Both Jack, 24, and his younger brother Cameron, 21, have followed their parents – Ward-Lealand has been married to actor and director Michael Hurst since 1988 – into the entertainment industry. “I think both children have a very realistic idea of the business because they’ve got two freelance parents who have never really known what the future was going to hold,” she says. “I’ve been in the industry for 40 years and Michael for 45, so they’ve got a really clear idea of how hard you have to work. Supplied Life is murder for Jennifer Ward-Lealand in The Brokenwood Mysteries. “They’ve really got their feet on the ground. Working with Jack was one of my favourite things of the year actually.”