Leilani is Jonah’s beautiful, feisty, passionate, political daughter. Although she has traces of her father’s people management skills, her wild idealism brings with it a certain lack of both common sense and of thinking things all the way through before leaping into action.
There are those who doubt Jonah’s story that her mother was eaten by a giant whale shark the size of a whale while swimming one day. More tend to believe the story that she went to Melbourne to feed her shoe addiction and has never returned. Whatever the truth, Leilani grew up with only her father and her beauty to keep her company. And her anger, of course.
As she grew older and more beautiful, Leilani became increasingly angry about the world she saw around her – the corruption of the Fe’ausian Royal Family and the way her beloved Fe’ausi was being sold off to the highest bidder. When she was old enough to write, Leilani started the Fe’ausi pro-Democracy movement, the Free Fe’ausi Front (FFF). She has been its guiding light for many years now. For most of those years she has been its only light, actually. It’s only lately, when she has blossomed into a beautiful, intelligent, extremely beautiful, outspoken woman of much beauty, that she has become trouble on the island – mainly because she was leading the men on with her beauty and forcing them to listen to her on the off chance she might sleep with them if they did. Also the single women of Fe’ausi didn’t like her because all the men wanted to sleep with her.
Thus Leilani has been deported to New Zealand, to be with her father; who just wants to hide her away because she is severely endangering his chance to land the job of King. Unfortunately Leighton goes and does that thing a lot of straight men (and some of the gay ones too) do when they see his daughter. He has fallen in love with her – which means that he might listen to her big mouth and stir up trouble with the New Zealand government. Even worse, there are signs Leilani may view Leighton as the man who can fill the void in her life. But Jonah and his forces are there to put a stop to any budding romance.
What Jonah quickly realises is that his biggest ally in preventing any Leighton/Leilani hook-up is Leighton himself. It was a dalliance with a member of a Royal Family that got Leighton sent to this particular Siberia and he knows cannot, must not, make that same mistake again. No, even as he pines for Leilani; even as he sees in her a kindred spirit and the future mother of his children, he cannot get involved with another member of any royal family anywhere. He must keep her at arm’s length.
Prior to landing the role of Leilani, Lesley-Ann Brandt was working in IT recruitment. Diplomatic Immunity marks her first major break into the New Zealand acting scene.
In 2007, she scored a guest role on New Zealand’s weeknight serial drama Shortland Street as well as a lead role in the short film The Flamingo.
During the past four years, Lesley-Ann has featured in a string of television commercials and has worked as a model.
