Actor became pathfinder for generation of M¯aori women in film and theatre
At the age of just 20, Nancy Brunning would become a household name, after winning a leading role in Shortland Street, at her first audition. Almost 30 years later, it is difficult for some New Zealanders to remember that a Ma¯ ori actor playing a nurse or a doctor on a mainstream television production was a talking point and an eye-opener for much of the Shortland Street audience. Brunning and Temuera Morrison were among the very first to inhabit traditionally Pa¯ keha¯ typecasts and to make those roles their own.
But it was in the years that followed, out of the mainstream spotlight, toiling with passion in the service of smaller films, independent theatre and projects that might never reach the popular consciousness, that Brunning, who has died aged 48, grew to become a true leader and a trailblazer. For a generation of Ma¯ ori women who today are producing some of our most important and insightful dramas – on stage and screen – she was an inspiration and a kaiwhakatere who found paths where few had been before.
She was born and raised in Taupo¯ , of Nga¯ ti Raukawa and Nga¯ i Tu¯ hoe descent, moving to Wellington in 1990 and winning a place at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. Even in her student days, it was obvious to those around her that she had something special. Actor and tutor Miranda Harcourt wrote of Toi Whakaari director Sunny Amey’s excitement when Brunning arrived at the school.
After Shortland Street, she returned to theatre. In 1992, she won the award for Most Promising Female Actor at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for the all-Ma¯ ori women production Nga¯ Wa¯ hine.
In 1994, she appeared in Nga Tangata Toa,
written by Hone Kouka and directed by Colin McColl. More stage roles followed, in Blue Smoke, Waiora and Beauty and the Beast. All the while, directors, scriptwriters and fellow actors were learning to trust her insight and blazing intelligence.
Returning to film, Nancy had a starring role in the Once Were Warriors sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? In that uneven but under-rated film, her performance as Tania, the gang girl with vengeance on her mind, saw her own every moment she was on screen, even when up against far louder and more physically imposing performers.
Roles in Sam Pillsbury’s Crooked Earth
and Peter Burger’s award-winning short film Tu¯ rangawaewae followed, with more work on and behind the stage in Wellington’s and Auckland’s theatres.
By the 2000s, she was a totemic figure in the New Zealand film and theatre worlds. Strong performances in feature films The Strength of Water and Mahana – continuing her long professional partnership with
‘‘Nancy was a leader who was loved ... Actors and collaborators trusted her and would die in a ditch for her. That’s mana.’’
Director David Stubbs
Temuera Morrison, with whom she had also worked on
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? and Crooked Earth – led to more award nominations and more mainstream recognition of the clarity and focus of Brunning’s acting.
She was equally reliable and watchable in TV roles in
The Brokenwood Mysteries, Ko¯ rero Mai and The Cult. Her performance and presence in 2019’s Daffodils prompted director David Stubbs to write: ‘‘There are some pretty wonderful people working in our industry. But Nancy was next level. Absolutely one of the most honest and generous people I’ve ever met. And the proof is in the pudding.
‘‘Undeniable professionalism and artistry demonstrated in every facet of the stage and screen. But what struck me the most was that Nancy was a leader who was loved. I saw this again and again in the hearts of the beautiful wha¯ nau of actors and collaborators that trusted her and would die in a ditch for her. That’s mana.’’ Her longtime agent, Graham Dunster, was equally effusive. ‘‘She was a warm, loving, talented actress who was passionate about being the best, doing the best and working collaboratively. Her passion for theatre was unequalled, her passion for Ma¯ oridom was a spur to us all, her dignity at all times, until the end, was equally a challenge to us all to strive to do as well ourselves.
‘‘I sat with her in the hospice two weeks ago and her ardour for her craft, her fellow workers and her culture burned as bright at the end as it did throughout her life.’’
Writer and director Briar Grace-Smith writes: ‘‘Nan has been a dear friend and collaborator of mine over the last two decades, as an actor she always asked the hard questions and made me work to find the heart of the story.’’
Only a few months before her death, Brunning was cast in Briar Grace-Smith’s and Ainsley Gardiner’s feature Cousins. She eventually had to decline the role as her health faded in the face of the cancer she had lived with for nine years.
Her body was taken to Raukawa Marae, in Otaki, ¯ and she was buried yesterday.