On her recent 50th birthday, Miriama Smith wrapped the second season of Dead Ahead in Auckland, drove home to Waihi Beach and rung in the milestone with a hilarious dress-up party at her local hall.
Grinning mischievously, the actress tells Woman’s Day, “The theme was, ‘If Frida Kahlo and Cyndi Lauper had a baby with Prince, you’ve got to come as the love child!’ It was lots of outfits, lots of glitter and lots of fireworks.”
The birthday bash was a fitting beginning to Miriama moving into her sixth decade.
“By the time I headed into this year, I was ready to embrace every opportunity that came my way,” she says. “I’d been through a divorce five years earlier and when I came out the other side, I realised I needed to start grabbing the reins and saying yes to everything.”
It’s why, just over 24 hours after her epic party ended, Miriama and her new love James Kaiwai were winging their way to Palawan in the Philippines for a two-week tropical getaway. “I love Asia, the food and the people,” smiles the former Shortland Street, Filthy Rich and Mercy Peak star.
“I love that they have the simplest existence but always smile and are just so generous in spirit. Add to that the incredible snorkelling, diving and reefs, and it was a dream destination.”
She and James, who first met 36 years ago, when they were both at Tawa College in Porirua, reconnected online just over a year ago.
Miriama recalls, “We were in the same cultural group together because there was a very small percentage of Māori and Pacific Islanders at our school. So when we had our end-of-year group photos for netball, rugby and everything else, it was such a small kapa haka group that they just called it the cultural group, putting all the Polynesians and Māori together!”
Of Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao, Te Arawa and Tūwharetoa descent, the actress adds, “James and I laughed about that when we reconnected. He’d tried to reach out to me one other time and I hadn’t replied to him for whatever reason. But this time round, when we reconnected, it was just meant to be. He’s awesome!”
With James, 51, working in the mines in Australia, the couple meets up in different destinations for fun and adventures.
Miriama says, “Obviously, we don’t have the luxury of popping over to each other’s houses whenever, so it’s been a lot of time just trusting in the process and not doing anything impulsive. It’s been lovely entering a relationship in my fifties, as opposed to my twenties or thirties. I’ve already done the kids thing, I already own a house and I’ve already achieved all these milestones, so there’s not so much agenda in this relationship. It’s beautiful. We can just be who we are, warts and all.”
When Woman’s Day catches up with Miriama, she’s packing for a trip with James to Indonesia’s Komodo Island, where she’s planning to get her open-water diver’s certificate.
“We’d talked about how we could have better experiences together as a couple where we can enjoy quality time, rather than just lying on the beach and drinking cocktails,” she explains. “He said, ‘Why don’t you do your open water and then we can go to diving places around the world?’ I was snorkelling with him before, but it’s that next level of an untouched world that we want to explore.”
Learning to dive is an example of the Dead Ahead star’s commitment to taking herself out of her comfort zone.
“I’ve always had a fear of sharks and of the deep, dark ocean,” she admits. “I was six years old when I was swimming with my brother and there was a bronze whaler like a metre away from us. Mum was on the shore, calling out, “What’s that?!” We looked down and there was a shark right there!”
For Miriama, living her best life in her fifties is also about “simplifying everything”.
She says, “I didn’t want to feel like, ‘Now I’m 50, I’ve gotta do all these things!’ I decided that I’ve fitted so much into my life that this decade is just going to be about everything I do being conscious and intentional.”
That includes reclaiming her ability to say no, “without explaining, without the apology”.
Setting clear boundaries will mean Miriama, who also works as a wedding celebrant, is carving out more space to be with the ones she loves most.
With her 13-year-old son Rauaroha Marychurch recently heading to boarding school, she cherishes the time she and her boy get to spend together.
Miriama smiles, “From day dot, he’s come out and just cruised into the world. He’s very what we call ngāwari – he’s very easy. He has a bit of an old-soul vibe to him and we love hanging out together.”
A longtime yoga devotee, who started teaching after she moved from Auckland to the Bay of Plenty in 2014, Miriama has also recently begun combining restorative ‘This decade is going to be about being conscious and intentional’ yoga with weight training a few times a week to support her body as she goes through menopause.
“I’m so grateful that I’m on a really clear, personalised HRT programme, and I’m so glad that we’re having the conversation so freely and openly. I’m heartbroken for my mum’s generation and those further back who didn’t have anywhere to go for help.”
Like her lawyer character Kiri Wharekoa in the supernatural TVNZ series Dead Ahead, Miriama is from a long line of strong, staunchly independent wāhine. The actress says, “Kiri feels immensely conflicted by the sense of loyalty and love that she has for her whānau but also this resentment that it’s never enough. There’s this obligation, however, she also wants to start carving her own path, not only for herself, but also her family and tamariki.”
Miriama’s proud of how the show has been picked up by Netflix in Aotearoa and Australia. She smiles, “This little project is a proudly Māori lens that has been so accessible to Māori and non-Māori alike. I heard it was one of the most-watched series of last year. I could’ve never foreseen its popularity.
“I live in a fairly gentrified community, but I had everybody stopping me in the street, saying, ‘Please tell me you’re getting a season two!’ We’re talking about viewers from all demographics and all types, and they’re passionate about it. I love that!”
Season two of Dead Ahead is now streaming on TVNZ+.
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