The comedian and actor tells us about her actual first appearance on Shortland Street, first job and more in the latest episode of FIRST.

Kura Forrester was living in London and working as a waitress when a friend invited her to watch an open mic night. “It was kind of inspiring,” she remembers, “because I was like, ‘I think I could be that bad’.”

Since that night at Angel Comedy, Forrester has gone on to win the Billy T Award with her 2019 show Kura Shoulda Woulda and appeared in shows like Educators, Golden Boy and perhaps most notably as Shortland Street’s madcap mum Desdemona Shmidt, the on-again, off-again partner of Damo the weird IT guy.

But Forrester’s first acting job wasn’t on camera, or even on a stage. It was as the bright pink Eagle Boys eagle, holding a big sign advertising pizza deals to passing motorists. And she hated every second of it.

“People used to be like, ‘Fuck you, eagle!’ And I was like, ‘I’m 14!’ she remembers. One time she had to run away from a group of boys who were trying to beat her up, yelling “I’m a girl!” through the costume’s beak.

“It was bad … Character building, though.”

Follow FIRST on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.