Karen O’Leary on Becoming an ‘Accidental Actor’, Newshub Closure & Wellington Paranormal Success

On this episode of Between Two Beers we talk to Karen O’Leary.

Karen has one of the most interesting career arcs of anyone on our screens.

She worked as an early childhood educator for two decades, before being tricked into auditioning for a role in Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement’s cult-classic feature What We Do In The Shadows.

Her head-turning 90 second performance as Officer O’Leary led to the lead role in comedy spin-off series Wellington Paranormal, a show that is broadcast around the world in 70 countries.

Then last year she made the switch to current events, and won the coveted Best Presenter of Entertainment award for her work on Paddy Gower has Issues on Newshub, months before it was announced the show would not be returning.

In this episode we talk about her unique career path and all the best stories along the way, her reaction to Newshub shutting down and whats next, getting naked with Jermaine Clement, why her nickname is little bush, the best of Officer O’Leary and much much more.

Karen is a lethal combination of charismatic, hilarious and smart – and this was a really fun one, with so many great yarns.

We're also super stoked to have Karen on the books of B2B Speakers, so if you’d like her to MC your night, or share her story at your function or event, flick us a message by going to B2Bspeakers.co.nz. Also check out our epic lineup of former guests available for hire too. And while there sign up to our weekly newsletter with all the biggest news from us and the podcasting space in NZ.  

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