Outrageous Fortune: A modern morality tale…

Interview – 2013

Outrageous Fortune ran for six seasons, and lodged itself in New Zealand pop culture forever. The series tells the story of Cheryl West and her attempts to turn her Westie family away from a life of crime. A ratings hit for TV3, Outrageous Fortune proved that Kiwi television drama could definitively hold its own against overseas productions.

This special edition of ScreenTalk brings together memories from some of the key players on the beloved show. Among those appearing are Outrageous Fortune co-creators Rachel Lang and James Griffin, director Mark Beesley and producer/director Simon Bennett.

The actors stepping up to talk about the show — and their characters — are Robyn Malcolm, Tammy Davis, Siobhan Marshall, Antonia Prebble, Antony Starr and Sara Wiseman.

Press on any of the links above to check out the full, original interviews. NZ On Screen also has further Outrageous-related content on the right of the screen — including the very first episode, and talks with actors Hori Ahipene, David Fane, Aaron Jeffery, and Kirk Torrance, writer/actor Tim Balme, executive John Barnett, producer John Laing, and directors Vanessa Alexander and Murray Keane.

This video was first uploaded on 26 August 2013, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera – Andrew Whiteside & James Coleman; Editing – Andrew Whiteside

. . .I didn't want the audience to feel scared of it. I also wanted it to be rude enough, and outrageous enough, that . . . people would have to watch it, and talk about it. I really wanted to bust through that kind of cultural cringe where people didn't feel like they had to watch New Zealand drama because it was good for you, but just because it was going to be fun.
– Outrageous Fortune co-creator Rachel Lang