Photography: Phillip Castleton.
If there was ever a way for an Australian to earn honorary Kiwi status, landing a role on Shortland Street would surely be it. For Aussie actress Emma Leonard, who first fell in love with Aotearoa while filming 800 Words, joining the cast of the iconic soap felt like making it official.
“It’s a real badge of honour to be on Shorty,” says Emma, who plays bad girl Mickey Hudson.
“And I love being back in New Zealand so much. It’s like a second home. It’s the people, the nature, the coffee… Sorry to my Aussie baristas, but there’s something about Kiwi coffee!”
Emma, 40, is talking to Woman’s Day over Zoom from her home in Sydney and it’s been quite a year. She celebrated her milestone birthday in February with an unforgettable trip to Thailand, ringing in her new decade surrounded by baby elephants at a sanctuary. And while she admits she’d been dreading turning 40, the reality has been surprisingly liberating.
“As soon as it happened, I had this sense that I was at the beginning of a new decade and it actually feels really fun. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot, and I can actually let go of a lot of the baggage from the past and step into this new decade with no expectations.”
Making long distance work
Commuting between Auckland and Australia has meant stints of long-distance love with her husband Conor Nix, but the couple has become used to this unpredictable and unstructured side of life with Emma’s in-demand acting career.
“We missed each other a lot,” she admits.
“Long distance is hard, but it does mean that you get these lovely little weekends together. Conor would come over to New Zealand and I’d show him my favourite spots. “We went to Raglan and stayed on a beautiful little glamping place, where there were alpacas. We went to some waterfalls and it really was beautiful.”
Emma says taking on the role of Mickey was too good an opportunity to pass up. She has loved embodying the Aussie bad girl, who made a scene the moment
she arrived.
“She’s kind of violent, but she really stands up for the sisterhood. And I love that about her. It was really fun to play a character like that, who’s bold, violent and raw but for a really good cause. “Maybe it’s what we all have lurking inside us – that desire to give it to the patriarchy. I found it cathartic.”
A labour of love
Landing a role on Shorty isn’t the only exciting thing on Emma’s 2026 agenda. Her film Zombucha!, which she wrote, produced and stars in, has finally made its way into the world. In fact, she and Conor have recently returned from London, where it was screened at the prestigious Raindance Film Festival.
The zombie comedy follows an aspirational millennial couple who, while wrestling with the age-old question of kids vs career, become the unwitting custodians of
a sentient strain of kombucha.
“It’s been so exciting,” says Emma, who first started work on the screenplay almost eight years ago.
“I do feel proud because so much goes into something like this. It’s been a huge labour of love.”
The film will arrive in New Zealand next month and features a host of Kiwi talent, including Jackie van Beek, Michelle Langstone and Ryan O’Kane, who plays her character Maddie’s partner.
“We just have the same sense of humour,” she says of the Kiwi connection.
And while Zombucha! might technically be a zombie film, Emma says at its heart, it’s a story about love – and a couple reaching a crossroads as they try to work out whether they want to start a family.
Life at a crossroads
It’s a storyline she can relate to more than ever.
“There’s something really universal about that feeling of being at a crossroads and asking yourself, ‘What do I want my life to look like?’ “And yeah, Conor and I are in the same boat. We’ve gotten married and we’re having those discussions at the moment, so it’s yet to be seen where our path will take us.”
No matter what lies in store, Emma is endlessly grateful to the man she calls “my rock”. Conor, who works in property development, offers a calm stability to the unpredictable nature of her career and allows her to continue her creative life. She can’t imagine doing it without him.
Emma explains, “For creatives, when you’re in a relationship with someone that’s in a different industry, it really requires them to have an open mind and understand the different rhythms of your life – how transient and tumultuous it can be. “Conor really is my rock. He gives me that stability and he’s always backing me. I’m so lucky.”
Shortland Street screens 7pm Monday to Wednesday on TVNZ 2 and streams on TVNZ+.
Zombucha! is in cinemas 19 November.
