Kiwi screen queen Simone 'I FEEL SO LUCKY!'

The Last Frontier actress on balancing fame, family and fierce new roles, all while staying true to her roots

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As Simone Kessell sits down to chat with Woman's Day, she's in the middle of a whirlwind day in Sydney, dashing between TV studios and interviews.

“It’s been a bit crazy!” she laughs. “Busy, busy, but good busy. I feel really lucky.”

She has every reason to. After more than three decades in the business, Simone's career is soaring to new heights. Fresh from her role opposite fellow Kiwi star Melanie Lynskey in the cult TV series Yellowjackets, she’s now playing the role of an Alaskan nurse in Apple TV's hit thriller The Last Frontier.

"For some reason, drama seems to be my wheelhouse - high stakes and strong women," tells Simone.

"I keep getting drawn to those stories. I've played three queens in a row, so stepping into a nurse's shoes felt refreshing. She's a woman who's had tragedy but keeps going. That appealed to me.”

It’s that tenacity, both on screen and off, that defines Simone, who turned 50 this year. Born and raised on Auckland's North Shore, she’s been acting since her teens and spent 15 years carving out a career in Los Angeles. It wasn’t always glamorous.

“I lived in LA for years and couldn't get arrested!” she jokes. “I wasn’t Latina, which people often thought I was, but I wasn’t white either, so I sort of fell between the cracks.”

But Simone, who has Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāi Te Rangi heritage, never let the cracks swallow her.