Nancy Brunning

Nancy Brunning was on the staff of Shortland Street for the first episode in 1992. In 1999 she stole the screen as a young gang girl in Once Were Warriors sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? She won a second NZ screen award for drama Ngā Tohu: Signatures, and played the family matriarch in 2016 film Mahana. Brunning died on 16 November 2019, shortly before winning Aotearoa's top playwriting award. 

She is an actress whose personal integrity shows through in her work. She’s a very strong, very honest actor. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? director Ian Mune