Nancy Brunning: nurse Jaki Manu and beyond...

Interview – 2012

Nancy Brunning (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tūhoe) made her television debut in 1992, in the first episode of Shortland Street. Brunning gave a memorable performance as gang girl Tania in movie What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, and later won attention for her role in Mahana. Her work for television included Riwia Brown's adaptation of her play Ngā Wahine, Fish Skin Suit, and an award-winning double performance in the century spanning Ngā Tohu: Signatures. Alongside a busy theatre career, she also directed 2008 short film Journey to Ihipa.

Nancy Brunning passed away in November 2019. In this ScreenTalk interview from 2012, Brunning talked about:

How it took six months to get used to working on the set of Shortland Street
Feeling the pressure of playing the only Māori female character on prime time TV
Having to tell her father she was playing a lesbian in early movie When Love Comes
Writing a diary to develop her tough role in Once Were Warriors sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
Her straight-talking relationship with What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? director Ian Mune
The challenges of playing her character Joy in drama The Strength of Water
Why one particular scene in the film proved to be the hardest to shoot

This video was first uploaded on 20 March 2012, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside

...she was the only regular Māori character — female — on prime time at the time . . . They kept trying to take her to all sorts of different places but I kept resisting, and I did that for a reason. Because at that stage in the 90s, people weren't talking about Jaki Manu the character. They were always referring to her as the Māori nurse on Shortland Street. So anything that got penned for Jaki Manu's character reflected on all Māori women, rather than it just being about this one character.
– Nancy Brunning on acting in Shortland Street, and playing the only Māori female character on prime time TV

Nancy's Full Profile