Robyn Malcolm, who has forged a career in theatre and television, spoke at the final event of Clutha's Week for Women, a dinner in Balclutha last night.
She talked about her most famous role as Cheryl West, the matriarch of the West family from the programme that has won numerous awards and has been sold overseas.
The fifth season begins on TV3 next month and filming for the sixth season will start towards the end of this year.
Malcolm said the cast and crew had gelled quickly into a very happy family and that, she believed, was what made the series appeal to so many people.
New Zealand, as a nation, had matured in recent years.
Earlier television drama-comedies had not fared well for some reason, but she said "the time was right" for something like Outrageous Fortune.
But when pressed to reveal any plotlines or stories for the coming fifth season, she admitted the whole series was a bit of a blur.
Filming of season five happened just weeks after the fourth season and it seemed like a year since filming had wrapped.
