From Ferndale to Hollywood!

A s a swarm of Shortland Street stars gathers for our Woman’s Day photoshoot at the New Zealand Consul General’s Residence in Los Angeles, cheeky Craig Parker makes a video call to his onscreen brother Michael Galvin, who’s still in bed due to the time difference.

“Can you wake me up like this every morning?” the soap stalwart laughs, waving at all the Ferndale expats. It’s three decades since he and Craig first starred as siblings Chris and Guy Warner on Shorty, but their off-screen friendship has stood the test of time – and it’s similar bonds that have helped other ex-Shorty actors navigate notoriously tricky Tinseltown.

Premiering on the 25th of May 1992, the medical drama was initially met with some resistance, with Craig recalling how many Kiwis called it “rubbish” and pretended they weren’t watching.

“When I started, the initial cast had already suffered the worst of New Zealand’s tall-poppy syndrome and finally people were starting to admit they liked it,” recalls Craig, 51. “The cast bonded in a unique way because we were proud but defensive.”

Like Craig, Kieren Hutchison, who played Jonathan McKenna, arrived a few months in. One minute, he was watching Shorty while working nights at a Whanga-rei video store. The next, he was working alongside Martin Henderson and Angela Bloomfield. He likens the early days to high school.

“The older guys, like Michael Galvin and Marton Csokas, were the seniors or cool kids,” remembers Kieren, 47. “The rest of us were young actors just out of school. But there was great camaraderie.”

Craig adds that the cast “travelled as a pack” while adjusting to fame. “Wherever we went, people were gawking. All those anxieties about being stared at when you’re a teenager came true! We packed together as a defence.”

By the time Kimberley Crossman joined the show as Sophie McKay in 2007, fans would regularly approach actors in public – for better or worse. The Snack Masters NZ host, 31, says, “My character was a brat, so people assumed I’d also have a bad attitude, but I’m the complete opposite, so I found it confronting when people gave me sass.”

Indeed, Kim’s anything but a brat during our shoot, rocking up with Pineapple Lumps and Tim Tams, before spinning Kiwi tunes from Dave Dobbyn and Six60, then a special request from Rena Owen – disco classic Rock The Boat.

The Once Were Warriors legend, 59, guest-starred as former junkie Hine Ryan, winning an Aotearoa Film & Television Award for the role. Despite decades of acting experience, she was floored by Shorty’s production.

“I went in thinking soap would be easier than intense dramas, but it’s the hardest I’ve ever worked. Our nickname for Shortland Street was ‘the sausage factory’ because we churned out product so quickly! I learned so much because you have to really trust yourself. You don’t have time for doubts or insecurities.”

For Lee Donoghue, who played Kim’s on-screen brother Hunter, witnessing Rena and fellow Warriors star Temuera Morrison, aka Shorty’s Dr Hone Ropata, work was eye-opening.

“They didn’t let the pace throw them off,” says Lee, 38. “If something didn’t go to plan, they’d turn it around and use it. Watching them was a master class. It was amazing seeing them bring a movie-like performance to a fast-turnaround environment.”

Kieren, 47, adds that witnessing the late Liddy Holloway write scripts while also starring as Alex McKenna was an enlightening experience. “It’s common these days, but was a novelty back then,” says Kieren, who recently wrapped holiday flick Merry Ex-Mas and continues writing screenplays with wife Nicole.

Kieren also recalls looking up to Michael – and his style. “All us younger guys aspired to have his excellent ’90s hair!” And it seems some things don’t change, with Lee praising Michael’s lush locks during their FaceTime chat. “Your hair’s perfect, even at 8am!” he raves.

Meanwhile, Craig has moved on to reminiscing about how he adored his castmate Tandi Wright, who played nurse Caroline Buxton, and was stoked when “we got to be boyfriend and girlfriend”.

Talk then turns to beloved late actor Pua Magasiva, who played Vinnie Kruse and died suddenly in 2019, with Lee describing him as “everyone’s best friend”. He adds, “Everyone felt safe to confide in him or ask advice. He was a hoot to be around. He’d pull pranks on the wardrobe girls and they’d be screaming while he ran down the hallway. Never a dull moment with Pua!”

Brooke Williams, who played PA Lana Jacobs, agrees, “My most fun memories are of Pua playing practical jokes and cheering everyone up on long days.”

This reminds her close friend Bonnie Soper, who played nurse Morgan Braithwaite, of her lunchtime workouts with Ben Mitchell, aka TK Samuels. “Ben was obsessed with MMA, so he’d show me UFC videos and we’d do play-fights,” she laughs.

While Ben and Bonnie’s sessions were injury-free, it was a different story for Spencer Falls (Shorty’s Garrett Whitley), who was doing handstands with co-star KJ Apa when he broke his pinky toe on a recycling bin.

“I had to meet Frankie Adams for this emotionally charged scene, but my foot was throbbing and I could barely walk,” says Spencer, 33. “KJ was laughing away. Garrett had a funny walk for a while!”

Spencer remains close with Riverdale star KJ, who helped out when Spencer launched his booming LA flower business, The Unlikely Florist.

Likewise, Lee supported his former onscreen girlfriend Bonnie 37, when she first arrived in California.

“He introduced me to my acting coach and was my biggest champion,” says Bonnie, who has portrayed Princess Diana in a trilogy of TV movies. “He helped me book roles and introduced me as this ‘award-winning actress’. He talked me up because I was this self-deprecating Southlander, which doesn’t fly here!”

Lee also remains tight with Kim, who excitedly jumps up as he arrives for the shoot. “Hold on, let me squeeze my brother!” she exclaims.

Now working behind the scenes on crime drama Almost Paradise, Lee says the lessons he learnt on Shorty help him daily in LA. Nodding, Craig adds the skills he developed on the TVNZ 2 drama helped him play an “angry alcoholic painter” on the series Good Trouble.

“The most valuable lesson I learned was stamina and endurance,” tells Brooke, 38, who has appeared on shows Agents of SHIELD and 12 Monkeys. “We could shoot 17 scenes in a day, so I had to be absolutely on top of my material. Shorty served me well with long days and night shoots, which taught me how to conserve energy.”

Filming so many scenes in one day also proved valuable for Spencer. “Memorising 40 pages of dialogue isn’t my forte, but Shorty forced me to deal with those shortcomings.”

When we ask the stars what their own 30th birthdays were like, some of their memories sound more like soap plotlines!

“I arrived in America the morning of my 30th and got lost on Skid Row trying to find a bus station,” says Bonnie. “It was so hot and the bus caught fire!”

“I was terribly depressed, living in a trailer in LA and auditioning,” recalls Lee, who’s taking acting classes while also working in COVID-19 healthcare.

Craig remembers thinking the world would end thanks to Y2K, while Kieren felt life was “starting again” after meeting his now-wife Nicole, the mother of his 14-year-old son Quinn, and being cast on One Tree Hill.

Brooke saw 30 as a “fresh start” and Spencer had his best year yet. “But I have a feeling 33 might top it!” he says.

Kim, meanwhile, felt anxious about the milestone, admitting, “I thought I would’ve achieved more, but I feel better about it now. I’m relaxing a bit, not taking myself so seriously and having fun.”

Bubbly Kim’s still frequently recognised for her work on Shorty – as is Rena, who was thrilled the first time it happened.

“Some young people across the street yelled out, ‘Hey, Scotty’s mum!'” recalls Rena, who stars in upcoming Dame Whina Cooper biopic Whina and season three of Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville.

“I was so chuffed because I finally got something different to, ‘Beth Heke, cook me some eggs!’ It was a thrill to be seen as somebody other than Beth from 27 years ago!”