I MADE THIS

Inky Pinky Ponky writer and lead actor Amanaki Prescott-Faletau on playing a version of herself.

“A lot of [the show] is based on my real life experiences. I didn’t expect to have [the] trauma rise again. The hardest thing was having to revisit these emotions I thought I had already dealt with. We had open auditions for the main character Lisa, but the production team wasn’t really feeling the girls that came through so they asked me to send in a last-minute tape. I’m so glad I did. It was important that the story was told in its most authentic way and manner. There’s only so much direction you can give to an actor but when you’ve lived the experience, I think it’s just a little bit easier.”

Inky Pinky Ponky, a rangatahi story of queer Polynesian love, is nominated for five awards at the 2023 New Zealand Television Awards, being held on Tuesday. Stream it on maoriplus.co.nz