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Top 10 Amazing facts about Rose Matafeo

Rose Catherine Lettitia Matafeo is a BAFTA nominated comedian, writer and actor from New Zealand. Her talents show in so many ways, with her being one of those actresses who always makes a role memorable.

Matafeo often portrays women searching for stability in circumstances beyond their control: an unexpected pregnancy (Baby Done), or being broke (Starstruck), or confronting heartbreak (Horndog, her Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning routine).

She is a comical genius, and we will get to know much more about her in the top 10 amazing facts about Rose Matafeo;

1. Matafeo was raised by Rastafarians

Matafeo was born on 25 February 1992 in Ponsonby, Auckland. Her father is Samoan and her mother is of Scottish and Croatian heritage. Her parents are Rastafarians.

Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. Rastafari beliefs are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible. Central is a monotheistic belief in a single God, referred to as Jah, who is deemed to partially reside within each individual.

On the first Sunday of each month, Matafeo鈥檚 family attended a long service at the Twelve Tribes of Israel鈥檚 New Lynn headquarters, after which there was dancing and food. 鈥淚t was really quite boring. We were the goodie-good kids because our dad was in an administrative role, so we had to sit at the front and pretend not to sleep,鈥� says Rose.

2. Her father was a Polynesian Panther

Matafeo鈥檚 father, John, was a member of the Polynesian Panthers 鈥� though he was rarely forthcoming about his activism.

The Polynesian Panther Party (PPP) was a revolutionary social justice movement formed to target racial inequalities carried out against indigenous M膩ori and Pacific Islanders in Auckland, New Zealand.

鈥淯sually, you have to read the Polynesian Panthers books and see your dad鈥檚 name. You鈥檙e like, 鈥楢h, I know him,鈥欌�� she says. Rose understands his reticence: 鈥淗e was a Samoan man in the ’70s and ’80s in Auckland. It鈥檚 not a time you鈥檇 want to experience. He was in situations where if you went to a protest, it was going to get violent.鈥�

3. Matafeo meet Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela is globally regarded as an icon of democracy and social justice, he received more than 250 honours, including the Nobel Peace Prize.

At age three, Matafeo met Nelson Mandela during his 1995 visit to New Zealand. Matafeo recounts the incident, 鈥淲e were waiting for him [Mandela] to come outside, and I was sitting on this barrier with my brother Jarred. As Nelson Mandela came out, the whole crowd surged forward, and I was nearly completely knocked off the barrier.

“Obviously I was like ‘what the hell just happened’ and my first thought was that Jarred has just tried to push me off this barrier.

“So, I started crying, bawling my eyes out and then Mandela saw me crying, and he came over to me, and he was like ‘child, why are you crying, why are you crying’ and I just yelled at him: “Jarred pushed me!” He was like, ‘don’t cry, don’t cry’.”

4. Rose Matafeo attended an all-girls鈥� school

Matafeo attended Auckland Girls’ Grammar School. Auckland Girls’ Grammar School is a New Zealand secondary school for girls located in Newton, in the Auckland central business district.

She has described herself as a nerd growing up, and that gives us a hint on how she managed to be the head girl of her class, which is quite an accomplishment.

5. Matafeo offered 100 hot dogs for her lost cat

Rose鈥檚 adopted cat, Burt Bachacat, ran away for a period in 2013, she distributed posters around her neighbourhood offering a reward of 100 hotdogs for his safe return: 鈥淲ANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (preferably alive),鈥� they read.

Then, one night when Rose was on television, hosting U Live her closest neighbour found the cat under her house.

Today, Burt lives with her grandmother, Jessie Vuletich, whom Rose lovingly calls 鈥渘an.鈥� 鈥淭hey are best friends, truly best friends. It鈥檚 the most beautiful thing,鈥� she says, adding that Burt 鈥渟hould be dead. It鈥檚 fucking insane.鈥�

6. She Started Doing Comedy at 15

Matafeo started showing interest in comedy and acting from an early age. She rather enjoyed performing and spent most of her time nurturing her talents.

At the age of 15, Matafeo started doing stand-up comedy through the platform of the “Class Comedians” programme put on by the New Zealand Comedy Trust, and went on to win the “Nailed It on the Night” award at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2007.

In an interview, Matafeo explain, 鈥淚 did my first comedy gig ever, all my family came and watched, we had a gorgeous Japanese meal.

7. Matafeo’s working with one of her favorite actors 

When Rose Matafeo met Matthew Lewis on the set of Baby Done, she had to explain to the former Harry Potter star that they鈥檇 actually met before, in slightly more awkward circumstances.

In 2004, Lewis travelled to New Zealand for a pop culture convention, and Matafeo, then a 鈥渘erdy 15-year-old girl,鈥� queued for hours to meet him. She even had the photo of the encounter, which she showed Matthew.

8. She lives in London

Matafeo first moved to the UK in 2015. She travels so much for work and also splits her time between two homes, but she does spend a significant amount of time at her London flat.

While she does go home occasionally, she feels that New Zealand is just so small, while the UK is big and there are so many opportunities for her there.

9. Matafeo鈥檚 remarkable success

Rose Matafeo won the Billy T Award, which recognises the potential of up-and-coming New Zealand comedians, for The Rose Matafeo Variety Hour in 2013, having previously been nominated for her show Scout’s Honour in 2012.

Matafeo 鈥檚 critically acclaimed show Horndog won the award (formerly the Perrier) for Best Show at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was nominated for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She has since recorded the show as a special for HBO MAX.

Her own sitcom, Starstruck, which she has written and stars in, was commissioned by BBC3 in the UK and HBO Max in the US. Season One premiered on BBC One and BBC Three in the UK where it became the channel鈥檚 best performing new comedy of the year with over three million requests on BBC iPlayer to date, and later on HBO Max in the US, the show was also pre-sold to over 50 territories including Australia (ABC) and New Zealand (TVNZ).

10. Her family enjoys traveling as well

Matafeo is known to travel all over the world, but she is not the exception in her family as her family is spread across the world: she in London, her father and brother in New Zealand; another brother in Berlin; and her mother, Diane Vuletich, is a teacher living in Kampala.

On the rare occasions they are altogether, and the conversations flow unexpectedly.