Sunday brought to you by Mazda. Tonight on Sunday, the superstar couple Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius. Hi. I'm Oscar's date tonight. But what was really going on? I think she had some kind of misgivings of him. A mother seeking answers... She was beginning to see maybe who he really was. ...faces the only man who really knows. He must see now that I'm there for justice for Reeva and the truth. Too short, too fat, too thin, too old, too young, too dark... The queen of our screens... Awesome, sweetheart. ...lets us into her private world. Has there been any room for a personal relationship? Has there been any room for a personal relationship? Yep. Very happy. Has fame come at a cost? The boundary got really clear all of a sudden. 'This is mine.' Captions by Anne Langford. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. Guilty or not guilty? Did Oscar Pistorius murder Reeva Steenkamp or, as he claims, kill her accidentally thinking she was an intruder in their bathroom? The trial will conclude later this week when the judge is due to deliver her verdict. So what really happened that night? What were the events that led up to it, and who was Reeva Steenkamp? Reeva's mother, June, says the couple had only been together for three months, and the family had concerns about the relationship. Earlier this year, June Steenkamp went to the trial seeking answers. She wanted to face the only man in the world who really knows the truth. She must have suffered so much. Besides being in pain, she must have been terrified. Why couldn't I be protecting her, cos we always protected her? Reeva Steenkamp was Barry and June's only child together. They were both divorced with families when they met and married in 1981. Beautiful outside and inside. That was her quality ` caring and loving for others. Probably before herself. Before she would put herself, she would put others before her. Family photos chart the growth of the freckle-faced girl and recall a time when life was carefree. When she was 2... 2 years old, she was in the cupboard with the flour and toothpaste. Her whole face is covered in the flour. She's emptied the whole cupboard. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) As a teenager, Reeva liked to dress up and play the blushing bride. The photo shoot for the wedding dresses... on the beach. Out of all the photographs,... (SOBS) this is my favourite one. She loved dressing up in that way with, like, wedding dresses on. This makes Barry think of what she would have been in her own wedding, you know. The Steenkamp's home has become a shrine to Reeva; every photograph, school certificate and souvenir proudly displayed. Reeva Steenkamp's path to fame says as much about her intelligence and drive as her beauty. Long-time friend Eleni Symeonides wasn't surprised at all by Reeva's success. Reeva was the type of person who did reach for the stars and landed amongst them, that's for sure. The striking young model was resolute. Nothing would sidetrack her aspirations. Reeva was always, literally, mindful of 'you fall off the horse, but how fast you get back on it'. I thought this was going to be the craziest outfit, but it's not. I've seen some insane things today, so, yeah. It's just a pity that she had to die to become famous because that's where she was heading ` to become famous. In 2011, Reeva ended up on the cover of the South African edition of the popular men's magazine FHM. More high-profile appearances followed. Thank you. But Reeva wasn't just a pretty face. If she saw injustice, she let it be known. She was outspoken, you know. She wasn't a shy little girl. She gave her opinion, and she had one. In fact, Reeva managed to put herself through law school ` a fallback in case show business didn't work out. One just wonders what she could have done ` wonderful things in the world, especially for the abused women she was going to work for; to just try and go to schools. The day she was killed, the next day she was going to a school to speak to young girls about abused women and how they must find a voice. Reeva's profile grows even larger when she starts dating world famous athlete Oscar Pistorius. Hi. I'm Oscar's date tonight. Um, he needed a date at the last minute. He said, 'Throw yourself together and come and be my date.' And her parents braced for her life to change in a big way. I said to myself, 'Here we go.' You know, I thought most probably be one of these things where they go out and play in the limelight and partner together, you know, as far as advertising events are concerned. That is what I thought. For the cameras, the couple looks like the perfect picture of glamour and celebrity. But in private, June says there is a different picture. Well, I think she had some kind of misgivings of him. She was beginning to see maybe who he really was. You know, somebody who had a temper and a control... Because she wasn't a girl that you could control. If you told her you can't do that, she would do it. She had her own voice. Over the three months Reeva dates Oscar, her parents never meet the Olympic star. Soon, Reeva's mother, June, will board a plane to travel to the courthouse where she will lie eyes on Oscar for the first time. I'll phone you later, yeah? An agonising year of questions, trying to make sense of the tragedy that's now coming to a head. For me, very hard for me to go there, but I want to go there. I think he has to see me ` the mother, the person who gave birth to her; that he's taken that away. That's what I want to see... That's why I want to look in his face and he must look in mine. He must see now that I'm there for justice for Reeva, no matter what happened. And the truth, obviously. 4 It's been a long journey to this moment ` a moment June Steenkamp has been bracing for. It's the first time she'll be in the same room with Oscar. She's seated in the courtroom waiting when he enters. But the encounter she'd hoped for doesn't happen. He came in and he just looked straight in front of him. This image captures the snapshot in time ` two people whose lives are forever linked, framed in one photograph. He didn't look at me or anything. He just walked straight ahead, and almost with his head slightly down, or maybe away from me. You know. So I don't know if that was on purpose or what. There are four charges against Oscar Pistorius. The most serious is the premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp. If he's found guilty, this charge could carry a life sentence. The first count against the accused is count one. It's one of murder. I understood that she's gone. That's what came home to me. It-It's just the realisation that she's actually dead. This is now the truth. This has happened. It's reality. And that's how I felt. How do you plead? > How do you plead? > Not guilty, My Lady. How do you plead? > Not guilty, My Lady. Thank you. > In court, Pistorius' explanation is read out by his defence team. READS: 'Whilst I admit that I inflicted the fatal gunshot wounds to Reeva, 'this occurrence was indeed an accident in that I mistakenly believed that an intruder 'or intruders had entered my home and posed an imminent threat to Reeva and me.' For Reeva's mother, listening to the testimony is agonising. It's unbearable. The screams. Blood-curdling screams. She was suffering. She was afraid. Even the witness said it was a petrified... And it was escalating, the anxiety. It's emotional, exhausting, and at the end of day one, just as June makes her exit, she comes face to face with Oscar's brother Carl, who was seeking June out. Our camera captures the moment. It was a surprise because no one from the family has ever come towards me to say anything. They said they were sorry that they've done nothing. And they're also struggling with their problems. So I accept that. June Steenkamp goes home to Port Elizabeth during the first week of trial. But as week three begins, she returns to the courtroom. Once again, she's in the same room as Oscar Pistorius, and she wants him to look her in the eyes. While the setting is the same, this time the result is different. He pointedly looked at me, stopped in front of me, and said, 'Good morning.' Barry Bateman, a journalist and author of a book on the case, witnesses the moment June had been waiting to have for a long time. And there was a slight recognition from June as well. But she's been, you know, quite brave, in a lot of senses, to be there and to have to listen to this; and to come face to face with the man who shot her daughter. One of June's biggest fears about being at the trial is hearing the details of Reeva's injuries. Oscar becomes visibly upset; weeping and then vomiting as the pathologist testifies. He became emotional. There were times when you could see he was physically ill. You could hear him gagging. It was quite nasty in court listening to this. I'm angry now. When I hear the details of exactly what happened, I'm angry now; still forgiving, but I'm angry. I think just the injuries and the fear that she must have had in that bathroom, those are the things that get to me, straight to my soul ` my heart and my soul. Three shots. Doof, doof, doof. Oscar Pistorius covers his own head. He says he didn't know Reeva was behind the door. I just try and make myself strong. I don't want to be emotional in front of other people. That is the one thing I don't want to be. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to, um,... (SOBS) Mr and Mrs Steenkamp. I wake up every morning and you are the first people I think of, the first people I pray for. I can't imagine the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness I have caused you and your family. I was simply trying to protect Reeva. I can promise that when she went to bed that night, she felt loved. I believe in my heart that the truth is going to come out. Whatever the truth is, we don't know yet, but by the end of the trial, we will know. What was your mistake? What was your mistake? My mistake is that I took Reeva's life, My Lady. > You killed her. You shot and killed her. Won't you take responsibility for that? Won't you take responsibility for that? I did, My Lady. > Take responsibility for what you've done, Mr Pistorius. You want to tell the court that you...? Over the next few days, the prosecutor tries to dismantle the stories ` his story, arguing that the athlete knowingly killed Reeva Steenkamp. OSCAR: I had my firearm still in front of me. Again I screamed for Reeva to phone... police or security. And then I shouted, and I kept on shouting. Guilty or not guilty? The world waits to hear the fate of a man who inspired so many. A family mourns for the daughter they loved so much. And my child, my most precious child, is gone. It's just too much for me. He's taken that away from me. He has taken that away from me. And a verdict is due later this week. After the break, feisty, polarising and queen of the big and small screen, but has fame come at a cost? I learnt that the hard way. You were encouraged to do Woman's Weekly articles and Woman's Day articles. Kind of serve yourself up on the platter. And it took a few years to discover that A, that's damaging, and B, it's bullshit. And, actually, C, it's no one's business. Air New Zealand's changed their domestic seats. Now you'll have four options every time you book. That concert's coming up. Seat only's perfect if it's just a quick visit. Ah, with seat + bag, taking your gear's no problem. If you might need to change your flight time on the day, book flexitime. Ooh, and your little niece is due soon ` best go with flexiplus in case you need to change the day you fly. Air New Zealand's new domestic seats ` four simple options available every time you book. Visit airnewzealand.co.nz Actor Robyn Malcolm is a survivor. After more than a quarter of a century on stage and screen, her star is still on the rise. She's more in demand than ever before, here and in Australia. Yet, as she reveals to us, that fame has come at a cost. This from Ian Sinclair. Welcome to the private world of Robyn Malcolm. Hello. Come and have some porridge. No. I'm not hungry. No. I'm not hungry. Come here. Poor you. It's a scene played out in thousands of homes across the country. I'm sure there are heaps of parents out there who do, essentially, a night shift, and then they've got to get up to the kids. They've got to keep everything else ticking over. And I'm so used to... I think I live in a permanent state of jetlag. Yeah, I'll turn the telly on. Hold on. It's really irresponsible of me to let them watch 'Family Guy' in the mornings. (LAUGHS) This is how we know her best... in more than two decades of television, from Nurse Crozier on Shortland Street to her latest series Upper Middle Bogan. (SLAMS DRAWER SHUT) Oi, where are you? Come on. Oi, where are you? Come on. Oh, Mum! But it's here where this actor plays her biggest role yet; as Robyn Malcolm ` parent. I think being a mother has helped me get better as an actress too, actually. < In what way? < In what way? Um, I don't take it so seriously. When I came out of drama school, I was incredibly ambitious, very bloody arrogant, whereas now the most important thing in my life is... are those two things out there ` the little ones. Awesome, sweetheart. That's brilliant. But there are boundaries. The deal? No identifying shots of her two boys. She's got wise to the downside of fame. I think becoming a mum has also really made a huge difference. There is... Um, the boundary got really clear all of a sudden. 'This is mine,' you know. Come on. I don't want to have to nag otherwise it gets banned for another week. Have you got everything? Got lunch? Don't worry. There will be somebody to pick you up after school. Only minutes after running the kids to school, there's yet another role switch from parent to playing prostitute. (GRUNTS) I always forget my card. She's landed the part on stage. I mean, I don't know how many roles I've auditioned for this year that I've missed out on. It would be well over 10. In fact, she's built a career based on rejection. 'Too short, too fat, too thin, too old, too young, too dark, too fair.' Whatever. 'No, no, no.' So when you do get a role, there's no time for an off-day. So, how are you feeling this morning? So, how are you feeling this morning? Um, a bit like shit, actually. It's everyone who's got kids. Those little monkeys, they bring home bugs from school. What happens if you're just too sick? You do it. You don't really get sick days. In next to no time, she'll be live on stage. The other good thing about stage performances is that you can look like shit close up and it doesn't matter because you just put pots of make-up on. And deliver she does. # And the gods, and the gods and the gods are powerless. # Robyn has to play first a woman,... then with a costume change, she transforms into a man. Yeah! (LAUGHS RAUCOUSLY) I'll see you later. LAUGHTER All this from an actor who once dreamed of being something quite different. I grew up in Ashburton, and it never occurred to me that it was a possible career. I wanted to be a teacher back then. It was really only when I went to university and I heard about a thing called the NZ Drama School. And from that point there was this kind of unquestioned determination. It wasn't even determination. It was just, 'I'm gonna.' Determination that's never stopped at the stage door. I get a man in to do the nailing at home. That sounded rude, didn't it? Am I still holding the hammer like a girl? Am I still holding the hammer like a girl? WOMAN: Yes. > Robyn Malcolm would be the first to admit she's not shy about backing causes. I know I ride a tricky line sometimes because I put myself out there politically, and I have thrown myself into the media in that way. So hypocrisy could be levelled at me, I guess, in one sense, but I draw those boundaries, and it's my right to draw those boundaries. This time it's animal rights, but she's also campaigned for anti-mining, anti-smacking and the Greens, to name just a few. Does it worry you that when you're putting out your political views that you may alienate some fans < who disagree with you? < who disagree with you? No. I mean, I think that, um... I think it's fair enough, and I, you know, and I would be one of those people who would go, 'She's an actress, she's not a political commentator. Who cares what she thinks?' you know? And I go, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you looked. You looked over here. So it works. It works.' Just yell, 'To the King. To the King.' Then there was her toughest battle when she took on the biggest names in the movie industry over pay. There is no reason why we should not be working under exactly the same conditions, as specified in a contract, as any other actor in the world. And we should also, you know, be on similar pay rates. But then came the backlash. It's turned into a shambles. It's turned into a shambles. Oh, it's turned into a total shambles. You can see it. I can see it. We're all seeing it. We're all behind rocks lobbing grenades at each other. Even her old boss from Shortland Street wrote her off. What you do is you put up two actors, both of whom are damaged goods, and that's really not fair to them. < Did that hurt? Uh... No. I was more kind of bemused. It's, like, 'Damaged goods? What do you mean?' Hey, I would really like to catch up. You can get hold of me on this number. It was Australia that gave Robyn her second chance. How many people are looking at that and thinking, 'Oh, I'd love to have sex with that'? In 'Rake' she lands a major part in a top-rating show. Was your move to Australia connected to the reaction here? Was your move to Australia connected to the reaction here? No, no. It was a practical decision. I was really attracted to going to Australia because it's a much bigger market, and my sense of competition was piqued by that. And her latest? 'Upper Middle Bogan'. Whoooooooa! Yes, Mum! Woo-hoo! Yet another racy role. Is there a risk of being typecast? I was a bit nervous about that. When I first turned up for the costume fittings for Upper Middle Bogan and they busted out all this leopard skin, I went, 'No, no, no!' It was, like, 'So, you see me and you immediately... this is where you go.' Actually, the character in Upper Middle Bogan is quite different. With all this incredible success you've had, has there been any room for a personal relationship? Um, yep, yep. Yep. Very happy. That's it. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Can you tell us a little bit about it? No. No, no, no, no. As you get a greater profile, the personal life must become more important. Yeah, yeah. I learnt that the hard way. You were encouraged to do Woman's Weekly articles and Woman's day articles, and kind of serve yourself up on the platter. And it took a few years to discover that A, that's damaging, and B, it's bullshit. And, actually, C, it's no one's business. Robyn Malcolm ` older and wiser. But in her late 40s, she faces one more barrier. You know, auditioning for roles where the... the requirement of the role is somebody my age, you know, and then seeing it being cast and it going to a 32-year-old. I've never got the pretty girl roles, you know. Apparently, I'm doing one on stage now, but I'm nearly 50. (LAUGHS) < Isn't that great? < Isn't that great? Took a while. (LAUGHS) That's us for tonight. Join us on Facebook and Twitter, Sunday TVNZ.