Rachel McKenna is a fictional character from the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, played by Angela Bloomfield and who made her first appearance in early 1993. Bloomfield left the role in late 1999, before returning in early 2001 and departing in early 2003. She returned in a guest role in mid-2007 and again in a full-time role in late 2009 before departing once again in late 2016. Bloomfield reprised the role in the first set of 2026 episodes, subtitled Legacy.
Arriving as part of the McKenna family unit, Rachel debuted in early 1993 alongside her mother Alex (Liddy Holloway), the estranged wife of Clinic Director Michael McKenna (Paul Gittins). The family were later joined by Rachel's homosexual brother Jonathon (Kieren Hutchison). Originally a love interest for "heart throb" Stuart Neilson (Martin Henderson), Rachel would go through numerous boyfriends and four husbands including a "will they, won't they?" romance with Chris Warner (Michael Galvin), spanning more than 15 years. She was known for her covering of "ethical issues" such as storylines that featured bulimia, near death experiences, alcoholism, student loan protests, child abuse and being hit by lightning. Her friendship with Nick Harrison (Karl Burnett) spanned numerous years, saw the two become an iconic coupling and even become briefly married during a protest about student allowances.
The character is one of the shows longest running characters and has been labelled as hugely iconic. Many of her storylines have been praised, such as her relationships and "ethical storylines". Bloomfield has been celebrated for her portrayal, winning several awards including "Best Actress" and "Sexiest Female" in TV Guide reader polls.
Creation and casting To broaden viewing audiences and assure they were reaching key demographics, producers incorporated characters into Shortland Street that centred around key-archetypes and family units (middle aged parents, teenage children). Shortly into the show's first season, it was decided to expand on the original-cast member, Clinic Director Michael McKenna (Paul Gittins) (who had appeared since the show's first episode), by introducing his family. A key demographic for the soap was teenagers, specifically women. As such, a 16-year-old daughter was created in the form of Michael's daughter Rachel. She was penned as a love interest for established "heart throb" teenager, Stuart Neilson (Martin Henderson). Angela Bloomfield won the role in August 1992 and did not realise the significance of the show nor the character until much later. She was signed to an initial 5-week contract. Rachel's first scenes involved her leaving the shower in just a towel, an experience Bloomfield described as, "terrifying". Bloomfield believed the role took over her life and that she, "used Rachel to become capable of having a huge argument with partner or parents. After a couple of years I decided I wasn't being true to myself." The storyline where Rachel became an alcoholic proved too heavy for Bloomfield, and to relax following such intense scenes, Bloomfield performed meditation with co-star, Robyn Malcolm (Nurse Ellen Crozier). By the late nineties, Bloomfield had grown sick of the role and quit. The character made her last appearance on 23 September 1999. Rachel was written off in a storyline that saw her leave the country, intentionally leaving the door open for a return in case Bloomfield wished to reprise the role at a later date.
Executive producer Tony Holden asked Bloomfield to reprise the role several times over the next year, to which she declined for a later date. However she soon started to miss the job and when she was offered the role again in late 2000, happily accepted. Television New Zealand assured fans they would not be let down by Rachel's return alongside original character Chris Warner (Michael Galvin), as they would bring a lot of "spice" to the soap. Rachel made her return on screen on 5 February 2001. However once again Bloomfield felt weighed down by the role and found it difficult to stand such a hard nosed character. As the character of Rachel developed into a cold and bitter alcoholic, Bloomfield found herself struggling to identify with her like she previously had, "I think I've grown up, while recently Rachel seems to have regressed." She found the storyline where Rachel had her tubes tied and later shook a baby too hard to do and when producers refused to tone the character down, she quit the show and left in 2002. Bloomfield commented, "Throughout my twenties, I have concentrated almost totally on the show ... But at the same time I've had to grow personally and I did that by myself ... Now it is time for me to put those books down and spend the next 10 years just living." Rachel made her last appearance on 14 February 2003. Whilst taking up a role as a director, Bloomfield agreed to briefly reprise the role in a cameo appearance to celebrate the show's 15th anniversary in June 2007. Bloomfield found it unusual acting after having directed for several years, but was made welcome by co star Michael Galvin (Chris Warner), "I haven't been in front of the camera on this set for such a long time that it felt weird .... Acting with Michael was the easiest part of the job .... Whenever I was on set with anyone else I was nervous, but when I was with him, I felt relaxed."
In early 2009 Bloomfield agreed to reprise the role full-time and was forced to keep the return a secret for much of the year. She signed an initial 9-month contract. Rachel made her reappearance on the show on 23 October 2009. After years of work behind the camera, Bloomfield found her stint a lot more "taxing" and struggled with Rachel's "anti-children" sentiment. Following the show's 20th anniversary, Bloomfield acknowledged the importance she had gained due to her longevity and experience on the show, "I've realised over time that new actors take their cues from us oldies, just like I did from Elizabeth McRae (Marj Brasch) and Paul Gittins (Michael McKenna). What we do has quite an influence on how they are." In 2013, following the 20th anniversary of Rachel's first appearance on the show, Bloomfield announced her intention to stay on with the show in what she saw as a, "perfect fit". However the following year after the axing of Amanda Billing (Sarah Potts), Bloomfield decided she would leave the show in the coming years. In 2016 she quit the role. Bloomfield found that Rachel became a "middle-man", facilitating other characters storylines until her exit storyline. She described the character as an, "agitated woman" that resulted in her being type-cast in the "intense woman box" outside the show and being, "one of the reasons I had to leave because I just couldn’t keep doing that ... anymore." She had been planning to quit for "a couple" years but it, "felt like the right time for me and you know, it is really hard to break away from that show." Producer Maxine Fleming decided Rachel needed an appropriate exit storyline, saying that it, "needed to be dramatic and give some sense of closure for Rachel and the characters close to her." It was decided not to kill Rachel off in case Bloomfield wished to reprise the role at a later date. Fleming said killing Rachel was never an option, "we've killed off a lot of people and ... you take away the potency if you do it too many times through the years." Rachel made her final appearance on 6 October 2016. Six months later, Bloomfield returned to the show as a director for the show's 25th anniversary. She said she would be happy to return as Rachel to "resolve her storyline".
In 2025 following waning ad revenue and a new funding model, Shortland Street was cut from 5-episodes a week to 3, that would air across the year in 4 "mini-seasons". After a largely medical-based storyline season throughout 2025, Producers chose to premiere a "Legacy" mini-season the following year that would have a "tonal-shift" to the soap's original tone, featuring more humour and light-hearted storylines. Bloomfield had been asked several times to reprise her role since departing 9 years prior and always declined, but eventually agreed upon hearing about "Legacy" as, "the storyline felt strong, and timing wise it was perfect." Bloomfield took some time to re-adjust to playing Rachel as she "wanted the audience, from the second they saw her, to go, "wow, she's just dominating like she used to" ... it took me a couple of weeks to find that amongst all these new actors and this new way of filming the show." Alongside Rachel, "Legacy" also saw the returns of David Kearney (Peter Elliott) and Libby Jeffries (Fleur Saville), with Producer Oliver Driver believing the three characters were "Icons. Trouble magnets. Agents of chaos" who helped in "owning" the past of Shortland Street. Rachel's return was announced in a trailer for the new-season airing after the 2025 Christmas cliffhanger.
Development
Characterisation The teenage Rachel was "bolshy" and vastly different from later appearances, being a lot more selfish. She was said to be clever and attractive and fierce like her mother and was once referred to as a, "stroppy little madam who always has to get her own way." When Bloomfield was cast, she read the character synopsis and was pleasantly surprised, "That defensive, overconfident, angry little girl. I can do that, for some reason. She was the sarcastic, say-all-the-things-you-want-to-say-but-no-one-ever-does kid ... She felt she had a high status, and though she really didn't, she gave that to herself and that's a self-defence mechanism." Television New Zealand described her first love as being with, "her mother's credit card" and it was noted that by 1995, Rachel had become the "hippest" thing on New Zealand television due to her parents fortune allowing her to have a vast wardrobe. This was said to be a large change from the "schoolgirl in a miniskirt" who first arrived to the show in 1993. She was said to be physically mature but mentally had a lot of growing to do and also had a "ruthless streak". Bloomfield described the teenage Rachel as "messed up" but praised this aspect of her personality as it allowed her to play "a whole array of emotions". The character is known for her "sharp tongue" and "quick wit". By the mid nineties, it was said that Rachel had, "acquired a calmer approach to life and is looking at the bigger picture for the first time. Now she's into helping others besides herself and is learning to take more of the good with the bad." Bloomfield has stated that due to the characters personality being; "hostile, caustic and aggressive", it made it difficult to continuously play the role. This characterisation of a woman who was, "intense and didn’t suffer fools" contributed to Bloomfield leaving the show in 2016.