Photography: Bernadette Peters.
Whether she’s playing a Māori woman in Victorian England or a prostitute in modern-day Aotearoa, rising actress Ariāna Osborne is one to watch. When Woman’s Day catches up with the 29-year-old on the eve of the premiere of her new film Mārama, the Madam star reveals she’s making plans to move overseas later this year
Ariāna will most likely relocate first to Australia, before eventually making her way to the US to try her luck in Hollywood.
“It’s a small market here and I just want to keep working,” she explains.
“I thought I’d move overseas sooner as we always travelled when I was growing up, but because I have this new relationship with te reo Māori, I want to ground myself in that first.”
She has her lead role as Mary in the brooding gothic revenge horror Mārama to thank for kickstarting her reo journey – an experience made easier thanks to the fact she attended school in Japan and learnt the language while living over there with her dad, All Blacks legend Glen Osborne. She also picked up some French while her father, 54, now a policeman, was playing in France.
“I only had a few weeks to prepare for Mārama – to do the pre-production, learn the scenes, the stunts and the English dialect, as well as reo lessons – so I guess I was thrown in the deep end,” grins Ariāna, who is of Ngāti Mutunga and Te Āti Haunui- a-Pāpārangi descent.
Finding joy in te reo
“This time, I wasn’t scared and actually became really excited. I used to be kind of shy to use kupu [words], feeling like I should already know the language to prove myself as being Māori, but when it was coming from a place of joy, not shame, I stopped feeling angry.”
After mastering the basics with the help of one of Mārama’s Māori language and culture producers, Ngahuia Kopa, she still felt keen to learn more and has stayed on in Aotearoa to join her Tangata Pai co-stars for a conversational te reo course to improve her fluency.
Building strength for the screen
But Ariāna hasn’t stopped at mastering a new language. Mārama has also taught her to take better care of herself. To prep for the intensity of the five-week shoot, which took place in Auckland and Dunedin, Ariāna worked with screen legend Miriama McDowell to create a solid self-care routine in order to recover from the rage-filled scenes she was filming daily.
Ariaāna tells, “When we met, I asked her what I should do to take care of myself. I knew I only had one day off filming, and the shoot was going to be long and emotionally draining. I get rundown very easily, so I was mindful about not getting sick.”
Spiritual by nature, Ariāna’s routine revolved around tikanga (traditional customs) and healthy habits.
Grounding herself in Karakia
“I would do a karakia in the morning and at night,” she says.
“And I had these stones I was gifted from the costume and makeup team – there was a crystal and one stone from the South Island, which I carried with me on set everywhere, even in the pocket of my costumes. “I’d just hold them and imagine that’s where all the energy was coming from, then at the end of the day, I’d leave the stones behind on set. Holding the rocks was definitely spiritual for me and being spiritual is a similarity I share with Mary.”
Ariāna also created specific music playlists that she’d listen to before she got to work and when she left.
She explains, “That’s probably the one thing I do on every shoot.”
Honouring Tikanga
In keeping with tikanga, water was provided on set for everyone to cleanse themselves at the end of each day and Ariāna would shower when she got home to “physically tap out”.
Miriama also encouraged the young actress to take care of her wellbeing by downing a turmeric and ginger vitamin shot daily, putting probiotic powder in her smoothie and getting a massage each weekend.
All this helped Ariāna absorb the fierce anger that engulfs her character Mary as she learns of the fate of her whānau and seeks utu (revenge) on the colonisers.
Finding Mary through Whanganui
“Mary was raised in Whanganui, which is where I’m from too, and I did a lot of research about the experience of Māori women in the 1850s to get to know the character.”
Travelling to film festival screenings of Mārama in Toronto and Hawai’i was Ariāna’s first chance to rub shoulders with Hollywood stars, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as well as meet other indigenous actors, writers and filmmakers. The experience has left a lasting impression on her and she reveals she’d love to direct one day.
Stories that resonate across cultures
“When we screened Mārama at those festivals, there were people in the audience who had also experienced colonisation in their own cultures,” she recalls.
“I was surprised by how touched and addicted they were to what they were watching. It’s reminded me that this is such a universal experience.”
After this Tuesday’s New Zealand premiere, Mārama opens in cinemas nationwide on 12 February.
