Rose Matafeo

From an early age, Rose was drawn to the world of comedy. She started out while still at Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, at the age of 15, performing at open mic nights through the ‘Class Comedians’ programme run by the New Zealand Comedy Trust in front of audiences that were sceptical and sometimes “weirdly hostile”. In 2007, she won the ‘Nailed It on the Night’ award at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival and went on to win ‘Best Newcomer’ at the festival in 2010. She won the prestigious Billy T Award in 2013.

Rose has developed a style of comedy that is at once goofy and cerebral, self-deprecating and vulnerable. She says:

“People are complicated: you can have low and high self-esteem at the same time, simultaneously side by side, maybe on the same day, and one wins out over the other depending on how you feel. I would honestly describe myself as having a massive lack of self-esteem. A lot of my younger years were defined by a sense of that.”

Rose met her future collaborator, Alice Snedden, over the writing desk at late night comedy show Jono and Ben at Ten. Together they performed with improv group Snort, and co-hosted podcast Boners of the Heart, on celebrity crushes, from mid-2016. Rose was also lead writer and actor on TV3’s Funny Girl for three seasons from 2015–2018.

In 2015, Rose moved to London, where she has become a regular on panel shows, and comedy programmes like Taskmaster and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Rose’s big international break came in 2018 when she debuted her solo show Horndog at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show received rave reviews and had sold out performances. Horndog won the prestigious Best Show award at the festival, making her only the second woman, and the first person of colour, to win the award. The Guardian proclaimed in its review:

‘Matafeo’s neurosis, intelligence and flamboyant sense of her own ridiculousness make her a near-perfect comedian.’

Rose has continued to make a name for herself in the comedy world, performing at some of the most prestigious comedy festivals around the globe, including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. In 2018, she also made her US television debut on Conan and The Comedy Lineup on Netflix.

That same year Rose hit another major achievement milestone as an actor and writer, with the release of the romantic comedy film The Breaker Upperers (2018). The film, which she co-wrote with co-star Madeleine Sami, tells the story of two best friends who run a business breaking up couples for cash. The Breaker Upperers was a critical and commercial success, receiving positive reviews and earning a spot on Netflix.

Rose’s ascent continued in 2019 when she appeared in the BBC Three series Wasted and starred in the New Zealand romantic comedy film Baby Done (2020). The film was a hit with audiences and critics alike and further cemented her reputation as a rising star in the entertainment industry.

In 2021, Rose made her mark on British television once again with the release of the comedy series Starstruck, which she co-wrote with Alice Snedden. The series, which follows the romantic misadventures of a young woman in London, received critical acclaim and was renewed for a second season. Rose’s performance in the series was praised for its warmth and humour and prompted The Guardian to proclaim her ‘arguably the breakout star of 2021’.

In an interview with Glamour Magazine about the show, Rose commented:

“I think often women are funnier than men – but in romcoms they’re not given credit for that. So that’s one thing I try to take from this genre and get right. I position Jessie as a funny character. And she’s intentionally funny. She’s not making you laugh because she’s constantly falling over.”

If being a female in a very public and competitive industry wasn’t enough,

“There’s so much pressure to be hot. I thought being interesting was enough!”

As a woman of Sāmoan, Scottish and Croatian ancestry, Rose has achieved her many successes while navigating the travails of being a person of colour, too:

“You’re faced with the insecurity that you’ll be booked for reasons that are not to do with the fact that you’re just good at your job. Am I the woman on this line-up? Oh, I’m the brown person. But do you like my comedy? It’s a real wasp’s nest of insecurities. And anyone who is not a white guy in comedy has experienced that.”

Ultimately, she has transcended such judgements, producing outstanding and hugely original work that people love, earning honours along the way. In addition to her Edinburgh Fringe Festival award, she won the Kevin Smith Memorial Cup for Outstanding Artist Achievement at the New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards in 2018 and 2019 – an award presented the previous year to Taika Waititi.

With her infectious and subtly savvy humour, relatable personality and undoubted drive, Rose Matafeo is one to watch, a formidably funny talent putting New Zealand on the map.