I Woke Up Like This: Halifax star Ming-Zhu Hii's 'appalling' morning habit

In our 'I Woke Up Like This' series, 9Honey removes the filters from everyday life and bares all for a much-needed reality check.

Speaking to a range of people — from faces you know to faces you will want to know — we tear away the façade of make-up and social media and bring things back to basics with realistic 'I woke up like this' selfies and morning routines.

Today, we're 'waking up' with actor, director and Halifax: Retribution star Ming-Zhu Hii.

What time do you wake up?

"If I'm shooting it could be anything from 4am-10am! I'm not naturally a morning person though, so my 'alarm-free' wake up time is usually about 8.30am."

How many alarms do you set?

"More like, 'how many times do you hit snooze?' Usually about 26. I'm appalling."

Tea or coffee?

"Coffee with a coffee chaser."

What do you have for breakfast in the morning?

"I'm much more of a brunch than a brekky girl. On ideal days, I'll wait until about 11am then have something big, hearty and full of greens like a veggie 'Buddha bowl' or spinach and avo on seedy home-made bread."

TV, radio, podcast or silence?

"Silence, or very soft classical music."

How long does it take for you to get out the door?

"At least 30 minutes longer than I've allowed for. Without fail."

What's your unusual morning ritual or habit?

"I try to write in my journal most mornings with my (first) coffee. It helps slough off the brain muck from the night before and gets me centred for the day ahead."

What's the one thing you never have time for in the morning?

"A proper yoga practice. I've really got to do something about that."

What's the one thing you must do every morning without fail?

"Shower at length. Is that terrible? Probably. It's where I remember all the things I've forgotten to tell my husband to do around the house."

What's your morning beauty routine?

"Very minimal. A blast of cold water on my face as I'm getting out of the shower, Aesop toner, Botani Olive Skin Serum mixed with Dermalogica Calm Water Gel, a slathering of sunscreen and I'm good to go.

"If I'm primping for a meeting or audition, I'll use mascara, eyebrow gel and a couple of simple products that can do double or triple-duty (like RMS Lip-to-Cheek) for colour and definition. But I avoid using base as much as possible, and these days will happily go out bare-faced in nothing but sunscreen, specs and a swipe of bold lippie."

Halifax: Retribution premieres Tuesday August 25 at 8.40pm on Nine and 9Now