Pictures: Robert Trathen.
They’re so close, they finish each other’s sentences and still live under the same roof. So it’s no surprise that Shortland Street newcomer Madeleine McCarthy, who plays surgical registrar Cleo Atwell, and her mother Lisa are inseparable.
“Mum really is my best friend,” says Madeleine, who joined New Zealand’s longest- running soap opera last October.
“And she’s mine,” adds Lisa, a former accountant who until recently ran a family marketing business.
For Madeleine, it runs even deeper. The 21-year-old believes her meteoric rise up the acting ladder may not have happened if it wasn’t for her mother.
“Specialists diagnosed me with dyslexia when I was about eight. The diagnosis finally explained some of the learning difficulties I’d been experiencing,” recalls Madeleine. “I needed extra tuition to stay on top of my studies, but I wasn’t very interested in school. I loved dance and musical theatre – that’s where my real passion was.”
It’s why Lisa, 54, eventually pulled her only daughter out of the mainstream school system to home-school her.
“As a parent, there’s so much pressure for your kids to do well academically,” she muses. “I’m not creative at all, so I studied something at university that I thought would pay well, but it wasn’t my passion. It’s why we’ve really encouraged our three kids to follow their passions.”
When Lisa read a book about Kiwi dancer Parris Goebel’s dad, who experienced similar challenges, things fell into place.
Lisa says, “Parris’ father ended up pulling her out of school. So I thought, ‘If he can do it, so can I.’ Once we decided to home-school Madeleine, all that pressure went away. Now, she had time to follow her dream of singing and dancing, and she thrived.”
Working in the family business gave Lisa the flexibility to home-school not only Madeleine but also her younger brother.
“I loved being home-schooled because I found the fun in learning again,” says Madeleine. “I really look up to Mum, so I learnt a lot from her and it definitely brought us closer.”
It also gave Madeleine the opportunity to join a US YouTube dance and drama channel with 10 million followers, and eventually land at role in the stage musical Billy Elliot. “That’s the first time I realised acting could be a full-time job!” she says.
A five-day course with acting legend Dame Miranda Harcourt in Wellington firmed her resolve. By the time Miranda pulled her aside to suggest she get an agent, Madeleine knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
Since then, she’s starred in Lee Tamahori’s 2024 film The Convert and Pike River, about the 2011 mining tragedy, which is set for release later this year.
“That was a real pinch-me moment. I got to act with Robyn Malcolm and Melanie Lynskey, who are my absolute heroes,” she enthuses.
When Madeleine found out that Melanie was playing her mother, she immediately binge-watched the latter’s hit TV series Yellowjackets.
“I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is my life, that I’m going to be acting alongside her!’”
It turned out that the US-based Kiwi actress, who got her break in Sir Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures alongside Kate Winslet, was everything Madeleine hoped for.
“Mel is such a beautiful human and she rallied for me as young actor,” she tells. “She advised me to wait and get a US manager before moving to LA. It was really cool to talk to someone from New Zealand who’s made it.”
Madeleine wasn’t the only one who was thrilled when she landed the part on Shorty, a show she used to watch when she was supposed to be studying.
“My nan has long been a fan,” she shares. “I’m taking both my grandmothers on a tour of the set soon, which will be fun.”
Despite her success and a steady pay packet, Madeleine has no plans to leave the family’s North Shore home that she grew up in, saying, “We’re a close family and I want to live at home as long as I can. I’ve invested in Bitcoin and am saving to buy a house by the time I turn 25. It will be purely an investment property, though.”
It means she’s on hand for trips to the family bach at Whangamata¯, and for outings with her mother to yoga classes, sound-bath sessions and shows.
“We often have nights out at musical theatre shows at the Civic or even the smaller shows that Madeleine’s friends are in,” says Lisa. “It’s a chance for the two of us to have some time out to enjoy each other’s company.
“Ever since Madeleine was young, she’s never been afraid to be herself and I always knew she was going to be a star. I’m so proud of her for following her dreams and making those dreams a reality!”
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