Many people find the thought of turning 40 to be daunting – terrifying, even – but Jacqueline Nairn is not one of them. The Shortland Street actress has her milestone birthday this month and is looking forward to it so much she’s planning not just a party but a week of celebrations.
“I don’t have any hang-ups about ageing,” says Jacquie, who plays nurse Wendy Cooper on the show. “Forty doesn’t scare me – I think it is an amazing age. There are people who don’t make it to 40. Years are blessings, so why not be grateful for them and celebrate?”
She believes the reason many people have a problem with turning 40 is that they haven’t achieved everything they feel they should have by that age. In her case, she’s not at all disappointed that the life she is leading is quite different from the one she imagined she’d have when she was growing up. She expected to be a wife, mother and teacher by the time she got to 40, and although she’s none of those things, she wouldn’t swap the life she’s led so far for anything.
“Not ticking off X, Y and Z isn’t a bad thing. It just means things have worked out differently. And that’s okay. Your journey doesn’t have to be the same as everyone else’s. “Having babies is the big thing people try to do by this age, but that hasn’t happened for me. If it does, that will be great, but if it doesn’t, that’s okay. What’s meant to be will be. I have a brand new beautiful niece, Lilly Rose, and I’m going to be such a devoted auntie. “And anyway, who knows what could be just around the corner? All sorts of things could happen. I believe in celebrating what you have rather than missing what you don’t. If I had settled down in my twenties I would never have had some of the incredible experiences I’ve had.”
Jacquie was on course to lead a fairly traditional life. She had a happy and conventional upbringing with parents Robin and Lois and brothers Brian and Paul in Hawke’s Bay, and after leaving school went to teachers’ training college. “Back then career options were mostly nursing, teaching or doing a BA.”
She had been working as a teacher for three years when she decided to take the bold step of going to drama school. “I’d got into doing amateur shows and I thought, ‘This is what I really want to do,'” says the vivacious redhead. “I had to give it a try.” After three years at drama school, Jacquie set her sights on acting in London’s West End, which was aiming just about as high as you can go in the theatre world. But thanks to a fortunate chain of circumstances, she landed an understudy role in a West End production, called Fallen Angels, which starred Felicity Kendal. From there she moved on to other theatre jobs and worked steadily in London for the next three years.
“It was an incredible time,” recalls Jacquie. “I got to do some fantastic shows and meet some amazing people.” She acted in a play and became good friends with model-turned-actress Jerry Hall, who introduced her to a range of celebrities, including her all-time idol, Dame Judi Dench. “Jerry and I went to see a play with Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith, and afterwards she turned to me and said, ‘So, you wanna go meet the dames?’ Judi Dench was everything I hoped she would be – she was absolutely lovely, we chatted for a while and she gave me a big hug.”
But the celebrity who had the greatest impact on Jacquie was actress Penelope Keith. The pair hit it off after working together and Jacquie spent a Christmas with the To the Manor Born star and her family. “She’s just one of the loveliest and most beautiful people I have ever met,” says Jacquie. “We still keep in touch now. We write letters; she doesn’t do email. “I have been so lucky to work with some incredible women who are just so completely accepting of who they are. I aspire to have that wisdom, that total self-acceptance and grace.”
Jacquie had to leave London when her visa ran out and she spent the next 18 months back at home “feeling very grumpy with the world. Then one day I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. I wrote and directed a children’s production, loved it and decided I should just be grateful for where I was at.” Days later, she was cast in her first theatre role back in New Zealand, The Women at the Silo Theatre.
She was lucky to have her teaching skills to fall back on in between acting work, and had just accepted a full-time teaching job when she was chosen to play Wendy on Shortland Street just over two years ago. She’s thankful to the producer, Steven Zanoski, for taking a chance on “an actress with no profile”, and feels privileged to be a member of the core cast and doing something she loves.
“As you drive into the gates at Shortland Street there’s a sign that says, ‘Turning dreams into drama’. Every day, as the gate goes up, I look at that and say a quiet thank you.”
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