Antonia Prebble is one of New Zealand's most accomplished and beloved actresses.
Widely recognised for her iconic role as Loretta West in Outrageous Fortune, one of the country’s most beloved TV series, as well as for her portrayal of Rita West in its prequel, Westside. Over her career spanning more than three decades, Prebble has showcased her versatility across television, film, and stage.
She began her career as a teenager in The Tribe (1999–2003). In 2005, she was cast in the comedy-drama Outrageous Fortune as the 15-year-old movie buff Loretta West, a role that would make her a household name in New Zealand. The series ran until its final episode on 9 November 2010. Building on the success of this character, Prebble returned to play Rita West in Westside, which aired from 31 May 2015 until 16 November 2020, immersing audiences in the West family’s backstory.
Prebble has also starred in The Blue Rose (2013), Anzac Girls (2014) and Sisters (2016) . In 2012, she had a leading role in the feature film White Lies, directed by Dana Rotberg, which was seleced as New Zealand's submission to the Oscars that year.
In recent years, Prebble has continued to expand her acting repertoire. In late 2022, she was cast in the Australian SBS legal drama Safe Home, and in 2023 she joined the cast of Shortland Street for several months, further affirming her place in contemporary Kiwi television. Her most recent project, the comedy series Double Parked, has two seasons under its belt, with a third currently in development. Antonia is now also expanding her focus to include work behind the camera. She has created and developped several TV and film projects with her husband, writer and actor Dan Musgrove.
Raised in Wellington in a family of lawyers, Prebble was drawn to acting from a young age. She holds a degree in English Literature and French, and is an advocate of lifelong learning.
Antonia is passionate about using her platform to help others. To that end, she also co-hosts the award-winning podcast What Matters Most, alongside good friend and clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire. Now in its third season, What Matters Most discusses issues that have a real impact on our daily lives, and provides information and practical tools to help people better understand and navigate the world around them.
Beyond the screens and airwaves Antonia has a keen interest in fashion and a love of travel, but her most important and cherished role is being a mum to her two young boys, Freddie and Gus.
Talking Points
Keynote
In her keynote presentation, Antonia offers an honest, entertaining and inspiring close up of her life and journey as an actress. Accompanied by personal photos and videos (including her never-before-seen audition for Outrageous Fortune), Antonia shares her story of starting out as a child actress, and of the difficult transition to becoming a professional, “grownup” performer. She offers a behind the scenes look at the heady, and sometimes challenging, times as a member of the West family, and reveals the feelings of imposter syndrome that led her to clown school in Paris! Antonia also shares how becoming a mother has changed her, and offers insight into how she balances competing priorities in her life. Throughout the presentation, Antonia shares some of the lessons she has learned along the way, including how to better cope with uncertainty, how bravery is connected to living a meaningful life, why lifelong learning and growth are so important, and how taking time to understand our own values can be a life changing experience. The duration of the presentation currently sits at around 40-45 minutes, but can be tailored to fit either a longer or shorter timeframe.
Keynote
Antonia was the perfect choice to MC our conference this year. A complete professional, Antonia asked all the right questions and prepared thoroughly to lead us through our conference, makin ... keep reading Bupa
Antonia brought an upbeat and professional tone as our MC for our New Zealand International Education Conference 2015. She connected strongly with the audience on a personal level while still ensuring a succinct and seamless conference experience. Antonia featured strongly in the post-conference evaluation remarks, with many delegates favourably commenting on her contribution. Antonia was one of the highest-rated presenters of the conference with 41 percent of survey respondents rating her 9 and 10 out of 10 for her contribution. Not only was she a professional on the stage, she was a professional to work with off the stage!
Antonia was brilliant! We can't recommend her highly enough as a MC. She listened to our brief and really took the time to understand our audience and the style of event we were holding. She asked questions, and took the time to reflect on our run-sheet and speech notes and then adapted the speech notes to incorporate her personality and the dynamics of the evening. During the event her delivery was professional and slick, while injecting personality. She was adaptable, engaging and well prepared. She created a real buzz during the evening through her energy and enthusiasm, while maintaining the formality of the night.
Antonia went above and beyond with her energy, effort and professionalism. It was such a joy working with her and watching her on stage. She brought the vibes and was genuinely excited for all the winners, celebrating alongside them. Everyone was buzzing afterwards. So much positive feedback. YouTube (the premier sponsor) were thrilled and are already talking about next year. I had quite a few people (including the Marketing Manager from Google AUS, and a senior member of TikTok who'd flown in from Australia) say it was the best awards show they'd ever seen both here and internationally. Worldclass! Our 1000+ audience has gained a reputation over the years of being hard to handle. Antonia took it all in her stride and made it look easy. She kept her smile and the energy going all night, gently guiding the audience's attention back to stage when they started to wander. I would highly recommend her to anyone wanting a genuine, warm and enthusiastic MC.
We LOVE Antonia - she is a part of the HRNZ whanau! She does such an incredibly amazing job, so poised, professional and always goes above and beyond to ensure a great experience is had by all.
Antonia was amazing! I would not hesitate to have Antonia MC for us again, nor would I hesitate to recommend Antonia to anyone looking for an MC. Please pass on our thanks!
