Vanessa Stacey
Encyclopedia
Vanessa Stacey is a New Zealand
film, television and stage actress as well as a former playwright
, comedienne and musician
. Best known as Alice in the New Zealand
cult science fiction series The Tribe and as Brenda Blue in the British children's television show Jay Jay the Jet Plane
, she also had roles in the first and third parts of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King
.
and the 1988 fantasy-adventure film Willow
. She became involved with community theatre groups, debating teams and theatre sports groups during high school as well as performing in a number of school choirs. Stacey also joined her first band during this time, recording several cover songs, and began performing at local nightclubs the following year.
After her graduation, Stacey became a hairdresser at Ali Barbers and eventually started her own salon, Absolutely Fabulous Hair Design, in 1995. That same year, she joined Hagley Theatre Company where she remained a regular cast member for over two years and acted in various stage productions including Charlotte's Web
, Animal Farm
and The Cherry Orchard
. Appearing in Heavenly Creatures
(1994) and The Frighteners
(1995) during this time, she decided to become a full time actress and closed her salon after 8 months.
Stacey attended the Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School
receiving a diploma in directing performance art
and a certificate in jazz theory and performance. She spent a year touring New Zealand with several Jazz and Blues bands before moving to Wellington in 1996. Within three weeks, she appeared in one of the leading role in The Young And Hungry Festival giving the freelance actress her first breakout role.
Stacey then wrote and directed the one act play, Work in Progress, which ran for three seasons. She spent the next year or so performing in the Wellington-area, including guest starring on the comedy television show Pulp Comedy, before she was cast with Jennyfer Jewell (Ellie) as Alice in the longrunning teen drama series The Tribe. Although the two were initially brought in for a one time appearance, the characters proved so popular that Cloud 9 brought them back as regular cast members during the second and third seasons. Stacy's appearance in particular, according to a viewer pool by Channel 5, the episode was the highest ever received for a guest star. In 2001, she and other cast members performing on the spin-off album Abe Messiah, providing backup vocals for "Banging The Drum" and "Beep Beep".
On April 14, 2001, Stacey also made a special appearance on Channel 5's teen block The Core as part of a Tribe promotional tour in the United Kingdom
. Her appearance led to several other appearances on Channel 5 including hosting the Channel 5 Road Show in the summer of that year in which she performed an 8 minute stand up comedy routine. However, Stacy before more recognizable as Brenda Blue in the children's television show Jay Jay The Jet Plane
in which she played Brenda Blue a lady who kept and maintained the working of her jet planes.
While in London, she was also involved in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
providing the voiceover
for one of the hobbit
children in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. She also filmed a number of scenes for the film, most notably appearing as one of the guest hobbits at the 111th Birthday party of hobbit Bilbo Baggins
, although her scenes were cut from the final film. In December 2001, she attended the London premiere of Fellowship of the Rings with Elijah Wood
, Liv Tyler
, Orlando Bloom
and Ian McKellen
. She later appeared on screen as a minor character in a scene with Frodo
in the third and final part of the series The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
.
Stacey spent the next two years teaching music and drama and working part-time as a hairdresser while in London. She also directed several television programs for the BBC
before returning to New Zealand in 2003.
She and several other former cast members returned for the season five finale, but the show was cancelled before the sixth season began filming. Following the show's cancellation, she was involved in the spin-off series The New Tomorrow
as an acting and voice coach. Former cast member Caleb Ross
(Lex) also worked as a foley artist
on the show.
In 2005, Stacy had a guest appearance in the Hercules
television miniseries and, the next year, appeared in a supporting role in Robert Sarkies
's drama Out of the Blue
.
She is currently a singer of the group Whiskey and Sly.
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...
film, television and stage actress as well as a former playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, comedienne and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. Best known as Alice in the New Zealand
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...
cult science fiction series The Tribe and as Brenda Blue in the British children's television show Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Jay Jay the Jet Plane is an American CGI children's television series based at the fictional Tarrytown Airport. It has about 60 episodes and it is aimed at ages 2-6. The characters are talking airplanes, a helicopter, some humans, and two talking ground vehicles...
, she also had roles in the first and third parts of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
.
Biography
Vanessa Stacey was born in Invercargill, New Zealand. At the age of 7, she and her older brother Martin appeared as film extras with her father, a stuntman, in the 1982 post-apocalyptic film Battle TruckWarlords of the 21st Century
Warlords of the 21st Century is a science fiction film starring Michael Beck....
and the 1988 fantasy-adventure film Willow
Willow (film)
Willow is a 1988 American fantasy film directed by Ron Howard and produced/co-written by George Lucas. Warwick Davis stars in the film, as well as Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, and Patricia Hayes...
. She became involved with community theatre groups, debating teams and theatre sports groups during high school as well as performing in a number of school choirs. Stacey also joined her first band during this time, recording several cover songs, and began performing at local nightclubs the following year.
After her graduation, Stacey became a hairdresser at Ali Barbers and eventually started her own salon, Absolutely Fabulous Hair Design, in 1995. That same year, she joined Hagley Theatre Company where she remained a regular cast member for over two years and acted in various stage productions including Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.The novel tells the story...
, Animal Farm
Animal Farm
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
and The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
. Appearing in Heavenly Creatures
Heavenly Creatures
Heavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
(1994) and The Frighteners
The Frighteners
The Frighteners is a 1996 comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with his wife, Fran Walsh. The film's cast includes Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey and Chi McBride...
(1995) during this time, she decided to become a full time actress and closed her salon after 8 months.
Stacey attended the Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School
Toi Whakaari
Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's National Drama School. It is located in Wellington, New Zealand Toi Whakaari offers training in Acting, Directing, Costume Construction, Entertainment Technology, Performing Arts Management and Design for Stage & Screen.The School offers the following...
receiving a diploma in directing performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
and a certificate in jazz theory and performance. She spent a year touring New Zealand with several Jazz and Blues bands before moving to Wellington in 1996. Within three weeks, she appeared in one of the leading role in The Young And Hungry Festival giving the freelance actress her first breakout role.
Stacey then wrote and directed the one act play, Work in Progress, which ran for three seasons. She spent the next year or so performing in the Wellington-area, including guest starring on the comedy television show Pulp Comedy, before she was cast with Jennyfer Jewell (Ellie) as Alice in the longrunning teen drama series The Tribe. Although the two were initially brought in for a one time appearance, the characters proved so popular that Cloud 9 brought them back as regular cast members during the second and third seasons. Stacy's appearance in particular, according to a viewer pool by Channel 5, the episode was the highest ever received for a guest star. In 2001, she and other cast members performing on the spin-off album Abe Messiah, providing backup vocals for "Banging The Drum" and "Beep Beep".
On April 14, 2001, Stacey also made a special appearance on Channel 5's teen block The Core as part of a Tribe promotional tour in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Her appearance led to several other appearances on Channel 5 including hosting the Channel 5 Road Show in the summer of that year in which she performed an 8 minute stand up comedy routine. However, Stacy before more recognizable as Brenda Blue in the children's television show Jay Jay The Jet Plane
Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Jay Jay the Jet Plane is an American CGI children's television series based at the fictional Tarrytown Airport. It has about 60 episodes and it is aimed at ages 2-6. The characters are talking airplanes, a helicopter, some humans, and two talking ground vehicles...
in which she played Brenda Blue a lady who kept and maintained the working of her jet planes.
While in London, she was also involved in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
providing the voiceover
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X, iOS and iPod operating systems. By using VoiceOver, the user can access their Macintosh or iOS device based on spoken descriptions and, in the case of the Mac, the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind...
for one of the hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
children in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. She also filmed a number of scenes for the film, most notably appearing as one of the guest hobbits at the 111th Birthday party of hobbit Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
, although her scenes were cut from the final film. In December 2001, she attended the London premiere of Fellowship of the Rings with Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
, Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler
Liv Rundgren Tyler is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and Bebe Buell, model and singer. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14, but after less than a year she decided to focus on acting. She made her film debut in the 1994...
, Orlando Bloom
Orlando Bloom
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and starring in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, and subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood...
and Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
. She later appeared on screen as a minor character in a scene with Frodo
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
in the third and final part of the series The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
.
Stacey spent the next two years teaching music and drama and working part-time as a hairdresser while in London. She also directed several television programs for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
before returning to New Zealand in 2003.
She and several other former cast members returned for the season five finale, but the show was cancelled before the sixth season began filming. Following the show's cancellation, she was involved in the spin-off series The New Tomorrow
The New Tomorrow
The New Tomorrow is a New Zealand-based television series produced by Cloud 9 and is a sequel to the cult television series The Tribe. The show was created by Raymond Thompson and premiered on 17 September 2005 on the Seven Network in Australia....
as an acting and voice coach. Former cast member Caleb Ross
Caleb Ross
Caleb Ross is a New Zealand film and television actor best known for his role as Lex in the cult science fiction television series The Tribe. In 1998, he played Logan Patterson on Shortland Street...
(Lex) also worked as a foley artist
Foley artist
Foley is the reproduction of everyday sounds for use in filmmaking. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. The best foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to...
on the show.
In 2005, Stacy had a guest appearance in the Hercules
Hercules (TV miniseries)
Hercules is a 2005 RHI Entertainment television miniseries, chronicling the life of the legendary Greek hero, Heracles, called Hercules in this series...
television miniseries and, the next year, appeared in a supporting role in Robert Sarkies
Robert Sarkies
Robert Sarkies is a New Zealand film director and scriptwriter.Sarkies grew up in the South Island city of Dunedin, and his two feature films released to date have been set in Dunedin, or close by. He began making short films as a teenager with fellow filmmaker Simon Perkins...
's drama Out of the Blue
Out of the Blue (2006 film)
Out of the Blue is a 2006 New Zealand film directed by Robert Sarkies and starring Karl Urban. The film premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival in Canada and was released in New Zealand on 12 October 2006 to minor controversy...
.
She is currently a singer of the group Whiskey and Sly.
External links
- Official Vanessa Stacey Fanclub
- Latest Vanessa Stacey News - from The Tribe Cast