Anna Jullienne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Anna Jullienne | |
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| Born | Anna Jullienne New Zealand |
| Spouse(s) | Unknown spouse |
Anna Jullienne is a New Zealand actress, who is best known for her role as Nurse Maia Jefferies in New Zealand's popular soap, Shortland Street. Maia is a beautiful and talented young nurse who happens to be a lesbian. The character has a strong cult following and has a long term relationship with Jay Copeland (played by Jamie Passier-Armstrong).
Anna was active in drama at school, having lead roles in productions of Amadeus, Julius Caesar and Anything Goes, and her talent was recognised by several awards, including the 1999 NZ Young Performer of the Year, 1st prize in the 1999 Auckland National Independent Schools Speech Competition, and 1st prize in the Auckland Drama Championship at the North Shore Performing Arts Festival.
Anna holds an ATCL Teacher Practical Certificate from the Trinity College of London Drama Examination, and studied camera technique under Jan Saussey. She is fluent in French and Japanese.
Her professional career started during her time at the University of Auckland with roles in Mercy Peak and Secret Agent Men, and she put her studies (a BA in English and Film and TV), on hold to take up her first major dramatic screen role on Shortland Street.She is currently taking a six month break from filming Shortland Street as of October 2006.
She is now engaged to her boyfriend James Kermode who she took her break with meaning she may return even latter to Shortland Street.
[edit] Controversy
Anna Jullienne's on screen lesbian relationship with Jay Copeland (Jaime Passier-Armstrong) has been controversial, although the overall response has been positive. On 26 April 2005, the Civil Union Act came into effect in New Zealand, which allowed both heterosexual and homosexual couples to register their relationships officially as an alternative to traditional marriage. On 14 February 2006, the first Civil Union on New Zealand television took place between Maia and Jay.
