Jackie van Beek - Funny As Interview

Jackie van Beek's CV is as impressive as it is long — she's a respected actor, writer, and director across comedy and drama, for stage, television and film. In this Funny As interview, she talks about a plethora of subjects, including:

• Performing with friends Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement, Loren Taylor, Taika Waititi and Jonathan Brugh at the start of her career — "Wellington in the 90s for me was just this hugely creative, liberating period of time"
• How falling in love "overnight" with comedian Jesse Griffin in Melbourne eventually led to making her own films — she directed her first short film in Alice Springs, after leading a clown workshop there for kids
• Loving improvising her dialogue as a vampire groupie in hit movie What We Do in the Shadows, and getting to work again with "dear old friends" Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement
• How job sharing amongst the mainly female crew on comedy feature The Breaker Upperers "felt really good", as people on set were much less stressed
• Finding it "very difficult" to get any acting and directing roles in television for years
• Having her "mind blown" when she watched American movie Bridesmaids, and sensing it marked a new chapter for women in comedy 

This interview was recorded for 2019 TV series Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy. All audiovisual content is copyright to Augusto, and may not be reproduced. Publication of Funny As extended interviews made possible with funding from the NZ Lotteries Grants Board.