Introducing our Good B*tch Joy Bringer Winner: the incredible, talented, kind and yes, joyful The White Lotus star Morgana O’Reilly!
When we first came up with the idea for Capsule Good B*tch awards, we knew we wanted it to be a celebration – and we had no idea how big that celebration would be. We have been overwhelmed by the response – thank you SO much for supporting us in this – and we already have big plans for expanding the next year. The talent, kindness and vulnerability shown by our GB nominees has always inspired us and we feel so privileged that we were able to share their stories and mahi on Capsule. As you can imagine, judging was tough and between the Capsule and Shark Beauty judging panels, we were able to narrow down this wonderful field to highlight the winners for each category.
Before she was one of the newest guests to check into the upcoming season of The White Lotus, Morgana O’Reilly has been one of NZ’s most prolific – and delightful! – actors. She won an Emmy for her pandemic series, Inside, and her one-woman show, Stories About My Body, has taken Aotearoa by a storm as she delves into the politics, privileges and unabashed joy of all things body image, pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Morgana uses her own experiences to help other people feel inspired and connected; like her showing her birth video live on-screen during her one-woman show, which she is now turning into a movie.
Says the Capsule team: “To be in Morgana O’Reilly’s presence is to have the sun shine directly on you. She has an innate sense of overflowing joy to her, which, thankfully, she is more than willing to share. She’s one heck of a hard worker, who already has an Emmy under her belt and is about to star in one of the biggest shows in the world. Morgana uses her platform for good – and for joy. She raises other women (and men) up, and is always willing to put her neck out for a cause she passionately believes in, or a person in need. Morgana is a true Joy Bringer and we are thrilled to celebrate her.”
Adds Shark Beauty: “Shark Beauty honours Morgana O’Reilly for her fearless storytelling that embodies empowerment and authenticity —values central to Shark Beauty. Through her Emmy-winning work and powerful one-woman show, Morgana tackles body image and postpartum with unflinching honesty, turning her personal journey into an inspiring celebration of vulnerability, strength, and self-expression.” – Arneka Grosvenor, Marketing and Communications Director, Shark Beauty
We gave Morgana a call across the Tasman where she – and her husband – are both working on projects in Sydney (plus they’ve brought their kids Luna (9) and Ziggy (6) along!), to say congratulations and learn about how we too can bring a little more joy into our lives…
How does it feel to be a Good B*tch, Morgana?
I think it’s the height of compliments, isn’t it? I mean, it’s up there with being told that you’re a good cu*t. You know when someone says that to you… oh, it’s good. It’s a lovely thing.
One of the things we love about you Morgana – why you’re our Joy Bringer – is that you don’t just bring us joy through your work as an actor (so many of us cried tears of laughter at Stories About My Body and tears from being so thoroughly moved) but you bring us joy in your day to day life. You use your platform for good. You’re so genuine and real, and on Instagram you’re always celebrating others’ successes or milestones, or you’re shining a light on important issues, like what is happening in Gaza.
Oh thank you, that’s so sweeeeeeet! Because, also, I often feel like, am I doing enough? It’s amazing on one hand, that at least I have a soapbox where I can talk about these things, but… do I do enough? I never want to be too precious about what I’m doing online though – I feel glad that I’m in a position where it’s not my bread and butter and that I can just use it and be me when I want to be.
When I think about joy and happiness, I often think of that old adage that ‘Happiness is an inside job’ – it’s a choice we have to make, and sometimes it takes a lot of work. Is joy something you prioritise and work hard for?
I actually have this joke with my children – they’re nine and six now – where I say, ‘What is life filled with?’ And they say, ‘Pain!’ And then I say, ‘That’s why we have to find the…’ And they say, ‘Joy!’
I do that because I got to this point of realisation about myself and parenting. I’m not a parent who says, ‘Oh, you’re alright!’ when they hurt themselves. We definitely go, ‘oh no! ouch!’ and we talk about it. But then I realised that it’s also important to understand that life is filled with pain in certain ways – sometimes it’s productive pain, like it might be a current discomfort for future gains. That’s so true of working out, or studying, or even giving birth!
And then sometimes it’s genuine pain, hurting yourself very badly, having emotional pain, but it’s all essential to life. And that is why we also have to acknowledge the moments of joy; because happiness isn’t a destination, it’s these moments that pepper our lives that we have to grab. It’s created this lovely little dialogue between the kids, where the kids can say, ‘oh, this is good!’ ‘this is a joy moment!’
My daughter Luna had this lovely moment a while ago, where she said she’d figured out a great joy in life: sitting in front of a heater, reading a book, next to a dog.
If you can just recognise the joys that are scattered, probably an equal dispersion with the pain in life, then I feel like you’re doing pretty well.
YES MORGANA. This is why you’re our Joy Bringer. And it sounds like Luna may be too – she certainly sounds like she’s cracked joy. Now, you do have a lot on – what do you do to fill up your cup?
I know that I need to move my body – I don’t want to call it exercise, because I feel like that’s slightly triggering – but I need to move my body in some way, daily. I need to walk, I need to do yoga. I know that if I tough it up and move around a bit then I will be happier. And I eat good food – green food, good food, good mood. Those are my go-tos now.
Who are the Good B*tches you have in your support network?
I have my girlfriends, my cousins, my sisters, my mum, my aunties. And I have colleagues as well – every job I do, I just love this industry so much. The people in it are just amazing, there’s every brain type and I have just met so many good c*nts in general – that’s the non-binary term for this I think! [Laughs]
And actually, one of the biggest good b*tches in my life is my daughter. She’s been there when I’ve had a few moments of success, particularly in the last wee while, like the scripts arriving for The White Lotus. It has been so amazing to look over at my daughter and say, ‘This is my dream coming true and you get to watch it!’ And she is so happy for me. She’s my best little cheerleader.
We’ll go to a playground and she’ll start playing with another kid, and then I’ll start talking to the mum, as you do, and then Luna will be like, ‘My mum is on The White Lotus’ and I’ll have to be like, Oh my God! But then on the flipside, when things don’t go well – like I remember having a strange work call, and I was picking her up from school and was a bit wound up. I told her I’d had a strange phone call and she said something like, ‘Oh Mum, don’t worry about them, they sound like dicks!’ [Laughs]
“If you can just recognise the joys that are scattered, probably an equal dispersion with the pain in life, then I feel like you’re doing pretty well.”
The best little cheerleader! What do you think might bring you joy in 2025?
Okay, I feel like saying you’re manifesting stuff has become a trite term, but I feel like I finally figured it out. Manifesting is basically just wishing for stuff. You make a wish about what you’d like and you make it really specific, and you say it out loud, like when you’re in the shower or you’re driving.
And so next year, I’m so excited to have The White Lotus come out and see what that does… I mean, part of me is full of trepidation. I might have to tread carefully around social media at that time. I might get completely overlooked! I might just stumble on one single shitty comment at a bad point of a day and that’ll f*ck me up. But, I’m sure it’ll mostly be cool to see how that’ll all come out. It’ll be lovely to watch everybody’s work, because I got to make friends with all these beautiful actors, so I can’t wait for that!
And, we also are finishing up Stories About My Body, so it’ll be outrageous to see it! We’ll submit it to a couple of film festivals, and I don’t know if it’ll go anywhere, but I’m fairly confident it’ll find a place on a streamer and maybe it’ll get to spread some joy. It’s unique and cool and we had the most beautiful team – it was the most joyous shoot!
The Good B*tch Pillars: Community, Purpose, Joy, Leadership and Success:
What’s your favourite way to give back to your COMMUNITY?
Maybe it sounds really basic, but, if I see someone sitting on the street or outside of a shop, if I have money I’ll give it to them or I’ll ask them what they need from the shop and I’ll go buy it. That feels like a very immediate hands-on way to do it. I do what a lot of others do and donate to different groups, but I also like to do good in those situations too.
When do you feel the greatest sense of PURPOSE?
Actually, I find a really solid day or week or whatever it is of parenting. I feel incredibly purposeful and proud. Especially when you’re facing a full family bout of gastro or something. I feel like if we survive out the other end of parenting with some nice, lovely children who will contribute as citizens, well, I feel greatly purposeful doing that.
What’s a recent moment that has brought you JOY?
A couple of weekends ago I went back to NZ for my drama school reunion and saw all these beautiful people that I spent three years of drama school with, Monday to Friday, rolling around on the floor being animals with. And now, they’re all living these beautiful lives! I’m 40 next year, and it’s only now that I’m at an age where I can look back 20 years, of 20 years as being a grown up. It brought me so much joy seeing all these beautiful people who I felt just so natural and comfortable and loved up around, even though, some of them I hadn’t seen in 18 years.
Who is someone you look up to as a LEADER?
There are so many people – I look up to my cousins as fellow mothers. There are those people in your life that you admire their parenting and their values and how they respond to difficult moments to do with family, and they are who I turn to for that. Obviously, I turn to my wonderful mum and dad when it comes to Mum and Dad business, but they’re also amazing with my children and they help me in my work world constantly, because they’re fellow artists.
And, my husband. He is amazing and has taught me a lot about being like, ‘No, ask for this or that, because they should have given you this or that!’ He really encourages the best kind of entitlement to ask for what you need from your employers or from our industry.
And, I think people like Olivia Coleman and Kate Winslet, because I really look to them even though I don’t know them. I mean, I can’t wait to work with them. I can’t wait to know them. I’m manifesting! Manifesting!!
How do you celebrate SUCCESS?
Ok, there are so many different sorts of success – like getting my kids to school without any tears! Then I get to listen to a podcast at the end! What a prize! Otherwise, look, I do love a little jump around when I get good news, or a good fist pump. And, I’m aware that the environment doesn’t need us to buy ourselves any more gifts, but every now and then I will indulge in a prize present.
Okay, side note: How did you celebrate hearing that you’d landed The White Lotus? Did you do a fist pump??
[Laughs] I jumped around and ran on the spot and screamed and shouted. I got the news at like, 7.30am on a Saturday and my husband was working on a set, shooting, so he wasn’t there and my kids were sort of asleep. So I called my parents on Facetime, in tears and they were like, ‘oh GOD, what has happened?!?’ And I was like, all wobbly and giddy, ‘I got that part!’. I was so happy. So giddy.
Who are two good b*tches who you would like to take this opportunity to shine a spotlight on?
OOooh, okay anyone working in childcare. Those people who are busy working away, looking after and helping our small people. They are awesome people, whether they’re involved in the school, or ECE, or they’re babysitters or nannies. They keep this world turning!!
My friend Corrina Thompson, she works for Pillars Ka Pou Whakahou, [Pillars helps to provide wraparound support services to children and families with whānau in prison, and be a bridge between their voices and ideas and the policy making space] she does amazing work with youth and I just think that’s incredible!!
The Capsule Good B*tch Awards has been powered by the absolute good bitches at Shark Beauty. We are incredibly lucky at Capsule to have such an incredible partner who supports our mahi, understands our vision and enables us to tell the stories we think truly matter to New Zealand women, and we thank you immensely!