Ria Vandervis

Who is Ria Vandervis?

Ria Vandervis is a New Zealand actress. She played the role of the villainess Miratrix in Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, and currently portrays Emergency Department Surgeon prodigy Harper Whitley on the long-running TV2 soap opera Shortland Street.

Vandervis was born in Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand in 1984. She attended Columba College in the Dunedin suburb of Roslyn, followed by Auckland's UNITEC School of Performing & Screen Arts, where she completed a three-year course in acting. From 2002 to 2006, she acted in multiple UNITEC theatre productions and short films, and she also had a supporting role in the film The Devil Dared Me To.

In June 2007, she attended the Power Morphicon, the first Power Rangers fan convention of any kind, in Los Angeles alongside her fellow Operation Overdrive cast members. She currently lives in Sydney, Australia.

She had roles in The Cut, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities & Rescue: Special Ops. She also played Layla Soubrani in the Australian hit drama, Packed to the Rafters in series 2.

In 2010, she played the regular role of Senior Constable Roxanne Perez in the Nine Network police drama Cops L.A.C.