I dated a friend. After we broke up, we found a way to be mates again

Sydney Morning Herald

10-05-2025

This story is part of the May 11 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories.
New Zealand-born musician and actor Marlon Williams, 34, is best known for playing Johnny Abbot in the Netflix series Sweet Tooth. But before acting, his music career connected him with several strong women, including Lorde. As he discusses the influential women in his life, he's weighing up marriage and kids with his current partner.
My paternal nanna, Rīeka, was the daughter of a Māori minister who didn't speak any English. She had seven children with my grandfather and raised them on her own when he left. My dad, David, was the man of the house from the age of seven.
I used to sing gospel songs with Nanna as a child. She met an amazing man, Rod, later in life – they bought a house bus when she was in her 50s, and spent the last 15 years of her life going up and down the country. She was the matriarch of the family and everybody loved her. She died when I was 17.
My maternal nanna, Josie, was born in Dover, England, and moved to New Zealand in the 1950s after she met my grandfather in London. She celebrated her 97th birthday in October. She is very straightforward, has a daily routine and doesn't want for much; she finds joy in the simple happenings of a normal day. I live a very fast-paced life, and when I sit with her, I am forced to slow down.
My mum, Jennifer Rendall, is a visual artist and paints. She has an artist's eye of the world, and is good at finding beauty in landscapes and in structures that aren't obvious to others. She has instilled that aesthetic view of the world in me. She brought me up singing Māori songs and encouraged me with my creative career. The artwork on my new album is a drawing she made in the months before I was born. I am an only child.
Marriage is something I can see happening one day; I am not one of these modern anti-marriage people.
Marlon Williams, musician
When I was nine, I saw the movie Labyrinth and fell in love with actress Jennifer Connelly. She was 15, and I wished she was my babysitter. Before that, I had a crush on Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
I had my first kiss aged 11 while playing spin the bottle at primary school. I also remember seeing a girl I had a crush on holding hands with another boy. My heart sank – it was that first stab of the heart that cuts deep.
My first high school girlfriend was a violinist – we connected through music. We were both in My Fair Lady. We dated for a few months when I was 14.