SGCNZ ALUMNUS

Lydia Peckham (SGCNZ NSSP 2012, SGCNZ YSC 2013)

Lydia Peckham finished a rich internship with Andrea Kelland casting agent, and returned from Los Angeles and London to investigate the acting industry. Her love of acting stemmed from her countless participation in the SGCNZ UOSWSF. Starting in 2010 she was awarded Most Promising Theatre Maker, 2012 she had a fantastic week at SGCNZ NSSP, and 2013 she had the opportunity to workshop and perform on the Globe stage in London with SGCNZ YSC 2013.

From there, she and two other girls travelled to Cornwall were they workshopped and travelled around The Tempest, directed by Stuart Devine and Sarah Lincoln. 2015 (2nd year Toi Whakaari) was a very rich and growing year for her: devising site specific pieces, diving into a screen and Shakespeare intensive, connecting to the NZ acting industry, playing Yvette in the end of year production Courage. She is also very humbled and grateful to have received the Arts Museum Hotel Scholarship for 2015. “What a wonderful way to finish a year and an exhilarating, motivational way to push into her final year and beyond.”

2019 was a busy year for Lydia. After completing a lead role in a Chinese/New Zealand co-production feature film ‘Only Cloud Knows’ with Chinese mega director Xaiogang Feng, Lydia went on to film a major supporting role in Netflix US series ‘Cowboy Bebop’, which is set to premiere in 2021. With the release of ‘Only Cloud Knows’ in late 2019, Lydia was flown to China where she toured the film round Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou meeting fans, media interviews, Q&A’S and the grand premiere (where Jackie Chang asked to take a photo with her!!). “To say it was an experience of a lifetime is an understatement.”

After returning to New Zealand, Lydia had several jobs lined up that unfortunately ground to a halt due to the pandemic. She’s been using this ‘quiet time’ as an opportunity to explore her love of making short experimental (often clown based) films as well as adding website coding as an extra string to her bow. Combining these, she has built her own website as a platform to release her films: lydiapeckham.com if you want to check it out!

After showing snippets of her work on social media, Lydia was approached to be part of BATS Fringe Festival 2021 as part of an exploration into Digital Performance. Lydia will start working towards devising her first solo show as well as other projects that are in the pipeline. “Feeling incredibly lucky to be an actor/creator in New Zealand at this time. Opportunities are starting to flow back in and NZ’s film industry is in a strong position.”