Daryl Hannah’s mermaid Madison made Splash a romance that audiences still remember.
But what happened to Daryl Hannah after the movie roles that made her famous? Her recent work has increasingly happened behind the camera, especially on documentaries with her husband, Neil Young.
As of November 2026, the clearest picture is of an actress whose public life has expanded into directing and environmental work. She also made headlines this year by challenging the way a television drama portrayed her.
Splash remains the role many viewers remember
Released in March 1984, Splash paired Hannah with Tom Hanks in a story about a man who falls for a mermaid. She played Madison opposite his Allen Bauer, with John Candy and Eugene Levy also in the cast. Disney’s film archive records the movie’s original release and characters.
The premise gave Hannah something unusually memorable: a romantic lead who was also the film’s impossible secret. For viewers who first encountered her there, Madison remains an easy reference point decades later.
Her screen identity stretched further, through Blade Runner and the Kill Bill films. Television audiences also encountered her in Sense8, where she played the mysterious Angelica. TVLine’s premiere recap places her character at the beginning of that series’ story.
This archival photograph is from 2006. Original photograph, shared under CC BY 2.0.
Directing opened another creative door
Hannah’s later career makes more sense when directing becomes part of the picture.
Her feature directing debut, Paradox, arrived in 2018 with Young in the cast. The couple also married that year, according to People’s account of her life and career. Netflix describes the film as a blend of fantasy and music.
Documentaries became another important outlet. Her work includes Mountaintop and the Grammy-nominated Barn, projects connected to Young’s music-making.
In an April 2025 interview with SPIN, Hannah described learning by watching directors and cinematographers on film sets. Making decisions behind the camera had become a source of enjoyment.
“I find it to be wildly creative,” she said of directing.
For readers following other actresses who moved into filmmaking, Rosanna Arquette’s career after Desperately Seeking Susan offers another story in which documentaries deserve attention alongside acting credits.
Coastal captures the spaces between performances
Hannah’s documentary Coastal follows Young on his 2023 solo tour. Its cinema event took place on April 17, 2025, according to distributor Trafalgar Releasing.
The film’s appeal extends beyond a set list. It includes conversations on the bus, backstage moments and exchanges with audiences. Those details give viewers access to the routines around a performance, as well as the performance itself.
The black-and-white footage was shot by Hannah and Adam CK Vollick. Hannah told SPIN that she initially intended to keep herself out of the film, then retained moments when Young addressed her through the camera.
That choice makes the filmmaker’s relationship with her subject visible. The person holding the camera belongs to the life being documented.
By following a tour rather than playing a fictional character, Hannah took on a different kind of storytelling responsibility. The work still asks an audience to watch closely, but her contribution now includes deciding what they get to see.
Environmental advocacy remains part of her life
Hannah’s environmental work has a longer history than her latest documentary. She was publicly pressing President Barack Obama on climate action in 2013, as CBS News reported.
In March 2026, she described her present priorities as environmental advocacy, documentary filmmaking and animal-assisted therapy for older people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The Associated Press reported those statements in its coverage of her response to Love Story.
These were Hannah’s descriptions of her own work. They offer a more useful answer to questions about her whereabouts than speculation based on how often she appears in a new movie.
This archival photograph is from November 2011. Original photograph, shared under CC BY 2.0.
She challenged her portrayal in Love Story
A different kind of attention arrived in 2026 with FX’s Love Story, the drama about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Dree Hemingway played Hannah.
In a March 6 essay, Hannah objected to the characterization and disputed incidents depicted in the series. Us Weekly’s report on her response also covered her account of receiving hostile and threatening messages from viewers.
“But a real, living person is not a narrative device,” she wrote.
Her objection concerned the consequences of viewers treating a dramatization as biography. Producer Brad Simpson had said the team consulted multiple histories and generally did not consult the people portrayed.
That disagreement should remain clearly attributed. The series’ version of Hannah’s life is not an independent factual record.
Her recent work gives the clearest answer
Hannah’s familiar films remain an important part of her story. They no longer explain everything she does.
Coastal provides a concrete example of her recent creative work, while her own 2026 statements identify the causes and activities occupying her attention.
For anyone wondering what happened to Daryl Hannah, the useful place to look is beyond the next acting credit: toward the films she directs and the work she chooses to describe herself.