“The Royal Treatment”s Chelsie Preston Crayford On New Role, Daughter, And New Zealand

This amazing actress just made her Netflix debut!

You may recognize Chelsie from her long list of amazing roles, including as ‘Missy’ in Shortland Street and Sophie Walsh in “The Code”. Now, she has joined the star-studded cast, including Aladdin’s Mena Massoud and Disney actress Laura Marano, in the new Netflix film “The Royal Treatment”.

We had the amazing opportunity to talk to Chelsie on her brand new role, her biggest music inspiration and more!

1. When did you first realize you wanted to become an actress?My parents and a lot of my family is in film, so my first job was when I was 4 for one of my parent’s friends. When I was growing up it was just something I did as a result of that, so initially it wasn’t really a choice. When I was about 18 I took some time off acting to go to university and quickly realised I really missed it. I think that was the moment I actually chose it for myself. 

Q: Tell us about your new character in Netflix’s “The Royal Treatment”.

C: “Destiny is a sass-queen-nail-artist-hair-dresser from NYC. She’s loyal and honest and very very silly. She was lots of fun to play.”

Q: Do you have any funny stories from filming the new movie?

C: “I can’t think of any stories exactly but Grace Bentley-Tsibuah who played Lola made me laugh a lot. The director Rick Jacobson encouraged us to improvise so we had a lot of fun with that. The characters are kind of larger than life which was so fun. I think we spent a lot of the time whipping ourselves into a state of hysteria and trying to make the crew laugh.”

Q: What is the entertainment industry like in New Zealand?

C: “Very different from the states! NZ is very small so we have a pretty tight knit little industry where most people know each other. Unfortunately there are some important things that are still not well regulated so we do have some catching up to do there, such as having a quota of local actors that any international production needs to employ if they want to film here, which every other country in the western world has. The Royal Treatment is well-populated with NZ actors and is a great example in that respect!”

Q: You have starred in so many amazing films and TV shows; which was your favorite role?

C: “That’s so nice, I’m blushing! I made a short film with my daughter a few years ago which was pretty up there in terms of life experiences – it’s called ‘Falling Up’ and you can find it in my instagram bio. And keep an eye out for an upcoming film I was in called ‘Nude Tuesday’ – It stars Jemaine Clement amongst many other talented NZ actors and comedians and is all in a fictional language, subtitled by different comedians so you can watch different versions. In my very biased opinion is going to be utterly hilarious and like nothing else in the world right now.”

Q: Who would you say is your biggest music inspiration?

C: “My dad Jonathan Crayford is a gifted musician so without question it would be him. I have a 6-year-old daughter Olive who is also incredibly into music and is now working out her favorite songs on the piano. It’s a joy to watch.”

Q: What are some of your biggest goals for your career?

C: “I have been writing a film myself for the last 3 years called ‘Caterpillar’ which is getting closer and closer to being ready to make, so making that and having a lot of people see it and enjoy it some day is a big goal. I’d like to keep making movies, both mine and other peoples. Most of all my goal is pretty similar to when I first started out – to collaborate with kind clever people on projects that inspire and delight!”

Q: Where can we follow your amazing journey?

C: “I’m chelsieflorence on insta, hmu!”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Photo Credits: Dean O’Gorman

Je’Kayla Crawford– Editor In-Chief– Je’Kayla has been a journalist for years and decided to start a publication of her own, New Scene. When not helping her team and working on the monthly issues, you can find her watching a movie on Netflix or baking using a viral Tasty recipe.