SnapChat: Fern Sutherland

Fern Sutherland returns in The Brokenwood Mysteries on Prime.

My first job was … delivering the now defunct midweek paper in Taranaki. I think I was paid just over $5 after tax. I used my school bag along with a completely bespoke saddle bag Dad fashioned out of an old trailer tarp for my bike. Mum would often help me fold the papers pre-delivery at the kitchen table. It took all the strength I had to bike up the hill to my route when laden with papers. I got a complaint once because mysteriously a pile of those papers was discovered in an open drain on my delivery route ...

It taught me … Rich people aren't necessarily rich because they work hard.

My big break came … I guess straight after drama school when I got a role in The Ensemble Project, directed by Michael Hurst and Oliver Driver. We performed a devised show and a Gothic classic, repertory style. I don't think I was particularly noticeable in either production but it definitely felt like the start of something and I learned a lot about myself.

The last job I quit was … I was doing digital content curation. I didn't know what it was before I started, nor do I know what it is now but the people were the best and I left only because I shifted to Canada.

The most famous person I've ever met is … I don't seem to bump into famous people but once when I was about 16 years old and still in New Plymouth I saw Shihad sitting outside a bar. I got them to sign the paper bag from my M&M subway cookie. I had just been to their show and it's still one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

They were … So nice. I felt sick with nerves talking to them. If they had judgments about the Subway bag, they reserved them.

The best time I've had on set was … Weirdly, it was receiving the news of the death of a loved one, and dissolving into tears. I walked on set afterward and somehow everyone in the crew knew, and they were all so loving and supportive. It was a hard night shoot in the rain and everyone was struggling, but somehow they were all so compassionate. It actually made me want to cry more but I felt so grateful.

But the worst was … I can now look at the "worst" times and laugh out loud. At the time, when you're tired and feel hard done by, small things seem insurmountable. Like when we were running so behind that the tide came in on the beach and we were all madly grabbing equipment before it washed away; having the flu and not being able to speak because my voice had gone; sleeping through my alarm and arriving an hour after my call time; E-Z Ups heavy with rain collapsing on top of people; having my script poking out of my pocket but no one noticing until we'd shot the whole scene. Those things are funny to me now. But not funny to anyone at the time.

My dream project would be … A Brokenwood/Shortland St crossover episode. Failing that, I should like to do some film acting because I've never done it before and the conventions of film are interesting to me. A character with a story arc I can chart throughout the course of a film would be particularly fulfilling.

• Fern Sutherland stars in The Brokenwood Mysteries, screening on Prime, Sundays at 8.30pm