STAR MUMS TALK FAME, SEX & FAMILY

From sleepless nights to stage lights, these local actresses reveal why whānau comes first

- Suzanne McFadden

They were carefree young women when they first found fame on some of our most loved local TV shows, but today actresses Bronwyn Turei, Amber Curreen and Marianne Infante are all navigating motherhood together.

And in a break from working on their new play Wet, as they pose for our Woman's Day photoshoot at West Auckland's Te Pou Theatre, their tamariki are close at hand.

Amber's daughter Mia was just a baby when she appeared on Shortland Street alongside her mum, who played teen mother Shannon Te Ngaru on the hit soap for five years. As Amber, 40, sits in the makeup chair, Mia watches an old clip from the soap on her phone.

“I've never seen you on an episode before,” exclaims psychology student Mia, 20. “Look how tiny you were! Were you the same age as I am now?” Play director Amber nods in confirmation.

Meanwhile, Go Girls actress Bronwyn – who plays Wet's lead character Aroha – watches her daughter Tiakiwai, four, twirl around the room. She's practically grown up in theatres, says the star, 42, whose partner Manny is also an actor, dancer and choreographer.

“She knows this place really well,” she shares. “She's even had her naps in the office.”

Marianne, who played nurse Madonna Diaz on Shorty until last year, is making a comeback to theatre as producer of the show 12 months after the birth of her first child Emilia.

“I'm loving being in the same room with Bronwyn and Amber, as well as having the different perspectives of motherhood,” says Marianne, 30, who is newly engaged to Emilia's dad Daryll.

It's 17 years since Bronwyn made her first foray on a TV set as tomboy Cody Latimer in Go Girls and she recalls struggling to grasp her instant fame.