Singer and Shortland Street star Bella Kalolo bonds with Anika over body image, performing with Chaka Khan, and achieving her quiet dreams.

Shortland Street star Bella Kalolo talks about fat-shaming and smashing glass ceilings as she quietly goes about achieving her quiet dreams in this episode of It's Personal with Anika Moa.

Watch the video version of the episode here

On her singing career highlights

Doing Glastonbury (with a broken tibia)

"We had to cover my my leg with a rubbish bag - every day. Because that's just poos and dirt and urine all mixed up. The spillage that was coming from all of the lavatories was amazing. That wasn't fun. But everything else, like being able to meet Neneh Cherry outside, at the back of her gig it was just amazing."

On meeting John Mayer

"So many people asked me, "what did he smell like?" That was the main question from women. He smelled like a person didn't he? I don't know, he was so nice, not fake nice, he was so lovely."

Performing with Chaka Khan

"The highlight would be Chaka Khan, 100 percent.

"She's headlining the Sydney Festival and I hear that she's going to be at the...I think it was like a dignitaries night. So we were playing at that night. We finished our gig, went back to the greenroom, so I'm towelling my face and then  knock on the door and it's the coordinator for the festival. And then he goes there's someone here that wants to meet you... and then he goes Chaka Khan."

"I got called into her little boudoir. She's so f'in cool, she's sitting there with a massive, like, feathered fan, smoking. So I get in there and then we talk, and then we get to the song choice ... she goes, 'I'm Every Woman, do you know it?' I've been singing it since I was like, you know, 19. So then I did it - it's online." 

On acting

"I absolutely love where I'm at. And this has been a goal for me. Just one of those quiet goals, you know, that you keep to yourself in your heart. And I remember crossing the bridge kind of near the Greek Orthodox Church, just in town, going over the bridge going, I feel like in my mind I've made it if I get this and then it happened. And then I was like, I kissed a photo of my mom and dad because they've passed away now. So I was like 'we made it, we made it'."

Quiet dreams…

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Oscar-nominated film producer Chelsea Winstanley talks to Anika about overcoming trauma, taking risks, and coming out on top.

The first guest on Anika Moa's new podcast, It's Personal with Anika Moa, is the oscar-nominated producer Chelsea Winstanley.

Watch the video version of the episode here

Chelsea's rise to the top has been littered with potholes - childhood abuse, a life-shattering car accident and a high-profile marriage breakdown. But she proves Anika's theory that the most interesting and inspiring people have often been broken and had to rebuild.

On translating Disney movies

"Why not? I think if we want to make an impact or a change with our language in this country, we need to go to and work with the biggest global giant in the entertainment industry.

"One night we were having dinner and we just got out those chalk pen things and wrote on the windows. We were like, what kind of contribution could we make towards te reo Māori for our kids, for our mokopuna, for our babies, and in the future and what do we do in our lives daily that we could enhance that? So, okay, we work in this industry, what would it look like if we just took product in our sphere, in what we do and put that into te reo Māori and put that into public spaces.

On making it happen

"At the time, Taika was editing Thor so he's on the Disney lot. I said to him, give me the person who can  make a connection with Disney. He didn't really have anyone we could specifically talk to, but gave us, like, the intern of someone else. She was a young Hawaiian woman, she put us on to one of the producers, who then put us onto the guy in charge of international voices."

"So I get on a plane and go to LA, because we decided to move over there at that point, take the kids. And so I walk into the Disney studio lot, thinking it was probably going to be me, Rick, and one other. It's like a whole big boardroom table with about ten people. And then  just basically winged it. They were like, 'oh, this sounds great'."

On chasing her dreams while solo parenting

"It's a humiliating space to be in, the DPB. You feel heaps of whakama/shame that you're taking taxpayers money so you can feed your kid. And that's not a good space to be in. It's not the right motivation for you to want to go back and study, for you to feel shame. It should be more like, oh, I want to further my education and it was, I wanted to build a life for my son, I suppose."…

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Anika Moa has a new podcast! She chats about issues that are personal to her and her guests, with the likes of movie producer Chelsea Winstanley, White Ferns captain Sophie Devine, actor Robyn Malcolm and comedian Tom Sainsbury - plus many more.

Watch the video version of the trailer here.

This brand new interview series deals with issues that are personal to Anika and her guests. From body image with Bella Kalolo, touring with Tami Neilson and authenticity with Australian musician Jen Cloher.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details