Cover story

8 • March 21, 2010 • View

YOU’D THINK KimberleyCrossman would need toclone herself several timesover to fit everything in.Actress, TV presenter,reporter, cheerleader,

columnist, dance teacher, websiteboss, blogger ... and that’s just a fewincarnations. “When I wake up, my firstthought is ‘What day is it?’ then ‘What doI have to do today?”’ Crossman admits.“But I like that. I thrive on it.”

Lists help. Lists ranked by priority andcrossed off methodically. But even thispocket dynamo can’t tick off everything onany given week. As entertainment reporterfor TV2 after-school programme The ErinSimpson Show, Crossman files stories whenshe gets a morning off Shortland Street. Butplaying schoolgirl-turned-bride SophieMcKay on our homegrown soap is herday job — and her priority. Recently, thatmeant she couldn’t join her cheerleadingteam Total Cheerleading Senior EliteAll Girls, who hold the Australasian

championship title, in a US competitionwhere they placed third. “I couldn’t get awaybut I watched it on YouTube,” says Crossmancheerfully. Used to juggling, she knows the odd

ball has to drop occasionally.When we first meet, Crossman, who’s tiny

but not scary-skinny like some starlets, dashesout to greet me at South Pacific Picturesreception. Her outfit of dressing-gown-over-running gear is less surprising than her hug. Butthat’s just Kim: not hamming it up, just moreeffervescent than a Schweppes.

Right now the 21-year-old, who hasn’t hada weekend at home since January, is packingher bags for another trip. On Tuesday she’soff to Los Angeles to cover the NickelodeonKids’ Choice Awards, known as the AcademyAwards for Kids. It gives out gongs includingyoungsters’ favourite movie, actor, TV show,singer, video game, and even cutest couple (theObamas are up against Twilight’s lovers). ZacEfron, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and TaylorSwift, among others, are up for trophies, andRihanna will be performing.

Hosting the “Orange Carpet” pre-show,which will screen on kids’ entertainment

channel Nickelodeon NZ, Crossman willtake Kiwi kids behind the scenes and

interview celebrity nominees. “It’s aKim-in-LA thing, a diary-cam show

to get that New Zealand feel andfollowing so it’s not just anotherawards ceremony.

“Of course I’d prefer to bewalking the Orange Carpetmyself, but this is, like, prettyclose. These people are thebest in the business and I get to

interview them and see what theirlives are like.”

So who will she be chasing with themicrophone? “I’d love nothing more thanmeeting the Olsen twins: girls a similar ageto me who’ve achieved a lot. Apart from thatvoyeurism, my huge goal is to meet the Twilightcast. Maybe I’ll interview them, they’ll take meunder their wing and ask me to be in the fourthmovie! Hey, stranger things have happened.”In any case, should she meet “R-Patz” or his

wingmen, she’ll be the envy of teenage girlsworldwide.

“I’m sooooo excited,” confesses Crossman,whose teen-speak and fresh-faced look, notto mention reporting know-how, is just whatNickelodeon ordered. “Kimberley was a naturalchoice because she’s such a big star here andhas a reputation for being a great person towork with,” says Lauren Nola, NickelodeonNZ’s channel manager. “We’re confidenther incredibly likeable personality will gainsome great interviews with the stars... andher excellent sense of humour is going tobe fully challenged.”

That’s because over the two days before theawards, Crossman will also tackle 10 challengesaround LA set by Kiwi “Nickheads”: “Anythingfrom declaring my love to Taylor Lautner togetting a photo of the Olsen twins to findingwho’s the voice of SpongeBob.” So considerthis a shout-out. “Suggest anything [at www.nicknz.co.nz] and I’ll pick 10 that are possible.”

Once work wraps, she’ll be exploring LA.“Get a feel for the city, do some shopping,see the Kardashians’ shop Dash. Do all thosevoyeuristic touristy things. Mum’s just freakingout: ‘Don’t go anywhere by yourself. Be homeby 6pm.’ I’ll be fine, but it’s quite a while to beaway from anyone I know.”

She’ll miss her boyfriend of nearly twoyears, ZM DJ Mark Dye. At the moment, she’smoving between her parents’ Orakei house andhis Auckland central pad. “I was pretty muchstaying there seven nights so I’ve moved somestuff in and paid some rent, but I’m still indenial about actually moving out.”

It is her mum Jill Arkley, who runs theAuckland Academy of Dance, that copsthe credit for Crossman’s performer streak.Beginning ballet almost as soon as she couldwalk, Crossman later took up jazz, hip-hop, tapand contemporary dance, not to mention sports,cheerleading, speech and drama and schoolplays. “I thought I’d go do shows on a cruiseship. See the world. That or go to uni.” It wasa quirk of fate that saw her end up on ShortlandStreet. In seventh form, the Diocesan deputyhead girl was dropped during cheerleading,broke her elbow, and was out of action for fourmonths. So she got an acting agent, an audition— and a part.

Sophie has grown up a lot since she firstflashed onscreen at 15 as a slightly spoiled,somewhat-shallow shopping-lover. She’snow a socially aware 18-year-old and nascentjournalist, not to mention a wife. “But she’sstill a daddy’s girl who runs home every timesomething goes wrong with Kieran [AdamRickitt].”

That’s her new, much-older husband: thelocal bar owner and supposedly reformedmoney-launderer/pimp/drug-dealer who’s stillcovering up his responsibility for the hit-and-run killing of a nurse. Although Sophie’s stillswallowing his tall tales — just — expect her tohone her “Kieran lie detector” over the next fewweeks as the marriage becomes more volatile.

The frowned-upon relationship has cleverlypropelled Sophie out of the family nest andinto the bar, and propelled Crossman intochallenging storylines she’s relished. “Over thepast year, I’ve been pushed further and taken ahuge leap with my acting. I’ve really had to stepup.”

She is just 21, but multi-talented soap starKimberley Crossman has long had her eyeson the big picture. By Sarah Lang.

Pocket

JANNA DIXON

View • March 21, 2010 • 9

Showbiz

HE WASan artist,inventor,scientist

and visionary. Fivehundred years afterhis death, Leonardoda Vinci could soonadd another string tohis bow: Hollywoodaction hero.

In one of themost unlikely filmprojects since Prideand Prejudice wasearmarked for a zombie makeover, Warner Broshas announced plans to recast Leonardo as anIndiana Jones-style adventurer.

Leonardo da Vinci and the Soldiers of Forever willpit the Renaissance man against “supernaturalenemies” in a blockbusting tale involvingdemons, secret codes, lost civilisations and hiddenfortresses, according to the Hollywood trade press.

The film is being touted as a cross betweenRaiders of the Lost Ark and Clash of the Titans.Leonardo will deploy a fearsome arsenal ofweaponry in the movie, based on his real-lifeinventions.

His 15th-century designs for the helicopter,parachute, car and submarine may never haveprogressed further than the pages of his notebook,but they will be gloriously realised in the film.

The studio is searching for a scriptwriter tobegin work on the project.

The producer is Adrian Askarieh, whoseprevious credits include Hitman, a violent thrillerbased on a video game. One critic called it“numbingly unthrilling”.

Alessandro Vezzosi, the director of a museumdedicated to Leonardo in his home town of Vinciin Tuscany, said: “Leonardo da Vinci’s life wasmore astounding and fantastic than anythingimagined in any of the books written about him,including Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.”

Martin Kemp, a Leonardo expert and ProfessorEmeritus of the History of Art at OxfordUniversity, said: “The silly season for Leonardonever closes and I’ve lived with it for 40 years.

“I’m perfectly cheerful about it. It’s better tohave him live in the present, even if it’s in a rathersilly and improbable context, than not at all, aslong as you recognise it as fiction.

“To have a figure who lived 500 years ago andwho still lives in people’s minds is exciting. I sawThe Da Vinci Code twice — once with an academicaudience, who laughed, and once with a generalaudience, who took it very seriously.”

The Da Vinci Code, made by Columbia Pictures,was derided as hokum by film critics, but tookmore than $750 million at the box office.

Last week Warner Bros announced plans for a“fantasy-adventure” about the 13th-century travelsof Marco Polo. It will take place “in the Orient ofour imagination”, according to the writer, AdamCooper.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, starring NataliePortman, is set for release next year, offering avery different take on the Jane Austen classic.

The Daily Telegraph

Leonardo:Hollywoodall-action heroLeonardo da Vinci is to geta Hollywood makeover:into a big-screen IndianaJones-style adventurer. ByAnita Singh.

dynamoViewers agree. In December, Crossman was

voted favourite female actress and hottest femaleat website Throng’s Shortland St Fan Awards.Attention was focused on her sex-symbol status,not her acting chops. “Yeah, it [the hottest-female award] was pretty cool. But it was quitefunny how the other award, which was moreexciting for me, went under the radar.”

When it comes to career, there’s no laurel-resting in New Zealand. If you’re a young actressor presenter who wants to make it internationally,you can’t just sit back and wait for Nickelodeonto call. As well as upskilling — Crossman recentlycompleted drama and presenting courses — youneed to promote yourself. Be media-savvy.Build a profile. It’s exactly what Kim does via herwebsite, her Girlfriend magazine column, andher presenting gigs. Yet Crossman’s no primadonna. Colleagues say unlike some Shortie stars,she’s grounded and without ego. She’s simply notbeing held back by that Kiwi affliction, Tall PoppySyndrome.

Her website www.kimberleycrossman.com,which employs four staff, including her sisterRochelle, is more than just a bio/blog. It’s anonline teen magazine that revolves around thestarlet. “But there’s so much on the website that’snothing to do with me.” Think beauty and fashionnews, health tips, student blogs, weekend-awaypromotions, polls, reviews, interviews, a chatforum, and even Hottie of The Week. “Launchingthe website has been the most pivotal thing for me.Instead of getting called Sophie when I’m out, alot of people call out ‘Kimberley’. Which is weirdbecause I think I must know them. But it’s quitecool that I’m not just ‘Sophie’ anymore. I feellike I’ve created more of a profile, which will helpwhen I go on to do other things.”

Refreshingly, she doesn’t spin the whole “I-can’t-imagine-leaving-Shortland-Street” line orfudge the question. “The future! I’m at a bit of acrossroads. I’m enjoying Shortland Street andI’m so grateful for being here. But it is hard.It’s hard for people to understand what yougo through emotionally, how tired you can getand how full-on it is. It’s like no other job. But Istill have a lot to learn and I’m hoping I don’t getkilled off.

“I think the day’s going to come, though,when I say ‘Hey, I love this, but I need to go trysomething else’. I’d love to do film. So I’m suregoing over to LA will be a real eye-opener towhat form that career could take.” Nickelodeonis a one-off gig for now, but she’s hoping to domore with the channel.

This chameleon doesn’t feel the need to putherself in one box, two, or even three. “Somepeople think you have to pick one boat. Onecamp. That to be an amazing actor you needto keep your own personality mysterious, whilebeing a presenter you’re putting it out there foreveryone.” She doesn’t agree. “And hey, if I wasn’tbeing an actress or a presenter I’d definitely wantto be a dancer.”

There’s no need to jump in one direction yetthough. “I’m still just a baby who’s found the wayI learn is by doing.” And right now, break finished,that schedule beckons.

Shortland Street screens on TV2, 7pm weeknights.

The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards’ Orange Carpet

pre-show airs Saturday April 17, 8pm (Sky digital chan-

nel 041) and repeats Sunday and Monday. The ErinSimpson Show returns to TV2 April 19.

SOAP STAR: Kimberley Crossman withShortland Street husband Kieran (AdamRickett) and below, behind the scenes ofThe Erin Simpson Show.

GOAL: TheOlsen twins.