Superhero just doing her job

Whangarei has its own superhero - but don't expect Whangarei teenager Robyn Maclean to get star-struck, despite having rubbed shoulders with some of New Zealand's most experienced actors during the past three months.
"They're just doing their job, like me," Robyn said.
The 14-year old Kamo High School student is starring as a superhero in new children's adventure show, The Amazing Extraordinary Friends, alongside veteran Kiwi actors such as David McPhail, Peter Feeney, Mark Wright and Whangarei's Stuart Devenie.
"David's funny," Robyn said.
"One time I saw him standing outside his trailer, only in his grunds (underwear) smoking a cigarette. And the cape he has to wear always gets trampled in the mud."
The Amazing Extraordinary Friends - which premieres on TV2 on Saturday at 5pm - centres on Ben Wilson, an "ordinary" Kiwi teenager who goes on a school trip and finds a mysterious metal insignia. The insignia turns him into Captain Extraordinary, and suddenly he's expected to save the city from all kinds of villainous plots.
Robyn plays Wired, who comes into the series in episode four plotting revenge, after the evil Renfield kills her father.
"No one's going to get in her way," Robyn said. "But then she meets the Amazing Extraordinary Friends, and they bring her to the good side."
Wired has "digitising powers" - she can transmit herself through electricity. "She carries her mobile phone with her and - when she remembers to top it up - she can use it to dial a number, and she can transmit herself there," Robyn said. "When she's the normal schoolgirl, she's pretty staunch and everything, but she's also a bit of a nerd. She's into chess, and computer games, and dresses in baggy pants and stuff."
Robyn's star has been shining for most of her life. As a young child she modelled for advertising and appeared in Farmers' catalogues. When she was older her parents decided she needed an "outlet" and sent her to acting classes. "I did (Northland) Youth Theatre, and then Greenstone (television production company) came along. I did Secret Agent Men (children's series) and then auditioned for Amazing Extraordinary Friends."
But despite her high-flying job, Robyn says she's still a Northland teenager at heart. "Sometimes whenever someone says, `Whangarei', I jump in saying something like, `Oh true, bro!' and then I stop and I'm like, `Oops, I mean, oh yes, indeed'."
And having four "big, Maori, Sasquatch brothers" came in handy when she had to rap on-screen. "In one of the later episodes we had to rap, and I didn't know if I'd be any good. Turns out I was - I guess being from up here and having four brothers meant I just picked it up."
Robyn doesn't talk about her job very much with her friends at Kamo High.
"But when do you ever get a job where you get to run around in Lycra and have fun and get paid for it? It's pretty cool."
But she isn't a fan of her skintight superhero costume. "It feels like it's burning holes in you in summer, and it's really cold in the winter. And of course you look at yourself in the mirror and analyse how you look," she said.