22 Facts About Jennifer Ward-Lealand

Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand was born on 8 November 1962 and is a New Zealand theatre and film actor, director, teacher and intimacy coordinator.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand has worked for 40 years, appearing in over 120 theatre performances: Greek, Shakespeare, drama, comedy, devised, and musical theatre.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand has an older sister, Diana Mary Ward-Pickering and a half brother Simcha Lindt.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand sought opportunities to develop her theatre skills with roles at Downstage Youth Theatre.

Work followed between the venues of Theatre Corporate, Centrepoint Theatre and Mercury Theatre, with the latter offering opportunities to develop a classic cabaret repertoire showcasing Jennifer Ward-Lealand performing songs by Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Stephen Sondheim and Kurt Weill.

Directly after leaving drama school, Jennifer Ward-Lealand appeared in the short-lived TV drama Seekers, before her breakthrough television role in "Danny and Raewyn", an episode from the About Face series.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand then went on to perform in the show, "The One that Got Away" throughout New Zealand followed by performances in London, Edinburgh, New York, Minneapolis and Philadelphia.

Brel: The Words and Music of Jaques Brel is a 2012 Silo Theatre show with Jacques Brel songs that Jennifer Ward-Lealand was in along with Julia Deans, Tama Waipara and John Toogood directed by Michael Hurst and Leon Radojkovic.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand was a founding board member of Watershed Theatre and a co-founder of the Large Group and the drama school, The Actors' Program.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand is a Patron of Q Theatre, Te Manu Tioriori Trust and serves as a trust board member of The New Zealand Actors Benevolent Fund.

An advocate for improving actors' working conditions and pay, Jennifer Ward-Lealand has been President of Equity New Zealand since 2007.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand is a patron of Theatre New Zealand, New Zealand's amateur theatre society central body.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand has made frequent guest appearances in The Basement's Christmas comedies, whether playing Helen Clark or Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Outside of her performing, directing and intimacy work, Jennifer Ward-Lealand does speaking engagements, teaching, voiceovers and narrations.

Since 2008, Jennifer Ward-Lealand has been a student in te reo the language of New Zealand's indigenous Maori people.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand has directed Aroha Awarau's scripts, such as Exclusive in 2020.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand took on screen direction of the short film Disrupt about drug addiction in Aotearoa, ending with a message of hope and redemption.

Gifted the title Te Atamira, Jennifer Ward-Lealand has been involved in over 120 performances.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand has directed a significant range of theatre performances, working first in 2002 with Unitec acting students in a production of The Big River.

In 2017 Jennifer Ward-Lealand was gifted the name Te Atamira by Sir Timoti Karetu and the late Prof Te Wharehuia Milroy.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre, film and television and for her advocacy for actors' working conditions and pay in the 2019 New Year Honours, and in the same year won the New Zealand Women of Influence Award in the Arts and Culture section.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand won the New Zealander of the Year Award in 2020, being recognised for her dedication to performing arts and her commitment and passion for te reo Maori.