Angela Dotchin

Angela shared a dressing room with Angela Bloomfield while acting on the NZ soap Shortland Street.

Shortland Street producer Tony Holden says of Angela, "The issue of stardom is one of publicity and hype and b***, but the issue of what actually makes an actor loved by an audience has got very much to do with the heart and that magic behind the eyes. That girl's got it."

Angela can ride horses, do martial arts/stage fighting, archery, diving, and water skiing.

Angela can act using various accents, including American, Australian, English, South African, French and her native Kiwi.

In 1994 and 1997, Angela was nominated for "Best Actress" at the NZ Film & Television Awards.

Angela is 5'2" tall, with blond hair and blue eyes.

Angela's performance in the acclaimed New Zealand police drama earned Lawless with Kevin Smith in the title role earned her the 1999 New Zealand Television Award for Best Actress. She had a contract to reprise her character in two additional television movies. This, however, has been left up in the air since Mr. Smith's sudden passing in February of 2002.

Angela's interests apart from acting include art, graphic design, music, writing, travel and kickboxing.

Angela was one of the original cast members on New Zealand's longest running soap Shortland Street.

Dotchin credits Lucy Lawless for 'paving the way for other Kiwi girls' into the American television industry. It helped to get her lead roles on two series, Young Hercules and Jack of All Trades, as well as guest starring roles on Hercules and Xena.

Angela met long time boyfriend Temuera Morrison when they worked together on Shortland Street. After a six year relationship the two broke up, and though Angela doesn't go into the reasons, she points out that he was based in LA at the time, and she is living in New Zealand.

Angela says she doesn't mind when fans call her Kirsty (her "Shortland Street" character's name) because of course people know her better as her character, and the character will always be a part of her.

Angela says the best thing about working in the series Lawless was that she got to be a Kiwi woman speaking with a Kiwi accent, rather than the American and British accents she used on Young Hercules and Jack of All Trades.

Angela appeared with beau Temuera Morrison at the Hollywood premier of Vertical Limit, which starred fellow Kiwi Colin Moy.

Angela takes Jodie Foster as her professional role model, since she wants to act, direct, and produce just as Foster does.

Angela was one of the A-listers invited to the New Zealand premier of Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring.

In the tenth anniversary poll of top ten favorite characters on Shortland Street by the New Zealand Herald, Angela was voted in at number eight. They said the reason for her popularity was, 'Because, by her own admission, she perfected that "sulk-faced pout". And because she, like Kylie, survived a horror perm to become a glam chick with chic.'

Director Josh Becker said of Angela, "Angie Dotchin is astounding-she's beautiful from absolutely every angle and a terrific actor, too. She completely holds her own with Bruce, which ain't so easy."

Angela was up for the role of Eowyn in The Two Towers, but did not get the part. There was a strong rumor going around the internet that she was going to be in the movie, however.

Angela was given fencing training by Peter Bell (stunt coordinator for Hercules and Xena) for her role of Emilia on Jack of All Trades.

Angela describes a typical day on the set of Jack of All Trades as getting up at 4AM, then sitting down for 2 hours for makeup. Then I dresses, which takes about 15 minutes. They shoot from 7 till noon, break for lunch for 45 minutes, then shoot until 7PM, take off her costume and make it home by 8:30 unless she has to do voice work, which can take hours. Once home she works on her lines. And then she goes to sleep so that she can do it all over again the next day!

When Pacific Renaissance casting for both of their shows of the Back2Back Action Hour, Jack of All Trades and Cleopatra 2525, and Angela was under consideration for both Emilia and Cleopatra.

Angela's favorite Jack of All Trades episode was "Sex and the Single Spy". The episode also guest starred John Leigh, who played her character Kirsty Knight's husband Lionel Skeggins on the NZ soap Shortland Street.