Blue Murder Motel Cast Guide

The central joke of “Blue Murder Motel” is that Vinny and Cole Coleman are supposed to be finished with police work. The casting makes that joke considerably easier to sell. Michala Banas and Brett Tucker play the married former detectives, reuniting more than two decades after appearing together in “McLeod’s Daughters.” Around them, Jayden Daniels plays the inexperienced local constable who keeps needing their help, Stephanie Tauevihi brings plenty of personality to long-term motel guest Maxine, and Jaime McDermott plays cleaner Saffron. TVNZ lists those five performers as the central cast of the eight-part first season.

Co-creator Kate McDermott has said the production ultimately used around 50 actors, including a large number of established New Zealand performers and newer faces. That gives every murder its own collection of victims and suspects while keeping the Coleman household and motel staff as the stable center of the show.

Michala Banas as Vanessa “Vinny” Coleman

Michala Banas stars as Vanessa “Vinny” Coleman, a former Australian homicide detective who moves to New Zealand with her husband to start running a motel.

Vinny may have bought into the retirement plan, but murder quickly reveals how difficult it is for her to stop thinking like a detective. When a body turns up in Unit 3 during the opening episode, she begins noticing inconsistencies, questioning guests and slipping back into investigative habits almost immediately. The weekly cases continue to pull her toward the work she was supposedly trying to leave behind.

Banas was born in Wellington and raised largely in Australia. She is particularly well known as Kate Manfredi from “McLeod’s Daughters” and has also appeared in “Always Greener,” “Upper Middle Bogan,” “Winners & Losers,” “Gold Diggers” and the New Zealand mystery series “A Remarkable Place to Die.” Her agency describes a career spanning more than four decades across television, film and theatre.

McDermott has revealed that Banas was on the creators’ wish list from early in development. She agreed to become attached after reading an early version of the pilot, helping the producers establish the Australian fish-out-of-water element at the center of the series.

Brett Tucker as Peter “Cole” Coleman

Brett Tucker plays Peter “Cole” Coleman, Vinny’s husband, fellow retired detective and new co-owner of the Blue Motel.

Cole shares his wife’s investigative experience, although he often seems more willing to entertain the possibility that retirement might actually involve running the motel rather than inspecting another corpse. That does not last very long. Once Constable Jamie begins turning to the couple for help, Cole repeatedly finds himself back in detective mode alongside Vinny.

Tucker is an Australian actor whose credits range from “Neighbours” and “McLeod’s Daughters” to major American television roles. He played Harry Davis in “Mistresses,” Fire Chief Lucas Ripley in “Station 19” and appeared in “The Americans,” “Dynasty,” “Troppo” and Netflix’s “The Residence.” He also voices Singed in “Arcane.”

His casting came after Banas had already joined the project. McDermott said the producers watched Tucker’s work in “The Residence” and found him right for Cole. The fact that Tucker and Banas are close friends in real life also helped, and their relaxed chemistry became one of the show’s strongest assets.

Jayden Daniels as Constable Jamie Haira

Jayden Daniels plays Constable Jamie Haira, the young police officer responsible for Mowai Bay.

Jamie has recently entered the job and suddenly finds himself dealing with a murder rate that would challenge somebody with considerably more experience. The first episode introduces him as the official investigator while Vinny and Cole possess years of homicide knowledge he does not yet have. Their relationship quickly develops into an unofficial partnership, even if the retired Australians are technically supposed to stay out of police business.

Daniels has one of the more recognizable New Zealand television backgrounds among the younger cast members. He played Curtis Hannah across hundreds of episodes of “Shortland Street” and later appeared in “Head High,” “The New Legends of Monkey” and “My Life Is Murder.” Movie audiences may recognize him as Gabriel from “Evil Dead Rise” or Cyril in the acclaimed biographical drama “Whina.”

The character also helps prevent Vinny and Cole from becoming completely unofficial vigilante detectives. Jamie still represents the actual police force, while their experience gives him the extra investigative muscle Mowai Bay suddenly seems to require.

Related: Blue Murder Motel Filming Locations

Stephanie Tauevihi as Maxine

Stephanie Tauevihi plays Maxine, a glamorous local woman who becomes a permanent guest at the Blue Motel.

Maxine begins the series with enough mystery around her to draw Vinny and Cole’s attention, but she soon becomes part of the regular motel community. Her presence gives the show someone who knows Mowai Bay from the inside while the Coleman couple are still newcomers learning its relationships and local history. The Spinoff described her as one of the show’s welcome familiar New Zealand faces.

Tauevihi remains best known for her long run as Donna Heka on “Shortland Street.” She has also worked as a singer and presenter, and her performance in the feature “Russian Snark” earned her Best Supporting Actress at the 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards. Her earlier television credits include “The Panthers,” “Agent Anna” and “Rude Awakenings.”

“Blue Murder Motel” gives Tauevihi a recurring role across the full season rather than bringing her in as one week’s suspect, allowing Maxine to become part of the peculiar little community developing around the motel.

Jaime McDermott as Saffron

Jaime McDermott plays Saffron, the Blue Motel’s cleaner and one of the characters most likely to have an opinion about what Vinny and Cole are doing.

Saffron’s job naturally puts her inside motel rooms and around guests, which occasionally makes what she notices useful to a murder investigation. She also supplies a sharper, more sarcastic counterpoint to the cheerful new owners. By Episode 4, Saffron and Maxine are even conducting their own suspicions about Vinny and Cole rather than simply waiting for the former detectives to investigate everyone else.

McDermott has appeared in several well-known New Zealand series. Her credits include recurring roles in “Westside” and “Head High,” as well as appearances in “Shortland Street,” “My Life Is Murder,” “Creamerie” and “Step Dave.” Her agency also lists extensive stage work alongside her screen career.

Saffron may not have the police credentials of the three detectives around her, but a motel cleaner tends to know more about guests than they realize. The writers make good use of that.

Who Else Appears in Blue Murder Motel?

Susana Lei’ataua recurs as Andrea, while the weekly mystery format allows the series to bring in a large collection of guest actors. IMDb’s credited ensemble includes Christopher Stollery as Burnsie, Stephanie Liebert as Maude and James Sexton as Jonty.

The individual episodes broaden that list substantially. Craig Hall, Aidee Walker, Fiona Samuel, Peter Elliott, Miriama Smith, Angela Bloomfield, Mirabai Pease and others appear across the season’s separate cases. McDermott has said the total cast reached roughly 50 performers and specifically highlighted established New Zealand names including Sara Wiseman, Miriama Smith and Bloomfield.

That guest-cast model suits a cozy murder mystery. New suspects can rotate through Mowai Bay each week without changing the show’s comfortable center. Banas and Tucker provide the married-detective chemistry, Daniels keeps the investigations connected to actual police work, and Tauevihi and McDermott make the Blue Motel feel like a community rather than simply the address where somebody was unlucky enough to die in Episode 1.