Anna Jullienne
Encyclopedia
Anna Jullienne Kermode is a New Zealand
actress, best known for her role as Nurse Maia Jefferies in the television series Shortland Street
. Maia is a beautiful and talented young nurse who happens to be a lesbian
. The character has a strong cult following
and had a long term relationship with Jay Copeland (played by Jaime Passier-Armstrong) before her death.
, Julius Caesar
and Anything Goes
, and she won several awards, including the 1999 NZ Young Performer of the Year, 1st prize in the 1999 Auckland National Independent Schools Speech Competition, and 1st prize in the Auckland Drama Championship at the North Shore Performing Arts Festival. In 2007, she won the Air New Zealand Screen Award for Performance by a Supporting Actress, for her role on Shortland Street.
Jullienne holds an ATCL Teacher Practical Certificate from the Trinity College of London Drama Examination, and studied camera technique under Jan Saussey. She is fluent in French
and Japanese
.
Her professional career started during her time at the University of Auckland
with roles in Mercy Peak
and Secret Agent Men, and she put her studies (a BA in English and Film and TV) on hold to take up her first major dramatic screen role on Shortland Street
. She took a six month break from filming Shortland Street from October 2007 and left the show in late 2010 with Maia's last scene airing 9 February 2011.
came into effect in New Zealand, which allowed both heterosexual and homosexual couples to register their relationships officially as an alternative to traditional marriage. On 14 February 2006, the first Civil Union on New Zealand television took place between Maia and Jay.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
actress, best known for her role as Nurse Maia Jefferies in the television series Shortland Street
Shortland Street
Shortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in...
. Maia is a beautiful and talented young nurse who happens to be a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
. The character has a strong cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
and had a long term relationship with Jay Copeland (played by Jaime Passier-Armstrong) before her death.
Career
Jullienne attended Corran School for Girls, and was active in drama, with lead roles in productions of AmadeusAmadeus
Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...
, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
, and she won several awards, including the 1999 NZ Young Performer of the Year, 1st prize in the 1999 Auckland National Independent Schools Speech Competition, and 1st prize in the Auckland Drama Championship at the North Shore Performing Arts Festival. In 2007, she won the Air New Zealand Screen Award for Performance by a Supporting Actress, for her role on Shortland Street.
Jullienne holds an ATCL Teacher Practical Certificate from the Trinity College of London Drama Examination, and studied camera technique under Jan Saussey. She is fluent in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
.
Her professional career started during her time at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
with roles in Mercy Peak
Mercy Peak
Mercy Peak was a New Zealand drama television series that ran for three seasons on TV One between 2001 and 2004.-Cast:*Sara Wiseman as Nicky Somerville*Jeffrey Thomas as William Kingsley...
and Secret Agent Men, and she put her studies (a BA in English and Film and TV) on hold to take up her first major dramatic screen role on Shortland Street
Shortland Street
Shortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in...
. She took a six month break from filming Shortland Street from October 2007 and left the show in late 2010 with Maia's last scene airing 9 February 2011.
Controversy
Jullienne's on screen lesbian relationship with Jay Copeland (Jaime Passier-Armstrong) has been controversial, although the overall response has been positive. On 26 April 2005, the Civil Union ActCivil Union Act 2004
The Civil Union Act 2004 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand. It was passed into law on Thursday 9 December 2004 by a final vote of 65-55 in the New Zealand Parliament....
came into effect in New Zealand, which allowed both heterosexual and homosexual couples to register their relationships officially as an alternative to traditional marriage. On 14 February 2006, the first Civil Union on New Zealand television took place between Maia and Jay.