Kerry-Lee Dewing has a “mates before dates” philosophy on friendship but her Shortland Street character Kylie Brown hasn’t been so loyal.
Kylie is struggling to deal with her drunken one-night-stand with Vinnie (Pua Magasiva), the boyfriend of her best friend Emma (Amy Usherwood).
Now she is using the affections of teenager Evan (Tyler Read) to boost her self-esteem, even though she knows the relationship is inappropriate.
Dewing, who was born in South Africa, was surprised by her character’s betrayal.
“She is such a lovely, caring friend and her friends mean so much to her especially after what she went through with her family and her Soap sister. She keeps her friends really close to her heart.
“If anything, she wants to safeguard herself by having a close support system, so I really didn’t think that she would do it.
“In saying that, Kylie does have a little bit of a drinking problem. That’s how she deals with her issues at times. So when I read it I thought, ‘Oh yip. Whoopsies. Stupid mistake’.”
She says Kylie and Vinnie had an easy friendship before their indiscretion after a boozy night out.
“She wasn’t really thinking at the time. They’d been drinking and she wasn’t aware of what was going on. It was a stupid thing.”
Although Kylie wants to tell Emma, Vinnie says they should keep it a secret in a bid to avoid hurting her.
“It’s a tricky one,” Dewing says. “I think doing what Kylie wanted to do would probably be what I would have done. But it’s always easier said than done.
“When that circumstance takes place, you’re often like, well, maybe it’s better just not to say anything and not hurt anyone if it didn’t mean anything. If there are actually feelings there, maybe you need to say.
“But if it was nothing more than that, maybe just keep it all good. It’s so hard, I don’t know. It needs to be worth all the trouble because you can’t do that to someone.”
Although Dewing doesn’t have personal experience with this kind of situation, she has seen betrayal.
“There have been several experiences growing up and I think most people experience it one way or another. I could relate, although not to this exact situation.
“Just seeing friends who are close to you being hurt in the same sort of way, anything like that. You come across it many times.”
Dewing can also see why her character is willing to have a secret relationship with Evan, even when she knows he feels a lot more strongly about the relationship than she does.
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“She’s got all these issues going on with the house and money and he’s there as a support but she knows that his age is a bit inappropriate and it’s not right but she likes that he makes her feel good. He makes her feel all the things she needs at the moment.”
In real life, Read is only two years younger than Dewing, but she says the characters they play changes the way she sees him.
“Although I know he’s only two years younger than me, it still feels like he’s a lot younger because of our characters. I feel bad for Evan but I think he’s also pretty happy with life. It’s all very secretive and sneaky and all for the wrong reasons.”
-The TV Guide is out every Thursday
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