Leanne Black

Leanne Miller is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who is portrayed by Jennifer Ludlam. Leanne debuted as the mother of established character Nicole Miller (Sally Martin) in a guest role in 2010, before reprising the role in more central positions in both 2011 and 2014.

Creation and casting
The character of Leanne was created as the mother of established character Nicole Miller (Sally Martin) in a storyline that saw her come out as bisexual to her family and reveal her relationship with Maia Jeffries (Anna Jullienne).[1] Jennifer Ludlam was offered the role due to what she believed as, "being a certain age, and looking like I could pass for Nicole's mother."[2] Leanne debuted onscreen in April 2010 and Ludlam enjoyed shooting the show due to the outspoken nature of her character.[1] Ludlam was offered a reprisal of the role the following year and she appeared for 5 weeks in recurring role.[1] She made her last appearance on 25 February 2011. Ludlam was offered to reprise the role 3 years later and agreed upon learning she was going to have, "my own arc and be a person."[3] Leanne returned in March 2014,[4] in a more central role that saw her become the receptionist at the hospital.[5] Ludlam found it daunting filming at the reception desk due to its "iconic" nature and having worked with several former actors who played the receptionist role such as Elizabeth McRae (Marj Brasch), Geraldine Brophy (Moira Crombie) and Alison Quigan (Yvonne Jeffries).[2]

Storylines
In late 2009 Nicole Miller (Sally Martin) informed recently discovered half sister Morgan Braithwaite (Bonnie Soper) that her family were eager to meet her, primarily her mother, Leanne. Several months after Morgans untimely death, Nicole's ex-girlfriend Maia Jeffries (Anna Jullienne) and Gerald Tippett (Harry McNaughton) visited Tauranga to find a recently runaway Nicole and ended up staying at Leanne's house. Nicole and Maia were forced to keep their relationship private due to Leanne's conservative nature but when Nicole eventually came out, Leanne disowned her unless she dumped Maia permanently. Nicole at first accepted but later fled Tauranga and reunited with Maia in Ferndale. The following year Leanne arrived in Ferndale and pronounced her new pro-gay attitude, showing open approval of Nicole and Maia's relationship. However, after discovering Maia had cheated on Nicole, Leanne set about sabotaging the two and tried to set Nicole up with both Hunter McKay (Lee Donoghue) and Maxwell Avia (Robbie Magasiva). Whilst out for a walk, Leanne was mugged and injured, extending her stay in Ferndale that eventually saw her receive a job as the hospital receptionist. However Leanne soon realised she was holding Nicole back from a relationship and returned to Tauranga. In 2012 Nicole visited Leanne after her brother Eric (Mick Andrews) had a severe schizophrenic episode. In 2014 Nicole and Vinnie Kruse (Pua Magasiva) returned to Tauranga after Leanne requested help with Eric once again. However, when Nicole suggested Leanne was the issue, she kicked her out only to show up in Ferndale with Eric. Following Eric being sent into care, Leanne made it clear that she thought Nicole should date Vinnie over girlfriend Harper Whitley (Ria Vandervis). She returned to her role as receptionist at the hospital having sold her house in Tauranga. Leanne had a brief flirtation with Murray Cooper (Matthew Chamberlain) after mistakingly believing he and his wife Wendy (Jacqueline Nairn) were swingers. She began to date Nev Carlson (Stuart Devenie) much to the angst of Nicole, but he left her for one of his five ex-wives. Leanne soon found herself becoming a burden to her family but this changed when she began to date Howard Black (Michael Saccente) who lavished her in expensive gifts. Though it soon turned out he had a potentially terminal illness and he returned to America, with Leanne nearly joining him on the day of Nicole's wedding. In 2016 Leanne began to feel elderly and underwent plastic surgery only for the anaesthetic not to work, leading to her being awake during the aborted procedure. Feeling increasingly unwanted at work, Leanne was overjoyed when Howard returned to Ferndale. The two decided to marry and after realising how much she needed to move on, she left Ferndale. At the wedding ceremony only days later, Nicole and Leanne expressed their love and she departed with her new husband to the United States.