Laura Hill (actress)

Hill was born in Kent in 1975, to English parents, and lived in Cornwall before emigrating to New Zealand aged 5. Her family first settled in Motueka before moving north to Warkworth. She initially attended Mahurangi College before boarding at Kings' College in Auckland. She then read English literature at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with first-class honours.[2]

Hill's career began in 1999, starring alongside John Bach in the television series Duggan. Her appearance sparked the interest of Shortland Street's producers. Following several departures from the show in 1998 and 1999, ratings for the show dropped in 2000 to the point where cancellation was threatened. Producers decided to reinvent the show to boost audience interest. Jason Daniel was hired as a consultant to drastically alter the show, making it more representative of the social climate of the time. This included eliminating several characters, redesigning the hospital, toning down make up and clothing choices, and introducing a new cast. One of the characters created by Daniel was 'Melanie Thompson', who would be renamed 'Toni' by her debut in early 2001.

Following her newfound success and national attention, Hill was cast in the 2002 cult film Tongan Ninja, alongside Jemaine Clement. In 2007, Hill took 6 months leave to appear in a play in Christchurch. However Toni's exit on screen was left ambiguous so as to appear she may have left permanently. Hill published an open letter assuring her fans that this was not the case and pressed her imminent return. Hill returned to the show in late 2007 but acknowledged that, "they weren't going to have too many options with the character". Instead of using the show as a "net" and under the desire to expand her acting resume, Hill quit the show. She cited health reasons under her resignation and stated, "Shortland Street’s been a big part of my professional life and a time of enormous change and growth for me. That has been great and, although I was ready to leave, it still was a passing of an era." Hill felt lucky to have had the ability to choose to quit, having seen colleagues written off without an option. The character was killed off in June 2008 after coming down with norovirus. She became the first character to get married, give birth, and die on-screen. Hill reprised her role for a cameo as a hallucination on 17 December 2020.[3][4]