While filming their latest series, a spicy new whodunnit called The Sender, Kiwi actor Jordan Mooney and his partner, award-winning writer and director Liv McClymont, were facing a drama of their own off screen.
The couple had to move out of their Auckland rental after it was sold. Suddenly, they found themselves scrambling to avoid homelessness in the city’s cut-throat housing market.
“It took a huge hustle and went right down to the wire,” says Jordan of the search, which he tackled alongside Liv and their three flatmates. “We looked at 69 different houses, including some absolute shockers. But as soon as we walked into this house, we knew instantly it was the one.”
The charming character villa, complete with stained-glass rose windows on the front door, high ceilings and polished wooden floors, miraculously appeared just two weeks before their short-term lease ended.
Still in the same suburb of Mt Eden, the location ticked every box. It was close to studios, had plenty of space for everyone and even had room for Jordan’s beloved old Citroëns.
“There are two parked in the driveway now,” laughs the actor, who played loveable larrikin Eric Grady on Westside. “I’m slowly becoming my father! He had several French cars when I was growing up.”
Jordan, 35, took on the house hunt with his signature organisational skills. He impressed Liv, 31, with a colour-coordinated chart that kept track of all the places they looked at.
“He’s a spreadsheet king!” she grins.
Now happily settled, the creative couple is diving into new projects and celebrating the launch of The Sender, a darkly funny, high-stakes mystery set to debut on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube on Tuesday.
Liv directed and co-wrote the series, while Jordan stars and also served as script editor. The plot follows six high-school prefects who sneak away to a remote bach for a night of underage partying. At 10pm, their phones light up with anonymous messages containing scandalous photos that could upend their lives.
Chaos follows over the show’s 18 “punchy, bite-sized episodes”, shares Liv, who had the idea after making her award-winning debut documentary I Stand For Consent. During the process, she talked to young people about issues they were facing and realised online harassment is “massively on the rise”.
“That’s where the idea of a blackmail-fuelled whodunnit filled with humour came from,” she says. “It was an engaging and fun way to talk about a serious subject.”
Jordan, who’s starred in The Panthers and Dark City: The Cleaner, as well as playing Kiwi music icon Jordan Luck in The Dance Exponents: Why Does Love?, jokes that after appearing as Jesus Christ in The Sender, he might have hit a career peak. “After this, I’ll only be accepting the role of God!” he laughs.
Liv reveals the younger cast members were particularly excited to work alongside an actor with Jordan’s experience and his appearance in a loin cloth didn’t go unnoticed!
“Everyone was giggling and saying he looks good with his top off,” she grins. “I was trying to keep it very professional.”
Quips Jordan, “And I was trying hard to push professional boundaries!”
Behind the cheeky banter, Jordan has a deep respect for his partner of three years.
“Jokes aside, it was great working with Liv during the shoot,” he says. “We’ve got so much unspoken dialogue between us on set. I always feel like I know what she wants from me as an actor.”
The Sender is one of Aotearoa’s first scripted comedy-dramas made specifically for social media.
Liv says, “Social media is the wild west and we have no idea how it’ll be received. But we’re so excited to have produced one of the first shows of its type in New Zealand.”
For Jordan, the release caps off a massive 18 months of screen work, with four feature films under his belt, including Prime Video’s The Bluff, a gothic Māori horror called Mārama, and Pike River, a powerful film about the mine tragedy, also starring Melanie Lynskey and Robyn Malcolm.
Despite their busy schedules, the pair is deliberate about protecting relationship time.
Shares Jordan, “Creative industries never sleep, so it’s important we make time to be together, switch off and not talk about work.”
That’s where Jordan’s organisational skills once again come to the fore. A colour-coded calendar keeps track of their schedules, with personal time highlighted in lavender.
Reveals Jordan, “If there’s not enough lavender in the calendar, we know we need to make some time for ourselves. This usually involves eating good food, getting out in nature, spending time with friends and watching films.”
However, their work’s never far from their minds and the duo has several projects in development, including a series they’re writing together.
Smiles Jordan, “We have so many stories we are eager to tell and are excited to do it. The future’s looking bright.”
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