| Chelsie Preston Crayford | |
| Birth Place: | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Nationality: | New Zealand |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Parents: | Gaylene Preston and Jonathan Crayford |
| Education: | Wellington East Girls' College Wellington High School Toi Whakaari |
| Awards: | Logie Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer (2012) |
Chelsie Florence Preston Crayford (born 1987), sometimes credited as Chelsie Florence, is a New Zealand actress.
Preston Crayford was born in Wellington to film maker Gaylene Preston and musician Jonathan Crayford. Apart from appearing in a water safety commercial at the age of four, her acting debut was at the age of 13 in the New Zealand-made TV series A Twist in the Tale starring William Shatner. Several years later, her performance in a stage production was praised by Ian McKellen, encouraging her to pursue an acting career and enrol in the Toi Whakaari national drama school from 2006 to 2008.[1] She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts.[2]
Preston Crayford played a guest role in the soap opera Shortland Street in 2003, and made her feature film debut in the comedy Eagle vs Shark in 2007. In 2009, she played a major role in the TV series The Cult. In 2011, she played brothel madam Tilly Devine in the Australian crime drama , a role for which she won the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer at the 2012 Logie Awards.[3]
Since then she has appeared in an ABC TV adaptation of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, in Hope and Wire (a mini-series produced by her mother about the 2010 Canterbury earthquake), government communications advisor Sophie Walsh in the Australian techno-thriller The Code,[4] and as the Sorceress Kaya in the third season of Ash vs Evil Dead.
She portrayed suffragette Annabella Maktelow (1871–1963) in Hot Words and Bold Retorts (2018), a short film directed by her mother Gaylene Preston.[5] [6] She wrote, directed, and starred in the short film Falling Up (2018).[7]
Preston Crayford also starred as Melissa Flowers in , a television adaptation of crime fiction writer Paul Cleave's novel The Cleaner.[8] [9]
Preston Crawford has one child, a daughter, with her ex-partner, cinematographer Ray Edwards.[10] She is currently in a relationship with comedian Guy Montgomery.[11]