Virginie Le Brun
First generation Kiwi
Virginie
Le Brun was absolutely delighted to be given the chance to
return to New Zealand's iconic drama
Shortland
Street.
Virginie plays the role of Gabrielle Jacobs , the intriguing Head
of Surgery with Asperger's Syndrome who broke Dr Chris Warners
heart.
Virginie left the show in early 2010 when her character was sent to
Zurich, but the
Shortland Street writers soon
realised that Gabrielle had unfinished business and asked Virginie
if she was interested in returning.
Virginie is a well known face on our screens, having spent six
years presenting for Juice TV and one year on children's television
series What Now.
She has also appeared in numerous short films and music videos.
With a love of performing even from a young age, Virginie enjoyed
acting throughout her school years.
Her training has been extensive and includes tuition with Raymond
Hawthorne. She also completed all grades for the NZ Speech Board
and Trinity College, London.
Virginie was thrilled to take on the new challenge of
Shortland Street, and her favourite part of the
week is looking at her upcoming scripts to see what her character
Gabrielle is going to be getting up to.
Virginie's research for the part has been an ongoing process and
includes meeting with as many people as possible with Asperger's,
in order to gain a better understanding of her character.
She believes Shortland Street is doing a positive thing by bringing the syndrome to the general population's attention.
During her time away from the show, Virginie worked on a play
called Te Awarua, alongside fellow
Shortland
Street alumni, Te Kohe Tuhaka (Kingi Te Wake) and Gerald
Urquhart (Luke Durville) and written by former
Shortland
Street actor Albert Beltz (Manny Ahutahi).
The play was unique in that it was performed almost entirely in
French and English, with Virginie having to speak the language of
her father, Frenchman Daniel Le Brun, for the majority of the
performance.
In her spare time Virginie enjoys lots of physical sports,
including horse riding and vaulting, mountain biking, and
running.
With a clear passion for high adrenalin activities, Virginie has
also started to learn the challenging craft of stunt work.
She's also a movie addict, listing Amelie and The Empire Strikes
Back as two of her favourite flicks.
Catch Virginie as Gabrielle, weeknights 7pm
TV2.
