| 1988 | Jones & Jones | Ida Baker | Downstage Theatre |
| 1988 | Gulls | Puppeteer | Downstage Theatre |
| 1989 | Twelfth Night | Viola | BATS Theatre |
| 1989 | The House of Bernarda Alba | Martirio | Downstage Theatre |
| 1989 | Othello | Bianca | Downstage Theatre |
| 1989 | Aunt Daisy | Various | Downstage Theatre |
| 1990 | Sweet Nothings | Various | NZ Tour |
| 1990 | Serious Money | Mary Lou Baines / Various | Downstage Theatre |
| 1990 | Macbeth | Ross / Hecate | Downstage Theatre |
| 1990 | Hamlet | Ophelia | BATS Theatre |
| 1990 | The End of the Golden Weather | Various | Downstage Theatre |
| 1990 | Conquest of the South Pole | La Braukman | BATS Theatre |
| 1991 | Weed | Raewyn | Circa Theatre |
| 1991 | Via Satellite | Chrissy | Circa Theatre |
| 1991 | {{sortname|The|Importance of Being Earnest}} | Cecily Cardew | Downstage Theatre |
| 1991 | Songs for Uncle Scrim | Various | Circa Theatre |
| 1991 | A Pack of Girls | Raewyn | Downstage Theatre |
| 1993 | Two Weeks with the Queen | Various | Circa Theatre |
| 1993 | Lettice and Lovage | Miss Farmer | Circa Theatre |
| 1995 | Othello | Emilia | Watershed Theatre |
| 1999 | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | Downstage Theatre |
| 2000 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Maggie the Cat | Downstage Theatre |
| 2000 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania | NZ Actors Company |
| 2001 | A Way of Life | Jenny | NZ Actors Company |
| 2001 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania | NZ Actors Company |
| 2002 | Middle-Age Spread | Judy | Auckland Theatre Company |
| 2002 | Queen Leah | Kent / Caius | NZ Actors Company |
| 2005 | {{sortname|The|Duchess of Malfi}} | Cariolla | Auckland Theatre Company |
| 2007 | {{sortname|The|Cut|The Cut (play)}} | Susan | Silo Theatre |
| 2010 | Happy Days | Winnie | Silo Theatre |
| 2014 | The Good Person of Szechwan | Shen Teh | Auckland Theatre Company |
Personal life
Malcolm was formerly married to Allan Clark and has two sons.{{cite web |url=http://www.nzwomansweekly.co.nz/celebrities/celeb-stories/fortune-favours-brave/story/4103199/ |title=Robyn Malcolm's double life |work=New Zealand Woman's Weekly |first=Fiona |last=Fraser |date=16 August 2010 |access-date=26 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724193634/http://www.nzwomansweekly.co.nz/celebrities/celeb-stories/fortune-favours-brave/story/4103199/ |archive-date=24 July 2011 |df=dmy-all }} She is in a relationship with Scottish actor Peter Mullan, whom she met while filming Top of the Lake in 2013.{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Zoe |date=25 November 2024 |title='Cosmetic surgery is screwing up the industry': Peter Mullan and Robyn Malcolm on their stunning midlife drama |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/nov/25/cosmetic-surgery-is-screwing-up-the-industry-peter-mullan-and-robyn-malcolm-on-their-stunning-midlife-drama |access-date=29 November 2024 |work=The Guardian }} Her sister is married to Roger Sutton, the former CEO of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority.{{cite news|last=Hampton |first=Jeff |title=Unconventional lines man appointed new quake boss|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Unconventional-lines-man-appointed-new-quake-boss/tabid/423/articleID/210898/Default.aspx|access-date=12 May 2011|newspaper=TV3 News}}
=Activism=
Malcolm voiced Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand advertisements for the New Zealand general election, 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/659622|title=Future focus at Green campaign launch |date=5 October 2008|work=Stuff |access-date=16 February 2010}}
Malcolm has helped spearhead an actors' union campaign to negotiate standard contracts for actors in The Hobbit films. The producers refused, saying that collective bargaining would be considered price-fixing and therefore illegal under New Zealand law. The situation escalated into international calls for an actors' boycott of the films, but the boycott was called off. Several days later, the producers said they were considering moving the films to another country as they could not be guaranteed stability in New Zealand.{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10682048 |title=Hobbit loss 'potential tragedy for NZ film' |author=Paul Harper, Derek Cheng and Amelia Wade |date=21 October 2010 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=5 November 2011}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0539137}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/cheryl-me/|publisher=New Zealand Listener|title=Cheryl and me|first=Diana|last=Wichtel|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130703161445/http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/cheryl-me/|archive-date=3 July 2013|date=28 July 2007}}
- [http://www.johnsonlaird.com/actors/Robyn_Malcolm Biography at Johnson and Laird]
- [http://www.nzonscreen.com/person/robyn-malcolm Robyn's profile] and [http://screentalk.nzonscreen.com/interviews/robyn-malcolm ScreenTalk interview] August 2009. Requires Flash video software (53.6 MB).
{{navboxes
|title=Awards for Robyn Malcolm
|list1=
{{EquityAward TVComedyCast 2010–2019}}
{{EquityAward TVDramaCast}}
{{EquityAward TVMiniSeriesTeleMovieCast 2010–2019}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Malcolm, Robyn}}
Category:New Zealand film actresses
Category:New Zealand television actresses
Category:New Zealand soap opera actresses
Category:People from Ashburton, New Zealand
Category:20th-century New Zealand actresses
Category:21st-century New Zealand actresses