Ana Scotney

Toi Whakaari graduate Ana Scotney broke out in 2018 with hit movie The Breaker Upperers, playing James Rolleston's intimidating ex-girlfriend, Sepa. Then she joined Shortland Street and improvised comedy Educators, and played the shy Mata in the acclaimed adaptation of Patricia Grace novel Cousins. In 2022 she won praise after starring in director Michelle Savill's debut feature, Millie Lies Low. Scotney played Millie — a student who hides out in Wellington, pretending she is in New York on an internship.  She also acts in Alice Englert's dark comedy Bad Behaviour, and Netflix workplace comedy God's Favourite Idiot. 

From the moment she arrives on-screen, she breaks the laid-back and aggressively quirky film over her knee. You don’t just want to look at her, you need to look at her. She moves and talks in a way that is unashamedly theatrical yet so grounded she’s basically buried neck-deep. It’s no surprise that she’s been hailed as the breakout star of the film. Writer Sam Brooks on Ana Scotney's performance in movie The Breaker Upperers, The Spinoff, 20 June 2018