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Wentworth star: ‘Stop bumping me off!’

Wentworth actress Kris McQuade has a message for TV producers.

ASTRAs 017As Jacs Holt she was a fan favourite in Wentworth but veteran actress Kris McQuade says TV dramas have to stop bumping her off.

“People ask me if I’m coming back and I say ‘Nup. She’s had her arc!'” she recently told TV Tonight.

“As you get older you don’t tend to play big roles, you tend to play someone’s mother and then you’re killed off in the first episode like A Place to Call Home.

“I played Marta’s mother and I was gone after two scenes. If they keep doing this to me, I can’t earn any money! And lo and behold I’m killed off again!

“The next contract: no deaths!” she insisted.

McQuade is set to return to the stage, playing opposite two African actors with South Australian Theatre Company. But she loved her time in Wentworth, including the chance to win over die-hard Prisoner fans.

“Everyone who was a fan said ‘They’re so different and I love them both!'” she said.

“And it was great not having too re-do someone else’s character. I really enjoyed that I got to create my character.”

ASTRAs 019Meanwhile Prisoner original Val Lehman admits she had concerns about the rebooted series, recently joining new cast members Celia Ireland and Shareena Clanton at the ASTRA Awards.

“A lot of people were worried, but I think they’ve unworried them!” Lehman said of the new cast.

“I thought it was great that people who loved the original have been brave enough to come and look at the new one and take it on its own merits,” Ireland added.

“I was hoping they would live up to us and they’ve exceeded it,” Lehman generously offered.

ASTRAs 023Danielle Cormack, who brought Bea Smith to a new generation, said the role was enigmatic.

“I don’t know that I had time to think about it because it was really important to be present on the set and do the best with what we had, which was a lot,” she said.

“And also to not let Prisoner inform Wentworth too much.

“Obviously it’s really found it’s own place in the world. So I’m really stoked.”

Filming for Season Two begins in September and Cormack has already had discussions with writers about the direction of her character.

“There’s lots of interesting new characters to help rock the boat and bring in new conflict, which is always necessary for the drama. Bea has a really great arc over the whole series.”

Meanwhile she is filming Rake‘s third season for the ABC.

“I’m on the other side of the law playing a defence lawyer probably representing someone like Bea!”

7 Responses

  1. “They’re so different and I love them both”. Sums up how I feel, too.
    And whether Wentworth lasts two seasons or 20, Jacs will be as well remembered as the original Frankie Doyle. She was a terrific villain!

  2. If they had called the show Prisoner I think they would have disappointed a lot of people, my mum for example loves prisoner, watches it everyday but hated Wentworth.

  3. Up until this article, i was thinking she may not even be dead. If memory serves me correctly, we saw her get stabbed by the pen but did we actually see or hear her pronounced dead? Was hoping that she doesnt die and next season was about Jacs trying to get back to Top Dog….hmm

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