It was the drama series that took Australia by storm!
Following the lives of staff and residents at the fictional Kings Cross Hospital and Stanton House in Sydney across the 1960s and 1970s, the series was every bit as compelling as it was uplifting, depicting the stories of men and women who were fighting an unjust system and the real life forced adoption in Australia.
Across four Logie award winning seasons and 36 episodes, Australia fell in love with the colourful cast of characters brought to life by some of the biggest and up and coming actors from across the country.
So now, more than five years on from it’s shock cancellation, the team at TV Week have taken it upon ourselves to catch up with the cast of a show we all loved so much.
Jessica Marais (Joan Millar)
It seemed for a while that Jessica was simply everywhere!
From roles in hit shows Packed to the Rafters and Love Child to the adaption of Zoe Foster Blake’s hit novel The Wrong Girl in 2017.
But after winning a number of Logie awards (and being nominated for countless others), Jessica has taken a step back from the spotlight, her last on-screen appearance in coming-of-age film Chasing Wonders.
In 2018, the actress cited her mental health struggles as her reason for wanting to step back from acting.
She was slated to begin filming Amazon Prime Packed to the Rafters reboot – Back to the Rafters – in early 2020, but quit the production shortly after, citing personal reasons.
Marais first spoke publicly about her mental health issues in a 2014 interview with our sister publication The Australian Women’s Weekly, revealing bipolar episodes have been a part of her life since she was 12.
“There’s a history of bipolar in my family and I was diagnosed at one point with bipolar. I’ve had cognitive therapy training, so I choose not to be medicated,” she said at the time.
“There’s probably one day a month when I am an absolute mess.”
Nowadays Jessica enjoys a life out of the spotlight and has seemingly retired from acting, content working in hospitality in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and enjoying being a mum to 11-year-old daughter Scout, whom she shares with ex-partner and current Home and Away star James Stewart.
Mandy McElhinney (Matron Frances Bolton)
Following her time on Love Child, Mandy starred as mining magnate Gina Rinehart in Nine’s 2015 telemovie The House of Hancock.
Since then, she has starred in a number of television productions including True Story with Hamish & Andy, Bad Mothers, Halifax: Retribution and most recently in 2021 TV miniseries Wakefield.
Miranda Tapsell (Martha Tennant)
This actress has only gone from strength to strength since wrapping up her time on Love Child!
In the years since she has starred in Stan original series Wolf Creek, films Top End Wedding and The Dry alongside fellow Aussie actor Eric Bana and animated children’s movie Back to the Outback.
She’s also had starring roles in Bluey, Doctor Doctor and in Sydney Theatre Company production Black is the New White where she played the titular role of Charlotte Gibson.
And if that’s not enough, Miranda also has a memoir, released in April 2020 called Top End Girl.
She currently lives in Melbourne with her husband James and their daughter Grace Birri-Pa Purnarrika Colley born in December 2021.
Sophie Bloom (Vivian Maguire)
After saying goodbye to her character of Vivian, Sophie went on to make a number of guest appearances on Aussie television, including a notable stint on Home and Away as both characters Neve Spicer and Freya Duric.
Most recently she starred as Wendy in Underbelly: Vanishing Act and as Phoebe in Colin from Accounts.
Sophie is also married to husband Danny with whom she shares two beautiful kids.
Harriet Dyer (Patricia Saunders)
Harriet is another Love Child actress that has seen success post the cancellation of the show, starring in ABC comedy series Kiki and Kitty on the ABC and on drama series Hyde & Seek.
She’s also starred in NBC drama series TheInbetween in the lead role of Cassie Bedford, starred in box office smash hit The Invisible Man alongside Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss and most recently as Ashley in Colin From Accounts, which she co created with actor husband Patrick Brammall.
The couple adopted their first child, a newborn daughter, in September 2021.
Andrew Ryan (Simon Bowditch)
Despite his success in racking up credits on some of the country’s most high profile productions such as INXS, Love Child and Tomorrow, Where the War Began, this star has also dealt with his fair share of struggles and loss.
Speaking to our sister publication WHO in 2021, Simon opened up about his battle with drugs and alcohol and his life post rehab.
”Since getting out of rehab a lot of amazing things have happened in my life and not necessarily the things that I thought that defines success and achievement. One of the greatest things that happened was I got a relationship that is functional with my family back again.”
Nowadays Andy is enjoying sobriety. He has had a handful of small guest roles in Aussie television since Love Child has ended.
Jonathan LaPaglia (Dr Patrick McNaughton)
Jonathan (or JLP as his fans affectionately call him) is the biggest name to come out of Love Child, and has hosted hit reality show Australian Survivor since 2016.
Whilst the acting work has dried up in the years since, his success on Survivor makes us think he is pretty happy with how things have worked out.
You can read our latest interviews with him here.
Ella Scott Lynch (Shirley Ryan)
In terms of acting opportunities post Love Child, Ella, like many of her co-stars, found plenty.
She went on to star in NCIS: Los Angeles, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Doctor Doctor and Underbelly Files: Chopper, her most recent work being Informer 3828 as Nicola Gobbo in 2020.
As of 2023, Ella is loving life as a doting mum of two.
Gracie Gilbert (Annie Carmichael)
Unfortunately for us, Gracie has not been active on social media since 2016.
She also hasn’t acted since her time on Love Child came to an end, instead picking up a Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Notre Dame Australia in 2019.
Since then, she’s worked in the field of law in her home state of Western Australia.
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