Home and Away Tane Parata star Ethan Browne almost quit acting after he welcomed a daughter at the age of 16, admitting the career choice was “frowned upon” in his hometown
At sixteen, Ethan Browne of Home and Away gave up acting to become a parent.
Although he began playing Tane Parata in 2020, the actor’s professional path nearly took a very other turn. Ethan chose to become a civil engineer instead of an actor when his daughter Aaylah was born.
The soap star relocated to Australia to pursue acting studies almost ten years after leaving New Zealand. Before enrolling at Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Arts, he lived briefly in Brisbane.
Ethan’s first significant acting role came shortly after graduation when he secured a three-year deal with Home and Away. Even though he fulfilled his aim of being an actor, moving to Australia caused him to be apart from 15-year-old Aaylah during COVID-19.
With restrictions meaning he couldn’t travel, Ethan didn’t see his daughter in person for around one year. In December 2020, he was finally able to catch his flight and documented their reunion on Instagram.
In the emotional video, Ethan hugged his daughter and kissed her on the head as he expressed how difficult the distance was for them in the caption.
He began: “Surprising my daughter after almost a year apart. A moment I have dreamed and fantasised about for so long.
“The difficulty of this stretch is beyond words. It is both inexplicable and unfathomable. Our freedom to travel freely and spend time with our loved ones in person has been taken away by COVID.”
Ethan continued, expressing his thankfulness for the opportunity to be with his child once more, saying, “But love is more than physical, and the time and distance have only made our relationship stronger. Now that we are here, our hearts are once more full.
“I send all my love and strength to the parents who have been forced to spend Christmas apart from their children due to the events of this year, as well as to those who are unable to visit their loved ones this holiday season. You are everything to me, my daughter. #MyLove #MyLife #MyAngel.”
Ethan was initially sceptical about revisiting his dream of acting, admitting it wasn’t a career that was pursued by those in his hometown of Wairoa, New Zealand. “I grew up in a small country town that was dominated by rugby culture. Acting wasn’t the thing a man would do,” he previously told the Daily Telegraph.
He added: “I wanted to do it in high school but it was frowned upon by the boys, that sort of culture, it wasn’t the tough masculine thing to do. I waited until I was in Australia and no one knew me to actually give it a go just quietly.”
