| Rachel McKenna | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Shortland Street character | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Angela Bloomfield | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1993–1999, 2001–2003, 2007, 2009–2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 15 January 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 6 October 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Brian Lenanne (1993) Lisa Page (2001) Jason Daniel (2007) Steven Zanoski (2009) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Book appearances | Nick's Story – Shortland Street Books (1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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 hugely iconic. Many of her story lines 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.