The Tribe Cast

The following article appeared in Capital Times, Antonia’s talks about her past, growing up and also about starring as Trudy in The Tribe…

Prebble With A Cause
1st August 2007

WELLINGTON actress Antonia Prebble is a family oddity. Her parents chose academic careers,and her siblings law, Antonia sought her Outrageous Fortune pretending to be someone else.

Antonia Prebble grabbed her first taste of the limelight at two and a half years old – rushing the stage at her older sister’s school concert.

“Becky was performing in a talent show at Clifton Terrace Primary School, and suddenly I got on stage and joined in,” Prebble laughs. “The desire to act was obviously in me from a very early age.”
She recalls another incident when her thespian enthusiasm was too much for her teachers.
“I was told to stop taking over the whole thing because I started ad-libbing and digressing from the script dramatically. I can’t remember what it was about but I was wearing a pink dress and I had an accent.
“I wasn’t purposefully trying to steal the limelight I was just having such a good time.”
Perhaps that sort of desire is necessary to make your way in the arts. It certainly helped Prebble kick start a career that has included Mirror Mirror 2 and The Tribe. However the 23 year old is most currently recognisable for her role as Loretta West on Outrageous Fortune. The role has earned her a nomination for best performance by a supporting actress in the Air New Zealand Screen Awards announced this week.

Prebble shifted to Auckland from Wellington in 2005 for the show, and thoroughly enjoys playing shrewd and acerbic Loretta. However Prebble and Loretta (described as ‘not pretty’ and ‘not academic’) couldn’t be more different. Prebble comes from an academic family, unlike Loretta whose family are former burglars and her father is in jail.
“I understand where she is coming from as a person, but our approach to the world is very different. She is self-centred and looks at the world from her perspective only and manipulates people for her own betterment. I’m not as selfish as that.”

Prebble’s father, John, is a barrister and solicitor, and a professor of tax law at Victoria University. Antonia’s mother, Nicola Riddiford, also works at the university teaching English as a second language, her uncle, Richard Prebble, is the former leader of the ACT party, and another uncle is Mark Prebble, head of the State Services Commission.

While Antonia’s siblings, Becky and Ben, followed in their father’s footsteps into law, Antonia’s drive to perform never waned.
“My parents were always supportive of my passion, and always made sure that my studies weren’t neglected.”

It was hard work. Prebble’s third and fourth form years at Queen Margaret College were cut into severely by her roles on Mirror Mirror and The Tribe. She was off school for six months at a time, but was allowed to catch-up on missed work during the school holidays.

At school she continued to perform in school productions – starring in Joan of Arc in fifth form – and took a shine to languages, studying English, Latin, and French as well as maths, physics, and music.
Despite working in TV while at school Prebble says she got more attention from fellow students and teachers for her appearance than for her notoriety on telly.

“Neither of the shows were hugely popular in New Zealand so I didn’t get too much attention about acting. I got more attention for my hair than anything else,” she laughs.
“You weren’t allowed to dye your hair at school, so my purple hair [for her character Trudy on The Tribe] attracted a lot of attention. Fortunately the principal was really understanding, and realised I wasn’t simply being rebellious,” she laughs.

These days Prebble studies part-time while working five days a week on Outrageous Fortune – often working 12-hour days.
“I had to put an end to my Psychology and English degree at Victoria University when I moved to Auckland. Now I’m studying English through correspondence. It’s good to keep your brain ticking along – one paper a year.”
But Prebble has no inclination to venture into academia like her parents.
“I see the value in an education rather than it being something to fall back on.”

The starlet is currently planning a European holiday with her Outrageous Fortune sister Siobhan Marshall.
But like the little girl who leapt on stage all those years ago, she can’t escape the acting business and has applied to study at an acting school in Paris for a month while abroad.
                                  Dawn Tratt

Thanks to Jessica for pointing me towards the article!