Actress, Playwright & Poet. Born in Dunedin, she, her older brother Jeff and mother Beth moved around in her early years, first to Malaysia and then to Waiouru because of her father Bruce's role in the New Zealand Army. She went to Queen's High School on their return to Dunedin and it was here that drama teacher Terry McTavish inspired her to study acting as a profession. She moved to Wellington in 1982 and graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1984. It was while studying there that she met writer and director Danny Mulheron. The couple went on to have her only child, daughter Florence. Amas also read plays and stories on radio but it was the theatre, and in particular, Circa Theatre in Wellington, where she performed the most. From Stuff website