The Australian Women’s Weekly New Zealand Edition — May 2017

42 MAY 2017

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best people writing and working with
us– it was beforeHerculesandXena
started and before shows like
Outrageous Fortune. All of those were
possible because ofShortland Street

• just spending time in front of a
  camera as an actor was brilliant.
  Of course many of those people
  have gone on to do well
  internationally – Martin Henderson,
  Tem Morrison, and Marton Csokas
  [Dr Leonard Dodds].
  The culture was
  pretty tight – I think
  we were all pretty
  fond of each other.
  My advice to myself
  if I could go back would be: ‘Expect the
  unexpected – you will get famous and
  we don’t earn enough money in this
  country to shield yourself from that.’
  I think because it was our only New
  Zealand show on at the time it was
  pushed in more directions than a soap
  normally would be. They were at the
  forefront breaking ground – they had
  Indian families, Maori families and
  they did quite a bit in Te Reo for a
  while too. Kieren Hutchison
  [Jonathon McKenna] and Karl Urban
  [paramedic Jamie Forrest] did one of
  the first gay kisses on New Zealand
  television, which doesn’t sound like a
  big deal now but it was then. Now the
  show has a transgender storyline –
  they are still breaking ground.

It is difficult afterwards to get work

because you are so recognisable –

but I was rather lucky that a lot of

American shows started coming down

here, so I was able to do bits on those

and survive on that.Shortland Street

got me on telly – I hadn’t done that

before and it led to other things.”

Lynette Fordayplayed Grace Kwan

from 1994 to 1997, a hard-working,

naturally flirtatious doctor who had a

number of romances, including a

short-lived engagement to Lionel

Skeggins. Grace left Ferndale in 1997

to pursue a job in an Australian

hospital but returned in 2013 and

made a plan with Chris Warner to

have a baby, with no strings attached.

Grace left Ferndale and gave birth to

her daughter in Fiji. Chris tracked

Grace down in 2014 and she returned

to the show for a guest role. Lynette

has recently appeared on800 Words.

“After all these decades people still say,

‘Ohmy God,Shortland Street.’ It is a

compliment but you also think, ‘Wow!’

As aShortland Streetactor, you are

recognised in the street and of course

because you are in people’s living

rooms every single night, people feel

like they know you. Even though it

was really embarrassing to be yelled at

in the street, the public were lovely,

they liked us.

I was really shy and introverted

when I started, but the wonderful

thing about the public constantly

coming up to talk to me was it drew

me out of my shell. I am still shy, but

I know how to talk to people now.

The fast turnaround makes it really

hard work because you are constantly

trying to focus on learning your lines.

You work all day, then go home and

learn lines, then come back early the

next morning into make-up and try to

remember them – but spending so

much time in front of the camera as

an actor means you learn so much, so

quickly. We were lucky.

It was so fast. I remember Lionel

proposing to Grace on a boat – we

were lying back and it was pouring

with rain and I had to say a line like,

‘On a beautiful day like today...’ and

you could hear the rain pelting down!

If you were shooting something like

Mad Menthey would say, ‘Let’s just

stop until it’s a beautiful day,’ but we

didn’t have time.

Shortland Streethas stayed relevant

because it reflects New Zealand. The

female characters were so strong, and

Kirsty and Lionel’s wedding was the 1994
season finale cliffhanger, with the service
interrupted by Kirsty’s former love, Stuart.

“We struggle getting different coloured

faces on screen, particularly Asians.”

Lynette Forday creditsShortland Street

with having strong female characters.