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If you watch TV, you’ll probably have seen actor and comedian Kimberley Crossman on your screen at some point – perhaps on The Project or Funny Girls. The Dio Old Girl and former Deputy Head Prefect in 2006 is one of New Zealand’s successful comedy exports and now splits her time between the United States and New Zealand.
“I’m very nomadic in this chapter of my life,” she says. “I spend about half my time in LA [where her cat, Powder, and pet tarantula, Prince Harry, live] and the other half in New Zealand. But I’ve also spent a significant amount of the last year in New York City and Boston.”
It was during her final year at school that Kimberley got her first big break, a role on Shortland Street playing teenager Sophie McKay until 2012.
“I started working full time at Shortland Street halfway through my final year at school so I had to balance that with not getting behind in my studies,” she says. “I was always so appreciative for all the teaching staff helping me with any work I missed. A lot of the skills I learnt at Dio have continued to help me through my adult life – specifically, the importance of time management and putting 110% into all I do.”
At Dio from Year 4 to Year 13, Kimberley was heavily involved in the arts, particularly dance and drama. She studied ballet from a very young age, and also did contemporary dance, hip hop and cheerleading (including competing in the World Cheerleading Championships).
“I love performing and really feel like being at Dio helped me hone my skills and desire to pursue an artistic career path. Mrs Reynolds in the Drama Department was a real dream and taught us so much about running productions and not being afraid to give things a go.”
Trying out for Shortland Street was Kimberley’s first formal audition, and she loved every minute of the seven years she spent on New Zealand’s longest-running soap. Plus, it was a fantastic springboard to even bigger things.
“I knew I wanted to pursue a career in America and it helped so much having a large body of work behind me when I first started making trips to LA. I was doing trips back and forth to the US for Nickelodeon and the dream felt like it could actually be a reality, so I decided to make the move.”
In recent years, Kimberley has starred in films including Strangers in a Strange Land, Get You Back and comedy The 60 Yard Line, as well as the 2019 short film Stalled. She’s appeared on numerous US network shows, such as the comedy series SMILF, The Great Indoors with Stephen Fry and Joel McHale, and has had regular roles in New Zealand shows Step Dave, Terry Teo, The Almightly Johnsons and sketch comedy show Funny Girls as well as Family Feud and TVNZ’s Have You Been Paying Attention? As a US correspondent for TV3’s The Project, Kimberley’s been lucky enough to meet and interview many famous people, from Jason Statham, Milu Kunis and Denzel Washington to Kiss, Shania Twain and Shawn Mendes.
“My role on The Project in New Zealand means I get to travel a lot and interview big stars. I think The Rock has been the most impressive and enjoyable person to interview.”
Kimberley has just wrapped up a new Netflix show called Happy Merry Whatever (with Dennis Quaid) due out in November and a second season of her show Golden Boy has been confirmed. But one of her proudest accomplishments dates back to 2012 when her book Love You: Be Your Best and Live Your Dreams was published. She wrote it mainly for young women aged 16 to 24 to help them build their confidence and achieve their goals.
“I think I’m most proud of writing my book. It was a massive task and I had no idea what I was doing, so to have it all come together felt like a huge achievement.”
Despite the success she’s enjoyed to date, Kimberley’s seen her share of ups and downs – like everyone working in the entertainment industry, she’s missed out on plenty of roles she really wanted.
“It’s a difficult career to be an artist of any kind,” she says. “You’re always working hard, never really switching off and have no guarantee of employment. The disappointments can be heart breaking, but there really is nothing else to do but to have a cry then get back to it.”
But the work she does off camera helps put things into perspective. Kimberley is an official ambassador for two charities that are very dear to her heart: World Vision and the SPCA.
“I’ve been a World Vision Ambassador for about four years – I was always active in the 40-Hour Famine, so it felt like a great fit. In 2016, I went to Jordan with World Vision and it was life changing for me. The heart-breaking stories from families in refugee camps who had to run through the night to safety and who have been split up from other family members were hard to
Meeting Megha In September, Kimberley travelled to India to meet her sponsor child, Megha, and promote World Vision’s 1000 Girls campaign. It aims to protect girls from child marriage and ensure they can access education, healthcare, good nutrition and clean water. LIFELONG FRIENDS
hear, let alone for them to live through. I did get to see first-hand some of the amazing work World Vision had been able to do with funds raised by Kiwis through the 40-Hour Famine the year before.”
Kimberley recently returned from a trip to India where she got to meet Megha, a young girl she has sponsored through World Vision. She describes their first face-to-face encounter as one of the best days of her life.
with signs and a blessing – all organised by Muskan, a wonderful 12-year-old girl who is president of the village’s World Vision Children’s Club and wants to be a doctor. The last people to greet me were Megha and her mum, and I burst into tears. She came and sat on my lap immediately and had the biggest smile in the world.”
World Vision has been working with communities like Megha’s as part of its #1000Girls movement to help restore rights to girls around the world who are forced into arranged marriages and denied access to education, and information about hygiene and nutrition.
“There was so much love in that community and a piece of my heart will be with them forever,” says Kimberley. “I feel more compelled to keep helping these vulnerable communities in India and giving girls like Megha the opportunity to break the cycle and grow up with independence and education.”
As well as visiting Megha, Kimberley’s goal was to raise awareness of the plight of young girls in India and encourage more Kiwis to sponsor girls and give them a better shot at life.
A huge animal lover, she’s also passionate about protecting animals from harm – even going so far as to dress up in a cow onesie and skydiving to promote the NZ SPCA’s cause to adopt neglected animals,
“This year I was approached by the SPCA to be an ambassador and I couldn’t be happier to lend my voice to a charity that means so much to me. The work they do is phenomenal, and I am so happy to be working with two amazing charities.”
Another project Kimberley recently launched is a company called Joyable. She’s joined forces with her sister Rochelle Sheldon, and friends Belinda Nash and Igor Anany, to create a collaborative gifting hub where friends and family can come together to take the stress, waste and excess out of gift-giving.
“The goal is to keep doing what I love and following my joy,” she says. “If I can do that, I think I’ll be pretty happy!”
Famous faces Above: As US correspondent for TV3’s The Project, Kimberley has interviewed The Rock and numerous other celebrities Left: She has been filming the Netflix series Merry Happy Whatever with Dennis Quaid.
