Kura Forrester

Kura Leigh Forrester (born 1985) is a New Zealand comedian, actor and writer. In 2019, she won the Billy T Award for best emerging comedian, for her show Kura Woulda Shoulda. She formerly appeared as core cast member Desdemona Schmidt on prime-time soap opera Shortland Street. Forrester was born in Lower Hutt, Wellington to parents Amos (Ngāti Porou) and Robyn, who is Pākehā. Her early years were divided between Wellington and Dunedin. She attended high school at Wellington Girls' College, where she was involved in drama productions and the kapa haka roopu. Following that, Forrester studied performing arts at Auckland's Unitec Institute of Technology – graduating in 2005.

She also trained for eight weeks at Philippe Gaulier's prestigious theatre school in Paris. Among her inspirations, Forrester cites Rachel House, Nancy Brunning, Miriama McDowell, Madeleine Sami, Billy T. James, Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Hannah Gadsby, Jackie van Beek and her family – particularly on her Māori side in Tokomaru Bay, a small community near Gisborne on New Zealand's East Coast.