Where are they now?

Ferndale’s Hannahs were plagued by death and disaster but, in real life, the actors who played the ill-fated family have gone from strength to strength. Jayden Daniels, who played the criminal-turned-cop Curtis (left) is now reprising his role as schoolboy rugby player Mana Roberts in season two of the rugby drama Head High, a role that won him best actor award at the 2020 television awards. He has also played New Legends Of Monkey’s Gaxin and will appear in the drama Whina, about M ori activist Dame Whina Cooper.

After Mo (right) died in a traumatic plane crash, actor Jarod Rawiri moved on to school-gate comedy Mean Mums where he plays Bob, the husband of laidback mother of five Hine (Aroha Rawson). He has also joined the cast of The Brokenwood Mysteries as new cop DC Daniel Chalmers. Now a Hollywood star, Thomasin McKenzie broke hearts when her character Pixie (left) died from cancer during the Hannah family’s early days in Ferndale. However, McKenzie, now 20, has gone from strength to strength, starring in local shows Lucy Lewis Can’t Lose and The Cul De Sac before scoring a lead role as Tom in the American movie Leave No Trace. Since then she has been in Jojo Rabbit, Lost Girls and has several movies coming out this year, including Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog in which she stars alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst.

As mum Margaret Hannah (right), Debbie Newby-Ward always seemed to draw the short straw, being sent to prison for theft and then, as she finally started to turn her life around, developing cancer. In real life, the former Nothing Trivial actor went on to work on Power Rangers Beast Morphers.