Why Angela Bloomfield Left Shortland Street

After Angela Bloomfield started on NZ's longest running soap opera at the age of 19, it was a shock to see her depart Shortland Street last week!

And now it's got us all wondering: Why?

The answer is simpler than you'd think.

"Geez, is 24 years not enough for anybody?"

Bloomfield has been on the long-running soap since just after its inception in 1992. She was just 19 when she joined the cast, playing the no-nonsense Rachel McKenna on and off ever since. Five days a week, 50 weeks a year.

And while it may come as something of a shock to fans that Bloomfield is leaving, she's actually been planning the departure for years.

"It just felt like the right time for me and you know, it is really hard to break away from that show so it was kind of a couple of years in the planning," she says.

There was no big fallout, no drama, no hard feelings. She simply felt like enough was enough.

"I'm 43 and I feel like I've played that character to a place where ... I was thinking it wasn't going to be a place where I could be further challenged. I kind of did it so much that I understood it more than you understand most things.

"That said, with the storyline they came up with for the exit, I was like 'oh no wait, now I'm being challenged - this is awesome'."

Rachel's storyline saw her go down the path of destruction to a point where she eventually had to leave in order to get herself in a good place.

The problem with an exit like Rachel's is that it called for Bloomfield to go to a dark place, a place in which everyone gave her a wide berth - "because they don't want to get in the way of your process".

"So it wasn't the most fun at work I could have in a day. It was pretty depressing."

But she was grateful those final days presented a challenge she hadn't had in years. "[I] dug my heels in, and at the end of every day I felt really satisfied."

Before Shortland Street, Bloomfield had no acting training and only a few commercial roles - without any lines - under her belt.

The five-week contract she originally landed saw her train on the job. Now she's one of New Zealand's best known actresses! 

Read the full story at nzherald.co.nz