Tash Keddy on first crashing into Shortland Street

Tash Keddy made history in March 2016 as the first transgender actor to play an ongoing transgender role on New Zealand television — joining Shortland Street to play Blue Nathan, a teenager who identifies as a boy. Keddy trained in fine arts at Elam before winning the role. In this short interview and accompanying clip from the show, Keddy recalls Blue's dramatic on-screen arrival in the corridors of the hospital. “I really liked my entry storyline ... Blue came in in this huge bundle of energy and stole stuff and punched someone, and had a scuffle".  

We always seem to be surprising people with our respective complexities, I guess it can be easier for people to just see “gender identity” and not push past that.

– Tash Keddy on playing Blue in an NZ Herald interview, 2016

Key Cast & Crew

Tash Keddy

As: Blue Nathan

Jo Raj

Director - Interview

Laurel Devenie

As: Kate Nathan

Wendy Adams

Sound - Interview

Yves Simard

Camera - Interview