Karen O'Leary Photo: Supplied: Michelle Hyslop
“Accidental celebrity” Karen O’Leary was an early childhood education teacher for 21 years before she began pursuing a career as a performer, making her screen debut as a diligent police officer in Wellington Paranormal.
“What I do now is very similar to early childhood teaching," she says.
"I’m basically getting to meet and work with a diverse range of people and try and form positive relationships… they’re just a lot taller than the people I used to work with at the early childhood centre.”
Today, O’Leary isn’t the sort to sit at home and watch the telly – even though she’s currently all over it, as a contestant in Taskmaster, a hire shop owner in Far North and a co-host in Paddy Gower Has Issues. Nevertheless, she gamely joined Culture 101 to talk about her current favourite diversions.
“Mike Minogue [O’Leary’s co-star in Wellington Paranormal] often jokes about the fact that despite being on the TV, I never really watch TV or movies or know nothing about any of those things.”
Live music and all that jazz
“I very much enjoy going to watch my delightful partner Eilish Wilson, who’s just come back from the States after doing her Fulbright and getting her Master's. She does jazz saxophone. She was playing with the Mingus Band the other night in Wellington.
“The Jazz Fest is coming up in October so I'll be getting saturated with amazing music that hopefully Eilish is playing then.”
Her Full Disclosure podcast
“I always think that if you can be open about who you are - in a good way, in a positive way - and if that can help other people then that's really important. That’s what I hope the podcast does as well, listening to other people telling their stories. And if anyone's listening and thinks you know what, this [coming out] is going to be too hard, hearing other people's experiences (and you know, a lot of them are really positive), I think that can be hopefully really helpful to affect positive change.”
Creamerie
“This is nothing to do with the fact that the fact that Perlina was my one saving grace on Celebrity Treasure Island. Creamerie, I absolutely binge-watched the second season. It is amazing. If you haven't watched it, you should because it'll make you a better person. It’s the one thing I have actually watched apart from Love Island.”
The fun of Fun and Funner
“As an early childhood teacher, the music that we would be given or that we could access that was theoretically for children was so bland, so boring, it just made you want to poke your eye out with a compass. I thought, ‘no, this is not good enough, children deserve better’. And there's no reason why children can't have an eclectic range of genres to listen to. So me and my best friend Tom Watson started this ridiculous band called Fun and Funner. We just wanted to make a range of songs that you know that that really appeal to children.
Here is a brand new song from Fun and Funner called 'Loveliness of Ladybirds', available for the first time via Culture 101:
Video Credit: Lee Gingold and NZ On Air
