Acting couples: The Kiwis working and playing together.

From Bogart and Bacall in the 40s to present-day duos such as Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, and Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux, Hollywood has had its share of acting couples. However, New Zealand also has some talented duos that both live and work to

Craig Hall and Sara Wiseman (above)

The A Place To Call Home stars met while working on the 2001 short film Home Kill in which he played her attempted rapist. “He never succeeded. He got an axe to the groin,” Wiseman says, laughing. The pair have worked together on The Doctor

Blake Mysteries, Venus And Mars, and Outrageous Fortune – but never for long until they joined the Aussie drama, which is filming its fifth season. “The opportunity to be in the same country at the same time and working on the same show at the same time is rare,” Wiseman says. “It’s an absolute joy to be able to have that opportunity.”

Neil Rea and Alison Bruce

Bruce has admitted in an interview that it was she who first called Rea after they met when he auditioned to play King Arthur in a 1999 episode of Hercules. They have been together since. She is a veteran of Mercy Peak, Being Eve, This Is Not My Life and also Top Of The Lake, Dirty Laundry and Hillary. Rea began his

career in the movie Scarfies and now stars in The Brokenwood Mysteries.

The couple also worked together on The Pact, a short film about euthanasia.

Siobhan Marshall and Millen Baird

This Los Angeles-based pair, seen in the web series Darryl: An Outward Bound Story, met in 2003 but did not get together until after they reconnected at a wedding in 2012. Marshall, who found fame playing ditzy blonde Pascalle West in Outrageous Fortune, and Millen (Auckland Daze, Step Dave and 800 Words) have no qualms about working together. “I almost don’t think of what we do as working,” she says. “It’s easy and fun and I don’t get sick of him.”

Tim Balme and Katie Wolfe

They met when they played brother and sister in the 1993 movie The Last Tattoo and, after a whirlwind romance, married the following

year. They have gone on to become one of this country’s most enduring and productive show-biz couples. On screen, Wolfe appeared in Shortland Street, Mercy Peak and, just last year, The Brokenwood Mysteries. Her credits behind the scenes include directing episodes of Shortland Street and Go Girls. Balme will be long remembered as Shorty Street badboy Greg Feeney but is also known as one of the writers behind hit shows Outrageous Fortune and 800 Words.

Jennifer Ward Lealand and Michael Hurst

One of New Zealand’s leading stage actors, Ward Lealand has returned to television starring as a suburban housewife sent to prison for money laundering in last year’s Dirty

Laundry. Hurst is an actor, writer and director who found international fame playing Iolaus in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and companion series Xena: Warrior Princess. More recently, he has been directing 800 Words, Westside and Ash vs Evil Dead. The pair married in 1988 and Hurst has correctly pointed out they have now been together far longer than they ever lived apart.

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer

It was love at first bite for Kiwi Oscar winner Anna Paquin (The Piano) and husband Stephen Moyer. The pair met during a screen test for the vampire series True Blood. “We were both single at the time and there was just this kind of spark,” he has said, adding that things really started to sizzle when filming began. They have been married seven years and are parents to twins Charlie and Poppy who were born in 2012. The couple are currently working together again on the film The Parting Glass.