Tiare Savea

As Leilani

Pretty with quite an innocent outlook on life and people. With a strict Mormon mum, hardworking Dad and a bullish big brother, Leilani has the least freedom of all the characters – which is typical of all island girls of the time but despite this, still likes to have fun and enjoy herself. A bright student at school and dutiful daughter at home and church, Leilani enjoys hanging out with Sefa and the boys who are a welcome relief to her otherwise strict life. Leilani and her cousin Lupe are like yin and yang, yet are as thick as thieves and are rarely separated (mostly because her mum doesn’t let her out of the house alone.) As per her religious upbringing, Leilani has a strong moral core, but isn’t afraid to bend it a little but only for a really good reason or for Sefa who she quite likes. About Leilani (16): The original Sione’s Wedding film came out the year Tiare was born. She grew up between Australia and Aotearoa with her Samoan and Maori/Swedish parents. Her folks recognised early on that Tiare had a ‘dramatic’ streak and she’s been doing Speech and Drama lessons and competitions for the last couple of years and has performed in several theatre shows and musicals in her hometown of Rotorua. Her penchant for the arts could well be genetic - with her mother being from a very musical family and her Grandparents (on her Dad’s side) being part of the well-known Samoan performance group. As well as taking the stage in a couple of local theatre shows, Tiare has been studying hip-hop since she was 8, and ballet since she was 10. In her spare time Tiare is a self-proclaimed “adrenaline junkie” - she loves highwires and bungee-jumping... and if anyone is keen for SkyDiving - count her in!