For almost three decades, Miriama Smith and Claire Chitham have lifted each other up, supporting each other through life’s ups and downs, often while dancing the night away. Their connection was instant when they met as teens on the set of Shortland Street in 1997, although they didn’t share any scenes together.
Miriama, 49, who is of Te Arawa descent, had taken a break from her studies at the University of Waikato to move to Auckland to be on Shorty and she quickly bonded with Claire.
She recalls, “Claire’s always been outspoken. It’s not ambiguous with her – what you see is what you get and I loved that. Because I wasn’t from Auckland, meeting Claire was so refreshing. I saw people kind of ‘blowing smoke’ because they thought you wanted to hear it and I wasn’t used to that because I’m from the street as well.”
Claire, 47, remembers, “When I met her, she was this Ma¯ori princess and I’d never met a lot of royalty. She quickly became my Māori princess and she still is.”
A friendship forged in Auckland’s social scene
She and her then-boyfriend (now ex-husband) Mikey Havoc took Miriama under their wing, introducing her to Auckland’s social scene.
Claire tells, “She was fun to go out with and, like me, was pretty quick to get on the dancefloor, so we had this feeling of family connection from quite early on.”
Miriama’s move to the South of France in 1998 weakened their bond, but in 2003, the friends reunited on stage in Play 2, which they co-wrote with Michelle Langstone and Aidee Walker and which Oliver Driver directed.
Miriama explains, “We got to devise it ourselves, so it was filled with the kind of angst you go through in your twenties.”
Claire adds, “My character had a meth habit!”
Miriama continues, “And I ended up committing suicide. It was dark!”
The reality of the kiwi acting scene
It was a “memorable” experience, says Claire, because it connected her to a bunch of Kiwi actors who are “still here, still surviving, still making film and television, even if we have to have five other jobs because it’s unsustainable otherwise”.
Strangely, though, Claire and Miriama have never shared time on screen… until now!
In the hot new show Kupu X – a short-form series blending TikTok and TV – Miriama and Claire play married couple Jacky and Alice Whitehall, who own a business in the fictional town of Ururangi.
“When they called to offer me the role and said I’d be playing Miriama’s wife, I said yes straightaway,” smiles Claire.
Exploring small-town secrets and the digital world
Miriama also jumped at the chance to star alongside her mate in a show that follows a Gen Z influencer using her social media following to uncover the truth about her mum’s disappearance.
Miriama reflects, “It’s a merging of the digital online world with small-town New Zealand and that’s interesting.”
Given the pair have been friends for 28 years, being intimate with each other came naturally, so they could dive straight into playing a longtime couple.
Claire says, “It was great because we had instant trust. That meant we were just physical instantly – straight into lying all over each other and holding hands. At one point, I even gave Miriama an impromptu foot massage! “We both understand long-term relationships with all their foibles and challenges, so that’s exactly where we went. In committed partnerships, love is love, laced with all these other power plays.”
Co-dependency, challenges, and love
Miriama adds, “Jacky and Alice are not in a happy place in their marriage, but they’re in an entwined life. Their co-dependency was what we talked more about than being lovers.”
Like all good longtime relationships, Claire and Miriama’s off-screen friendship has been forged through inevitable moments of loss and love.
“We’ve both lived lives – we’ve been through divorces, relationship breakdowns and the rest,” says Miriama.
“But when we stepped on to set, we got to have this reunion where everything felt calm. “We don’t do this thing called acting for fame or for money – it’s for the whakawhanaungatanga [nurturing relationships] and the reconnection.”
Kupu X premieres Wednesday on Māori+. For the Suicide Crisis Helpline, phone 0508 TAUTOKO.
