Sam Aleni is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Rene Naufahu as part of the original cast from 1992 to 1996. Naufahu reprised his role 18 years later from March 2014. Creation and casting After watching Australian soap operas, Neighbours and Home and Away, Caterina De Nave noticed a lack of ethnic diversity in the cast and as such, one of her goals whilst creating Shortland Street was to push new ground and create an ethically diverse cast. At the time of the shows creation there was only 1 Pacific Islander paramedic in New Zealand and as a result producers wrote the role of Sam as a paramedic to help enforce the role of Pacific Islanders in the community. Rene Naufahu auditioned for the role and was cast, but upon the initial phone call informing him of his success, he hung up, believing it to be a prank call. Naufahu was surprised he won the role due to his inexperience and how he believed he knew, "nothing about acting ... I thought all my acting was about eyebrows." He found it strange acting in a workplace with very little fellow Polynesians and noted a scene where Sam attended a party by himself as odd, stating, "what island guy does that?" Naufahu thought the fame associated with appearing on the soap was overbearing and in 1996, quit after 4 years. He requested that Sam be killed off, however this did not come to fruition. Sam made his final appearance as a regular on 6 August 1996. Naufahu was offered to reprise the role multiple times following his departure, but he never felt it was the right time. Producers planned a storyline in 2014 that would see Sam return as a love interest for Vasa Levi (Teuila Blakely). When asked to reprise the role Naufahu accepted after learning what pleasure it would bring his mother. He was cast in late 2013. It was announced in January that Naufahu would return to the soap. Naufahu was pleased to be working alongside Blakely but was unaware the two would share a romantic storyline. Naufahu had previously acted with Blakely on the soap, when she portrayed an extra at his onscreen wife's funeral in 1994. He found it odd acting alongside a young cast, having been part of the young characters when he first appeared, "I've