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Lady Parts Presents: A conversation with Kate Jenkinson.Transcript by @haylz_scho; beta reading by @A_Shadow?L: Hello everybody and welcome to a very special nightly edition of Lady Parts. Again, I am Liron CohenM: And I am Mimi TorchinL: And we are sitting here in our 11pm spotM: The other side of the houseL: Again you might be detecting a theme, we are waiting..M: 11 o'clock at nightL: Who is our date this Wednesday at 11 o'clock at night?M: It's very excitingL: We are waiting for a very special person to skype us, who might that be?M: Well..L: Would you like to guess? Never mindM: It's every bodies favourite new girl on the cell block.. Allie Novak. The beautiful and talented and electrifying Kate Jenkinson.L: Wahoo. We are so excited and we're so so grateful that Kate accepted our invitation to talk to us. So we gave her our digits, and now we sit and wait by the phone..?K: Hi ladies.L: HiM: HiK: Oh gosh it's like watching your videos.M: Well we need to see you in teal for us to see you like we see you haha.K: I should have thought this through. I should have updated my costume for you!L: You have the right backdrop though.M: You're in my favourite look ever thoughK: This is a little something that I prepared earlier *pointing at Wentworth posters behind her*L & M: Thank you so much.L: Where are you?K: I am actually at the Wentworth headquarters.L & M: Excellent, fabulous.L: If at any time you feel like taking the computer out and...K: Ohh well I could take you through the halls, but I'm sure... Who knows what the reception would say.L: You'd get in trouble..K: Haha yeaM: Anyway, this is fantastic.L: Thank you so muchM: Thank you so much, this is going to mean so much to the viewers.K: Thank you. I greedily said yes just 'cause I wanted to talk to you ladies, so this is completely self-serving for me.M: Anytime, anytime you just need to pick up the phone and here we are.K: Oh well it's my pleasure, I was saying on Instagram today as I'm very new to the whole thing that I do feel incredibly lucky to be a part of a show that has so much passionate and loyal, and invested fans. It's a first for me and it's a pleasure to talk to you ladies too, as I am a fan of all your work.L: Aw well thank you.M: Well of course the feeling is mutual.L: Naturally. So can you just tell us, I'm sure you've watched the finale yesterday right? You said like everybody else?K: I actually watched it in Australia on Tuesday night... Teal Tuesday... with everybody else. I had not seen the episode before, and yea, I was experiencing everything in real time with all the other fans in Australia and it was pretty brutal.. It was a pretty brutal hour.M: Oh I'm sure it was, it just must have been... emotional.K: Incredibly so. I mean.. We... I had had the advantage of having had read the script and there was a discrepancy of maybe what would of happened in the ending.. There was talk about maybe an alternative ending. But I had an idea of what was going to happen. But even armed with that knowledge I could still feel my heart being ripped out of my chest. Yea, I watched it with Tammy MacIntosh who plays Kaz..M: Yea...K: Yea.. We were very very emotional, and thank god we were watching it together because I needed the emotional support.M: Exactly.L: As opposed to watching it with Kaz, who is no emotional support for anybody..K: No, she would of been thrilled with the endingL & M: Haha, exactly.M: So I wanted to know, have you ever been a part of anything like this: this pairing, this couple, this Ballie..L: And she never uses squish names.M: Eh I hate squish names. I was in the soap opera industry and I hated them.K: Danielle and I actually predicted that there would be a hash tag ship/squish name. And she was right, she thought it would be Ballie.. I thought it would be Beallie. So yea Dan was right, she predicted right that it would be Ballie, and me being a relative novice to the reality of the whole social media world and I was completely unprepared for the fandom and how much support Ballie had. And it's pretty amazing, and a special thing to be a part of. But no, I have never, obviously been acting for a long time, been a part of a show or a kind of online couple... On screen couple that has sort of transcended the show and started to represent more to the fans then just a relationship on screen, and I'm just realising that too now with my interaction with fans online, I'm beginning to realise that it does mean more to people then just scripted words and characters on screen.. it does represent a lot more meaningful and deeply routed in people's sense of identity, and that's pretty amazing!L: Absolutely! And I think that Ballie.. I mean I think we all expected Ballie to take off, but I think it took off in ways that even we didn't anticipate. And I mean, we're kind of ship experts.M: And I mean we felt the chemistry... The chemistry was immediate.K: People have said that. And I mean obviously Dan is a delightful human being and a dear friend. So obviously we felt that we connected on a very intermit level as friends, and I felt like we were both confident that that transcended onto the screen. But, yea, people have really gotten on board, so I mean I'm pleased.L: Did you audition together or ... To test your chemistry?K: Yes, I did. And initially I was scandalised that I was asked for a second audition because I thought that I nailed my first audition so perfectly. And I was like, well what more could they want from me.. But I actually was very glad that I got to do a chemistry test for Dan because as I'm learning the more I'm learning in this industry, it doesn't have everything to do with being the best candidate or the best actor, it has to do with that kind of ah intangible.. Chemically reaction that happens when two people meet and I think that Dan said this - it felt right. Even from the very first day that we met, and auditioned.. It felt right and I think that's what the fans have picked up on.M: You can manufacture.. You can fake.. You can't act it.. You have to really really feel it. And from coming from the soap opera industry; which I talk about a lot as that's where my roots were, I ran a soap opera magazine, and I did a whole lot of other things. Being a part of a like a real couple, catapults people into the stratosphere as far as fans are concerned. And they can throw people together, it doesn't work, they disappear into nothingness.. But then you get lightening in a bottle, like you and Dan had, and it just explodes on screen.. And people feel it, it comes through and it touches something inside people. And especially again, but a gay relationship, a lesbian relationship..M: That people are starving for..L: Even in a woman's prison, where there isn't that much of.. But it's something that isn't represented that much and it was a fantasy almost.K: And a huge responsibility too as well because it wasn't a disposable relationships, it couldn't never of been a disposable relationship because it's Bea Smith, it's the character that bought us into the prison... You know everything about her history, her terrible abusive past relationships. It had to be something that buoyed her into a different kind of level of living, and if we didn't have that very kind of basic chemistry with each other, and that basic love for each other it just wouldn't have worked and it would of been such a disservice to the fans and to the show.L: And the characters...K: Yea, Bea deserved love, regardless of whether that was with a woman or a man or you know a puppy if it chose. She just deserved a very very real love and we felt that it was real, and I'm just glad that the people that watched the show did as well.L: It was just so beautiful.M: And it wasn't even just you two together, it was also what Allie bought out of Bea. You know this was I think our favorite Bea this season.L: Yes, Bea was just the best Bea ever.. You know, because of Allie. And I loved how she never gave up on her..K: AwwL: And it was a beautiful beautiful love story, It really really was.. It was a real love storyK: I think so too, and the fact that Bea was able to put aside her aversion to anything and anyone that had to do with drugs, and saw the person behind the problem.. And I think they both needed each other as much as.. They needed each other equally.L: And it was almost a healing experience, as she did with Allie what she couldn't do with her daughter. So it was like reliving something and feeling now that she could change the facts, she could help the person that she loved. It was very beautiful to watch, and again .. KudusM: Kudus to all the fans and to all those involved, cause it was beautifully written.K: Well it was super cool to be a part of.?SPOLER ALERT - If you haven't seen the season 4 finale, fast forward until the end ***.?L: Ah, so the finale aired and it was very epic...M: Very devastating..L: Can you tell us when you found out that Bea was going to die? What was your reaction? What was the reaction on set?K: Well, the thing about being a part of a show like Wentworth that is you know shrouded in so much mystery is that we're never really given the full story and even now that the show has aired, and we're dealing with the aftermath.. We still haven't been given the whole story. We constantly are still hearing different pieces of information, so it's difficult but.. We got delivered a script, and in the script was the ending that we all saw.. And it was really devastating and I think I took it so much harder then I feel like I would have taken a similar plot line in a different story.. In a different show I mean.. I think it was because I was so invested in that love story, and I felt like it was in its infancy and it was so brutal to just ripped those people apart just at the moment that they found one another.? I was totally heart broken, and I think I was, like everybody else that watched the show, thought this is wrong. The show is over. How can we possibly getting over this main pivotal character being a part of our show. Um, but the more I spoke to Danielle about it, who is wise beyond words, the more I realised that there is kind of a gift of letting a character like that go when she is at the peak of her journey. And I think it's a very very brave choice for the producers to have made, because obviously everybody is emotionally invested in that character but there was nothing that Bea hadn't done on the inside and the outside.. The only thing she really hadn't conquered was love and then she did.. So I think everyone including the cast was faced with the dilemma of what do you do with a character that has done everything. It's like what birthday gift to I give Kim Kardashian, you know that girl has everything.. What can you do with a character that has done everything. And I think the choice was made to take that character away which would then completely disrupt the equilibriums within the prison, therefore would buoy all the characters into action. So I think that was a very long winded answer....M: That was a fabulous answerK: But to answer your more specific question, I was personally completely devastated, if I remember correctly I threw a proper adult tantrum and cried, and said "Well I'm not going to be a part of a show that doesn't have Danielle Cormack in it" and went full Sarah Burnhart..L: In your house in front of the mirror or in front of people?K: In front of Danielle. I felt that it was the wrong decision, but I have since realised that that even though it's hard and it's devastating, it sits so well within the reality of the show. It's prison, and it's always been life or death for Bea, and I feel like it's an interesting and bold and kind of great choice for the show, as heart breaking as it is.M: I think that that's a fantastic answer, and I agree with it.. There were things that I didn't even think about, the idea that she had done everything and where was she to go..K: I think the worst fate that could of befallen Bea was that she became boring.. That would of been, and I totally sympathy with all the beautiful fans out there on Instagram that are saying the show won't go on without her, and she was the main character, and all that the people were interested in, and all that kind of thing. But I do think that it honours her in a way to let her go out on a high, as opposed to have her stay in prison and get boring.. You know...M: Get shivved in the showers..L: By Joan Ferguson..K: Yea, and from a purely kind of practical level when you're making a tv show as opposed to watching a tv show as a fan, you have to make decisions based on what is going to create the best for all story lines, and I think if Bea stayed around her character would of became pedestrian.. I mean, what could her and Allie have achieved? They would have had to break up, they would have had to get back together.. I mean, it sort of becomes standard and Wentworth is anything but standard... So it's so hard, and it feels like it's too soon, and I feel all that too... But I think that's what makes it so compelling, that's what makes it such riveting television,?it's the last thing that you would have thought of and the last thing that you wanted happened.. But now not only do all the characters within Wentworth have to deal with that character not being there, but all the fans have to as well and so on that level I think it's kind of genius.L: Yea, we said it was Shakespearian, in epic proportion.. And for all the reasons you just mentioned.M: She was a tragic character.L: She always lived those extremes and those highs and you were right, it reached the climax of everything she could of ever done and the heroic manner in which she died..M: She was a martyr, she was amazing.. And I mean why would she want to live after she just lost Allie?L: ExactlyM: All she had was life in prison within those walls..L: Feeling like she was responsible for all the deaths of the people she cared about the mostM: But that was a very very excellent answer, and it makes a lot of sense... More sense.. As I just followed the trajectory emotionally, I still felt it was right even though I didn't want to see Dan go and Ballie be over and be dead, they built to it in such a way that was.. Grand.L: And those last words... "I win"M: I win..K: And then she says, when Will is kind of tending to her she says "It'll be ok.. It'll be ok", that got to me. Oh my god.M: I mean, and that last shot.. I knew that was coming.. *beep noise*... I said, she's alive, her eyes are going to open.K: I mean I shot it and I was still ... I lost my mind, I was hysterically...L: Yes because the craftsmanship that goes into creating Wentworth, the cinematography, the editing, the sound.. I mean it must look amazing on the page, but then it's the way...M: It was perfection, it is so magnificent.. It's like watching an academy award winning movie every week.K: Aw that's incredibly generous, thank you so much, I'm glad that you feel that way. I feel lucky every day to be a part of a show that is so universally loved. It shouldn't be important that people love the work you do, but you can't help but feel like you're part of something that's more than just a television show.M: Exactly. And there's nothing wrong with wanting people to love and admire your work. We all want our work to be admired, accepted and to be recognised as good work, and this is great work.K: Aw I'm so glad that you guys like it. And you guys are like the epitome of why it's so special - because we have such incredibly thoughtful and loyal viewers, who I feel like you're the 12th cast member do you know what I mean? You sort of solve the unanswered puzzle, the show wouldn't be anything without the people who are invested in it..? And quite literally we wouldn't have a show if we didn't have such fantastic, loyal fans.. So thanks for giving me a job.M: We love to be a part of it, that's for sure.?SPOILERS OVER:?L: Right, well, we're going to now go back to the past. We googled you and we tried to do some research, and I bet the fans know way...M: They know everything..L: Way better then us.K: I'm scared of that google machine, it brings up so many things from the past that I didn't even know..L: That the thing, we didn't find out hardly anything, I mean, I couldn't find a birthday for you.. You said you were a private person, I guess you were serious.K: That's surprising to me.. Cause now that I'm on this Instagram machine I have seen pictures of me that I didn't even know were taken. So somehow the lovely.. Potentially crazy fans, have somehow found pictures of me on the internet that I didn't even know existed.L: Get used to it..M: It's a scary world..K: I mean kudus for the passion..L: Yea, I mean that's why I was saying that they probably know everything but we don't know anything. We don't know your birthday, where you grew up, your background....K: We'll I'll give you the hot scoop, it's the 24th August 1981L: Ahh you're my age! You're two month younger then meM: That's a wonderful age, and take it from me who married to this age.K: I think it's a great age too. I feel like, it's only until you hit your mid 30s that you stop wishing that you were younger. I used to get so scared of aging, but not anymore, life only gets better!L: Oh yea, especially for women!M: .. For women, absolutely.L: And so your birthday is coming up, what do you plan?K: I will most likely be working, which I love. I always enjoy working on my birthday, to me that ideal.. As you know in this industry work is you know, very kind of unreliable and you never know what you're going to do. So I've always enjoyed celebrating with another job, and know that I am busy, surrounded by people I like and doing what I love. So I will be working, but I also have a special friend coming from LA to visit me, so I will be surrounded by friends and yea.L: And Face Timing with Rufus..M: Yea, we know about Rufus..K: Aw Rufus.. I mean the real ruler of my heart... Forget Bea Smith, it's Rufus.M: What's his breed?K: I don't know, it's chiwawa definitely, and I think a little bit of whippet or Italian greyhound... He's very... He's one of those very nervous breeds.. But I'm not sure.. He was a rescueL: I anticipate that he will have his own Instagram account any day now..M: Any day..L: I can see that happening..K: Apparently Rufus has already had offers from b*tches out there in the Instagram world who want to date him, so I think he could be very busy.L: Hashtag: dogs of InstagramM: There's nothing like a rescueK: We'll have to create a ship name for him and all his women.L: Haha, that'll be easy. So... What were your dreams when you were a child? Did you always want to be an actress?... Were you aiming to be an astronaut?K: I wish.. I wish I had aimed for astronaut. I feel like that would of been a lot more badass then an actor, but I think I always did want to act; I just don't think I was ever able to understand that. I was a child that was fascinated by people, and fascinated by television but not by the same way that other kids were. I would sit right up next to the TV and watch people's performances, and run to the mirror and try to re-enact what I had just seen in a tooth paste commercial or something like that. So I think I was always destined to be a role player I guess, but I didn't know till I was about 18 that that was a job that existed and I could...L: 18.. That's a sheltered life..K: Yea, I just always liked.. It sounds too pervy.. But I liked staring at people and kind of wondering what made them tick and their mannerisms and yea, my mum and dad used to always call me Sarah Burnhart...M: Me too...K: Ohh Really?M: Yes, because I always wanted to be an actress too, and the minute I got upset about something or dramatic about something, they would be like.. "Oh Sarah Burnhart"... It's universal..K: Oh, we're sisters. Yea so, my parents used to always call me Sarah Burnhart ‘cause I must have been a drama queen. So I think that they picked me before I do. But then I grew up in a small town in Western Australia in Perth, I knew absolutely nothing about the industry. I didn't know any actors, writers or directors, so it seems like *phone beeps* that's just Rufus texting me...L: He's so smartK: *phone rings* My phones blowing upM: He needs to go to obedience schoolK: Yea, I'm going to have to text Rufus "Not now Puppy". Ah so, I had this inkling and this dream that I guess, I could be other people for a living but I had absolutely no way of actualising that, and I did sit on my hands for about 2 years and just thought - someone will walk past me on the street and realise that I was destined to be an actor, and someone will give me a job. But of course it doesn't work that way, and I ended up audition for a wonderful well known drama school in my home town of western Australian, that sort of put me on the train. And if I hadn't of been successful in that audition then I truly don't know what I would be doing now, because I had no idea how to make that career happen.. I was very lucky.. I'll put it that way.L: You're very talentedM: And it changes our lives..K: Yea, exactly..M: It could go this way, or that way.. It's all differentK: Yea, and I do remember sitting at that audition, and I had never done a single acting audition in my entire life. And I remember being called down into the room, and I was so nervous and I was ready to turn around and walk out that door, I didn't want to be judged. But before I had the opportunity to escape, someone grabbed my hand and told me that it was going to be fine and took me down into the audition room. And I got it somehow, having never acted before I managed to land myself in that fabulous school, and that seemed to have started everything for me.L: Do you still get nervous at auditions, before shows and all that?K: I do, yea, I do. I think.. I don't think it ever leaves you because I think there's always a desire to want to be good and do good, and I've been in the industry long enough to know that you can't get every job that you audition for. But you can always do a good job, so for me I think I get nervous because I always want to do the best I possibly can, I never want to walk out of an audition thinking - I didn't put all my effort into that, or I could have done a lot better. I always want to be the best, the best failure that I can be..M: There's no such thing as failure, there's only not getting a role.. And it's not really a failure because it happens all the time.L: And I always say when people get out of auditions and they always say "Oh why did I not get this role?" And they say she was too short, or she was too tall, and so many times it has nothing to do with talent..K: I have quite literally been rejected for being too tall.. Twice... In my life.. Like, "Could you please take off your shoes.. Oh no, you're still too tall, thanks for coming". And it's as trivial as that, and I mean.. What can you do? You can only be yourself..M: Exactly..L: You actually just lead me to a question I had for later, but it goes well with this subject. I did research, and in 2013, there was criticism about Rebel Wilson's fat joke that she was making a lot of fat jokes on her show..K: Yea..L: On Super Fun Night, and you said and I will quote "We are living in a time where you don't have to be glamorous and stick figure thin to be a lead on television." Now this was in 2013, so my question is having lived in LA at least part time for 3 years now do you still find that to be true?K: Yes.. And No. I think that it's a sad fact of this industry and a sad fact of the entire world that it pays to be pretty, it pays to be white, it pays to be middle class or above, it pays to be straight, it pays to be vanilla and standard and "normal" as possible, so, yea a pretty, blonde, thin girl will always... There will always be a place for her in Hollywood. But I think that there is definitely, now, a push in the opposite direction - and diversity is being embraced in a way that it has never really been embraced before. I still think we have a huge way to go, but I do feel like we are getting there. And certainly in my own personal experience in the last couple of years in LA, is that it's almost now a disadvantage to be white because shows have an invested interest in making their content diverse. And I can't hate that, because that's the world that we live in and it would be a terrible representation of life if everyone was white, and straight and middle class and all that type of thing. So I think we are getting better, but I think we do have a long way to go.M: And Rebel actually is really helping to change that, practically her and Melissa McCarthy..L: That's two examples...M: Two examples, but they're so successful and she must be so fun to work with?K: Rebel? Oh she's brilliant, she actually texted me last night.. She wanted to say that she had just seen the finale and that she absolutely loved it. But I think what I love about people like Rebel and Melissa McCarthy, and even Kristen Wiig who you know you could say looks very different, what they represent to me is - it doesn't matter what they look like, they make us laugh because they are talented. And I think that's something that I like to hang onto, your appearance, your persuasion, whatever you appear to be is completely irrelevant. If people connect to you on some sort of level, that's what is important and I think that's exactly where Bea was in this season. She never in her life, I'm putting words into her mouth, but I don't imagine she would of ever imagined that she would be in a relationship with a woman but sometimes you sometimes have to quote Bridget Westfall, you just have to "fuck the labels" and if you've fallen for someone you just go for it.L: AbsolutelyM: And especially if you're going to be in prison for the rest of your life, in a woman's prisonK: Exactly, yea, it's just Bea making a smart choice for her future.L: So speaking of which, even though you're new to social media.. I think Torri is your partner?K: Yea, she is.L: Ok, she's been very public about the two of you even before you came to social media.. And she's extremely popular with the fans..K: Yea, I am realising thisL: That makes you officially part of a real life power coupleK: Does it? I mean I don't feel powerful? Maybe I should start acting powerful and important... I'll start flipping my hair a bit more...L: You can be the Brangelina of Australia?K: *Clicks fingers* I'm just clicking my fingers hoping that someone should have bought me a cup of tea by now.. But no one has..L: Right now a fan is watching this going "where.. Where.. Just tell me"M: There's a tea pot whistling somewhere in the world right now.K: I hope so.L: So have they given you squish names yet? Like "Tate" or "Korri"?K: I think I saw hashtag "Shackison", which I think is adorable..L & M: Ah so they've gone for the last names..L: Damn I thought I was onto somethingM: You were, you were just on the wrong way. Ok so, you've been open about your relationship, right?K: Yea, I have been.. I see no reason why not to be.L: Any kind of coming out story? Or did you just decide to just go for it?K: Truly, exactly that. And I have to say it's oddly similar to Bea's journey, that I had never considered myself anything other than, what we're told is normal, and I have had successful relationships with men, incredible men. And I never thought it was odd or wrong to also be attracted to women, and then when one comes along that you want to spend more time with and you just do. So I guess it never felt to me like it was a defining part of my personality, which I guess is a very unique experience for people in our community because I certainly know a lot of woman and men that have known from a very young age that they just feel very different than other people, and there's something different, and obviously that can effect some one’s life in a huge way to have to feel like you have to own up to a part of your personality that maybe other people don't think is right, but that was never my journey. So, no I never felt like I needed to "come out" or make a statement, I just happened to be in a relationship with a wonderful person that was a woman.M: It's organic and it's wonderful.L: Yes and it's special because people in the industry are usually not so quick or not so open about as you have been from the very first moment.. And it's beautiful and refreshing and it's not an issue..K: It's sad that we, and I really really do understand why people in our industry and again, in life.. Why people feel uncomfortable about being totally honest about who they are, it's so sad that unfortunately people do get judged for that sort of thing and marginalized, and I feel very very lucky that I live in a world surrounded by friends and family and fans who would never see my personal relationships as anything other than completely normal, so that's an incredible gift that I have received and it makes me sad that not everyone's journey has been so easy and accepted as mine.L: Well I think your story inspires others..M: It really does, and I think it gives people a lot of courage and hope. And it is a better time now also, it's easier than it ever was... And it doesn't mean that it's easy, but it's so much better.L:But I mean also, I know you're modest and it's like you said "Oh now I'm only beginning to understand that these things matter to people" and you especially, ever since you've been playing a gay woman on television, so you attract a lot of lesbian fans, and seeing your real life story and openness and you're embracing this, being proud of who you are, and it's not even a question, it was never a question you know, you just came on Instagram and that was it. It means so much to people.K: And that's good, that's great, I am so pleased to hear that. I do hope we are getting closer, and I think you're right, we are getting closer to a point where we never second guess being open about the people that we love because it should never be considered anything other than totally normal.L: And wonderful. I mean if you're lucky enough to find someone that you love so much, that loves you back and you share your life together in harmony then why should that ever be a bad thing?K: I agree, I couldn't agree more.L: However though, how much exercise does she make you do? I mean that would be a serious problem for me!M: It would certainly be for me!K: Let me just crash a few theories down in flames.. I work out more than she does.L & M: Ohhhhh okK: She does get up at some ungodly known hour to go running, almost every morning she gets up at 5am to go running, don't ask me why, it makes no sense to me. But I feel like I do more squats, there are some more bicep curls, I do the work she doesn't want to do.L: You might have to take some pictures to show that offM: Especially the bicepK: I'll see what I can do. Tori likes yelling at people and telling them what to do like - squat more, give me 10 pushups, do more burpees. But she doesn't actually like doing that herself.M: Did you say burpees?K: Burpees, have you ever done a burpee? Never do a burpee!M: What are they like? I've burped..K: I could do 10 burpes no problems, but 10 burpees.. NoM: What is a burpee?K: A burpee is this hideous concoction of exercises where you jump in the air and then immediately you hit the floor and do a pushup and jump again.M: Oh I know what that is..L: I didn't know they were called that..M: I would have to go to the hospital.. ImmediatelyK: Yea, it's a thing that only crazy people enjoy. So I don't do it.L: So you just do it, you don't actually enjoy it?K: Yea, exactly. I feel that way about exercise in general, I do it because I'm creepily vain and that's about it.M: I know the feeling..L: You know the feeling but you don't actually exercise..M: I did when I was young..K: I walk to the fridge and I use my biceps to open the fridge, and I grab the fridge and I open the milk and I feel like that exerts a lot of energy.M: Sure.. And that's the type of exercise I like to do. I'm going to ask something else about, going back to acting. So they say that, dying is easy comedy is hard.. You've done both, so what do you think?K: Interesting, I agree. For me, I think comedy is harder because when you are dealing with drama, and this is my own personal opinion, I'm sure everyone would have a different one. I think drama you only need to concentrate on the truth and what makes sense for your character and as long as you've got that then you're going to be ok. As long as you connect to some sort of truth, within your character, I think people will pick up on that. I think in comedy, you've not only got to do that but you also have to make people laugh and you have to know what your audience is, and you have to be original. Anyone can tell a joke, but no everyone can make that joke funny. So I personally find comedy harder because there's another element and one with a lot of pressure, you're being paid to make people laugh, so I think it is a different kind of skill all together.M: It's also like chemistry and timing, you can't fake timing, a person can try to be funny, and you're a natural we think..L: We've watched a few... Your Super Fun Night..M: And Wedge..K: Yea, I think I do enjoy, and have always enjoyed comedy and I think perhaps I learnt from a young age that if you can make people laugh then you'll always have friends, and it's an instant way to get acceptance from people I think. Everybody likes to be around people that make them laugh, and I don't know, maybe that was a self-preservation mechanism of mine when I was a kid, I thought that if I could make people laugh then I would always have friends around but who knows, I've just always drawn to funny people and funny stories and I grew up in a house where my mum and my brother had outrageous senses of humour and think that perhaps it's in my genetics.L: So as long as we're on the topic of acting, I'm going to steal one of your questions..M: Ohh, alright..L: You have a really good American accent; you do a really good American accent. So, what did you have to do to get it and please answer in an American accent..K: Well I'll answer this in an Australian accent before I launch in. I actually haven't had to speak in an American accent in a long time, but I'll change that now so *American accent* I guess, you go to drama school and you can't avoid the fact that you need to have a decent American accent if you want to go to America, if you want to work in America, you have to sound American. And I guess I always had a decent air for accents, but in Australia you're saturated with American accents. You turn on the TV and it's 2 and a Half Men, or it's Friends, or you turn on the radio and someone's singing in an American accent. So it's kind of, I feel like anyone in Australia can do a decent American accent, and then fast forward I moved to American and I was in a show playing an American girl. So it sort of becomes a muscle, the more you go to the gym and workout your bicep, the more your bicep will get stronger and stronger and soon enough you're lifting up something you never thought you could lift up before. And I think it's the same as accents, and learning lines and all that kind of things, the more you do it the easier it becomes...M: BrilliantL: That was a long standing American accent. Snap.M: Wahoo, fantastic.L: Loving that you said that you were on an American show but surrounded by Australian actors playing Americans..K: Australian actors and Australian directors.. Whenever I am in America, I find I always order my coffee and my lunch in an American accent, otherwise I find they cannot understand me.M: Oh, I find Australian accents easy to understand, it's probably because we listen to them so much.. We watch so much Aussi stuff.L: We doM: And I think there must be an Australian on every television show in America..L: Yea? And the BritsK: We're having a bit of a renaissance in LA.. In America at the momentL: And they all have great American accents.M: AmazingL: And now we know why.. They teach them in schoolM: I go onto IMDB and I'm like wait, here's another Aussi, here's another Brit.K: Yea I think we have a pretty good work ethic down here, and it's usually the actors that have gone through some sort of formal education and put in the hard yards, but often they're the ones that make it across the pond to America. Do we sort of have a hunger and a desire to do good, but yea, it's just a wonderful country and the amount of amazing content that you guys produce in America is so appealing to us Aussi. Because you know, we make fantastic television here but the industry is so small that if you want to have a sustained, diverse career you sort of have to get out of your comfort zone and get overseas because there is a limit to what you can achieve in Australia, and not because the industry is limited but because there is only a certain amount of jobs available in production at one time.M: It's just the share volume of work, it's just not really there and there's so many good Australian actors..K: Yea..M: There's a lot of people there for every job, I mean there is in America too, but we do so much here.. On every different level.K: Yea, exactly.L: So let's talk a little bit about Allie again. How are we doing on time by the way, are you in a hurry, are we doing ok?K: The only thing I need to worry about is my level of battery, but I'm sure I've got at least 30minutes.L: Oh great, Ok firstly, you already told us a little bit about your audition with Allie, but what did you know about here coming in and what was your first audition for Allie like?K: Well, first of all, preceding my initial audition... I think I've told this story before but it's a good one so I'll tell it again. I was sick in bed, in LA, I had the flu, and my friend Rebel told me you have to watch Wentworth, it's fantastic. And I think I had been avoiding the show because I knew so many people in it, so it's hard for me to suspend my disbelief, so I had been avoiding watching it. But I thought what the hell I'll watch it, of course I watched the entire two seasons, I thought it was fabulous, and I was hooked. But I thought that was it, two seasons and they would be done. And then I was having lunch with a friend of mine who was in Wentworth, she played... I don't know what her character's name was but Franky always called her Bubble Butt but her name is Karsha who is an amazing Actor, and I said "Hey I've been watching Wentworth, it's amazing, you're amazing.. I've been loving the show". And she said well, we just shot a third season and we're going to be shooting a fourth season and there was just something that kind of just went off in the back of my head and I just thought - Ok, I think I'm going to be in that fourth season. Cut to about two and a half months later, I was in Australia doing a different job and I was having breakfast with my agent and she said "Wentworth called' and I was like "That's fine, I've got the job, whatever the job is I've got the job.. I'm getting it."L: Oh, they called you?K: Yea, I just knew that I was going to get the job, so no they didn't call me specifically they just said that there was a new character and we would like you to audition for it, and I with all the confidence in the world said "Yes, I'll be taking that job thank you very much". I walked into the audition with just astonishing amount of confidence. I just had a feeling that it was meant to be. And so I did my first audition and I was very quite happy with myself, and then about a week later they said "We'd like you to do a chemistry test with Danielle", and as I said before I was completely scandalised as I thought "You can't improve on perfection, you got all of me the first time" but of course it was great to do a chemistry read with Dan..M: And necessary.. It didn't mean that you weren't great, it meant that you were great to begin with.L: ExactlyK: No this was just my out of control ego, and laziness too.. I just didn't want to do it again.. But of course it was wonderful, it was absolutely necessary to test that relationship.. The Bea/Allie dynamic. And I think the character was initially written a lot different, I think they had a very different idea of who Allie would be. I certainly feel I was the odd person with the girls that were there on the day I auditioned, I certainly felt like I was the odd choice. But there you go, you can sometimes not be what is written on the page, but if something clicks with the chemistry right then that's all that matters. So I feel intensely luck that..M: Well you moulded the character..K: Yea.. Yea.L: That's fantasticM: I wanted to ask you this, we asked Nicole this too.. Was there something in the script that you really really wanted or you didn't want that you fought for or you fought against that changed?K: Yea it's actually something that thrills the viewers, and I'm so glad that it did because Dan and I fought for it. So in the beautiful scenes between Bea and I where we are in our isolation cells next to each other..L: Ah my favourite..K: I loved it so much, and there was obviously scripted a whole lot of 'getting to know you' dialog and we were opening up to one another, and bonding and learning about each other’s stories, and it was written absolutely beautifully and we both loved it. But Dan and I know both felt very strongly that Allie needed to kind of be the key that unlocks something in Bea's chest, she kind of need to help Bea fly in some sort of different stratosphere. And we both felt very strongly that Allie needed to make her laugh and just make her feel comfortable and just be sort of a little looser. And so we both suggested that Allie starts rapping..M: It's brilliantK: And forces or invites Bea into a world of sort of craziness that she had never really been into before and I'm glad that they agreed to that, because I feel like that it was important that Allie was always light and you know despite her surroundings and despite her freedom, she was able to find an inner freedom and I think that's what Bea needed to desperately.M: Yes, she was very.. She was light and optimistic and in spite of everything she loved life.K: YeaL: And actually we got a chance to talk to Jet about that episode and that scene, and she said that you..K: Aw JetL: Yes I know, we feel we always say our very own Jet Blackenson is now directing, we feel like a family..M: A kingshipL: She said that you shot it with two cameras so you that could have the interaction which was brilliant because so much of it had to be shot together, otherwise.. We marveled at that scene and how you managed to get so much out of each other..M: It was just magnificent.. It was one of my favourite things of the whole season.K: Aw I'm so pleased, we really loved it too, we really did. And I think that it was so rewarding for the viewers to see Bea childlike again, and having real fun again, legitimate fun again, because her world was so devoid of that. And I think that was the key to their relationship, Allie had to be kind of playful, warm, cuddly, blanket of security and love and trust for Bea, otherwise it just wouldn't of worked. The prison is full of gorgeous woman like Franky and we are saturated with those archetypal idea of a hot lesbian, you know like Laura Prepon off Orange is the New Black.. Gorgeous tats, and there's a reason that women like that are so attractive and so idealised. But I think what Bea needed was something that was completely different to that.L: And you know we were thinking also about another scene that we love... The love scene. Which we found extremely surprising, we were very impressed we didn't think Wentworth would go there. There was no indication in previous seasons that there would be anything.. Because you know it's not about the sex, it was a truly erotic, romantic..M: Romantic love scene..L: Beautiful love scene, they took their time, the golden hues. It was so beautiful, the silhouettes. I mean it was really idealised..K: I'm glad that you liked... Sorry, what were you going to sayL: I was like just to ask if you were privy to the decision making, whether you and Danielle worked things together, or was it purely choreographed..K: Yea we did, the wonderful thing about the creative team is that they are incredibly inclusive and they allow us so much leeway in terms of our own creative opinions, it's very unique in terms of being an actor in a show - often you are told to shut up and say the line the way it's written and don't ask any questions. But no, we are afforded a lot of import which is really lovely. So Dan and I had obviously a lot of ideas and input into how that scene should be and I remember I took issue with that scene, I felt like... I felt like for a woman who had never been with a woman before, it perhaps a little easy. And I remember sort of fighting, well not fighting with the director, but my opinion was that it shouldn't of been so easy for Bea to reach climax and all the rest of it. But what the director said, and he was completely right and I take my hat off to him, he understood the dynamic better than I did. Was that it had nothing to do with 'sex', it didn't really have anything to do with orgasm or anything like that, it was about the intimacy and the trust. And I think that's what the director Kev captured so brilliantly.L: Absolutely. And was there ever, at any stage any kind of hesitance or attempts to pull back on how much exactly was explicit..M: Not on you..K: I felt like there needed to be more! I thought there were obvious aspects of woman having sex with woman that weren't shown, and I think I was thinking too logically about it. You know I was like.. Most women need this kind of thing, and most women like this sort of thing. Whereas he rightly showed me it wasn’t about sex really at all, it was about Bea finally feeling loved and surrendering her intimacy to someone.L: And especially as it came off right after she relinquished Top Dog, right? So it was just the whole 'letting go' ..M: Liberation, and feeling free and light.L: It was beautifulK: Yea the sex itself was kind of inconsequential..M: There was a type of ecstasy about it.. That I just lovedL: It was beautifulK: I'm gladL: So, on a similar topic - what was your first celebrity crush?M:? We're coming to the trivia part of our eveningK: I need to hydrate for that question. My first celebrity crush.. Well.. I wanna do a shout out to Astro Boy as he was my first kind of, I feel deep feelings for Astro Boy even though he was a cartoon. Celebrity crush.. Geez... Oh god.. Probably Mark Paul Gosselaar from Saved by the Bell.M & L: Really?L: You are a true 80s childK: Yea, and then of course I feel like every man, woman and child loved Leonardo Dicaprio?when they watched Titanic, and Romeo and Juliet.L: Ok, first woman crush? Celebrity woman crush?K: Woman crush.. Man..L: Jesus, I could come up with like a 100 right now...M: Yes but you're a gold start lesbian..K: Ah first time I saw an image of Lara Croft off Tomb Raider, her..L: You're a closet Angelina JolieK: Yea, not necessarily Angelina Jolie, but almost the cartoon representation of her. Like this badass woman, so I actually asked if in Allie's cell she could have a big picture of Lara Croft, and there is!M: I love it, I love it! Very good choice..L:? Boomer has kittens and cakes, and you have Lara Croft. Pretty good.M: Very very excellent.L: On your resume what do you have listed under 'other skills'?K: Should I know this? Or is this, is this something that is actually on my resume?M: I don't know if it is on your resume, I know what was on my resume.. Horse back riding..L: Fencing..M: Singing.. Speaking Spanish. You don't have that?K: We do, and I think when you graduate from drama school here you have to fill out one of those huge forms that they put on your online bio, and I think in my 'other skills', I'm sure I have horse riding and juggling - neither of which I can do. I would have tap dancing, because I am a legitimately a good tap dancer. I think the truly embarrassing admission I would say would be 'leg model'. Because I have incredibly long... LegsL: I wonder what happened in that pause, what happened in that pause?M: It's a great gift..K: I'm battling with my shear humiliation that I am admitting this, but I think in some world I conceived that I could get hired as like a leg model. So I think I wrote down that one of my skills was leg modelling.M: I love it!L: Thank god you skipped that stage of never having to have used it... Straight to actress.K: I have never been hired as a leg model, so if there is anybody watching this who is in need of stockings that need to be modelled, I am your girl!M: I was just going to say, you maybe getting some calls now.L: Now if you had a show that you were starting in, a TV show... That you were the central character, what would you like her to be?M: The Lara Croft thing made me think of that question too.K: Oh see I think that's why I'm so attracted to that sort of women, because it's completely opposite to me. I am not a tough, kickass type of person myself, so I think I am attracted to what is not myself. I think if I was to create a show that was about me, it would be about me and a select group of girl friends and we would run a professional karaoke competition. And it would be kind of Glee-esk in terms of we would sing in every episode, there would be lots of glitter. I'd basically just want the opportunity to be able to sing Ice-Ice baby and get paid for it, on some sort of international television platform.M: Well we can't pay you, but feel free...L: Exactly..K: Oh god, I would be here all day doing that.L: So you sing, would that be also on as 'other'..?K: Well I sing very very averagely, there is absolutely nothing sellable or impressive about my singing voice. But I love singing, and I love karaoke, and I kind of have had a thought about this idea for a show about girls that run a professional karaoke?group...M: You could sell that..L: Like professional Karaoke..K: But kind of like 'white men can't jump', they hustle people into thinking they're not going to be any good, but then they end up being really good. I don't know, I haven't thought about all the intricacies, but that's my idea, something to do with Karaoke.M: I think it's very original.. We were thinking detective... DoctorL: Superhero..M: Yours is original..K: Well the way I do Karaoke, you would think I was a superhero.L: So I think we'll do a final question, what are your hopes for Allie for Season 5? Your personal hopes, it has nothing to do with whatever ends up happening..K: Gosh that's a good question. I hope that she can find release, I hope that she can let go of her anger, and I hope she can get to the stage where she realises that life is always worth living despite the toughest of circumstances.. Because she's still got a lot of life to live.L: I found it interesting when you said, that in your mind Allie had such a bad life on the outside that prison is actually comforting to her..K: Yea, I still think that..L: So you think that the next 10 years of her life are going to be constructive and good?K: I certainly hope that they will be for her. I think that Allie has a lot to live for in general, but I think that she is a particular case in the prison where she has a quality of life that she has on the inside that she didn't have on the outside. Despite the terrible things that happen within the prison walls, there is always a reason to keep going, and I hope that she fights...M: I love that, I think that she will.. I think that she'll be ok.L: I think that she has an importance to lift other people up in the prison, that she has that kind of spirit that really is contagious and that would be very important for the other prisoners.K: I agree, completely.M: She's a beautiful character, you've infused her with a lot of warmth and beauty and light, she's terrific... And you're great.K: Thank you so much ladies, it's been a pleasure playing her for you.L: This is fantasticM: Thank you so much for giving us all this time, I am praying that this recorded..L: Well there seems to be no reason it wouldn't have..K: Well if it didn't you are more than welcome to call me back another time.M: Thank you KateL: Thank you for your time, thank you for your loveliness, and your generosity.M: Give Rufus a kiss from usL: Yes, and all the cast members, give them a kiss from usM: Tell them we love them allK: I'll kiss Bea's cheek first for you.. Thanks guys, thank you so muchL: Thanks Kate, have a beautiful dayM: Bye love ................
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