Dame Miranda Harcourt DNZM, actor, acting coach, director, writer
World-acclaimed acting coach Dame Miranda Harcourt works with stars like Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel, Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, Zac Efron and her own daughters, actresses Thomasin and Davida McKenzie. The former head of acting at Toi Whakaari — New Zealand Drama School, Miranda began her career at the age of two in the performing arts family led by her mother Dame Kate Harcourt and father, broadcaster Peter Harcourt.
Miranda and her husband Stuart McKenzie are at the global forefront of verbatim theatre. This year they will present TRANSMISSION: BETA, the sequel to their acclaimed verbatim show TRANSMISSION, using verbatim interviews to investigate the fallout from New Zealand’s pandemic response.
Stuart and Miranda co-directed the feature film THE CHANGEOVER in 2019, based on the novel by Margaret Mahy and acclaimed as “a perfect genre film” by US film critic Roger Ebert
World-famous in New Zealand for her role as Gemma in the 1980s TV Series Gloss, Miranda committed her career to the impact of drama as a therapeutic force, working throughout all New Zealand’s prisons and with the Deaf community.
Her many accolades include awards for Best Actress, Best Production, Best Short Film, the Media Peace Prize for the play VERBATIM, the NEXT Woman of the Year in Arts and Culture, the Westpac Woman of Influence, the Women in Film and Television Award for Outstanding Achievement and a Lodestar award for Film London.
Dame Miranda is proud to be an Ambassador for Women’s Refuge.
