The screen death of Alex Cook’s character Lou in Love My Way still holds strong emotions for fans
LOVE My Way’s Alex Cook tells Holly Byrnes is “baffled” by the emotional scars viewers share with her over the episode where her character Lou suddenly died.
Confidential
Don't miss out on the headlines from Confidential. Followed categories will be added to My News.
SHE was only a child when fans of Love My Way watched through floods of tears as her impish character Lou died suddenly on one of Foxtel’s most popular drama series.
Even now, 19-year-old Alex Cook is”baffled” by the emotional scars viewers still share with her over that seminal moment in subscription TV history — when the mere mention of episode 8 can have some in the foetal position.
Working in a Sydney bar, while she studies a business events diploma and chases full-time acting work again, Cook is reminded often of the impact her TV death continues to have on people 10 years on.
“I get a lot of drunk hugs from randoms, who go ‘oh my god, you’re alive’,” she said, adding with a laugh, “I should get a dollar for every time someone says that.”
After putting her showbiz career on hold to finish her schooling, Cook is back to claim her place in the spotlight — and reuniting with her on-screen dad, Dan Wyllie as presenters at this week’s ASTRA awards on Thursday night (highlights across all Foxtel channels, from 7.30pm).
Wyllie admits to being “gobsmacked” at the sight of his “little Lou all grown up” who now stands head and shoulders his equal.
“We had our agents Christmas party last year and this gorgeous young woman comes up to me, with this attitude and says ‘remember me?’ And I had a full 45-second delay before I realised this person was little Lou.”
That attitude is evident when you ask Cook about her memories of filming that final, fateful moment, quipping: “it’s hard for me to take credit for something like that ... a lot of the credit belongs to Brendan (Cowell) and Dan (Wyllie) and Asher (Keddie) and Claudia (Karvan) who had to act around me. There wasn’t much for me to do and it would be a bit weird if I said to people ‘oh, did you see how well I played dead?”
She was taken under the wing of the now A-list ensemble, recounting a funny moment when she had left the series but phoned Cowell to ask him to be part of her primary school’s Grandparents and Special Friends day.
“My nanna was too old to g, so I rang him up and said, ‘Brendan, can you be my special person?’ and he said, ‘I would but I’m in London and it’s 3am. Even when I finished, Claudia took me horseriding with her daughter ... I just have so many good memories of that time.”
The production was a turning point for local storytelling, Wyllie says, with the subscription platform opening the door for the style and quality of drama the local industry is creating today.
“Love My Way came along at the same time as shows like Six Feet Under ... that first wave of interesting, personal, long-form storytelling. From the cast, to the writing and the production values, it was all done in such a careful and loving and sensitive way.”
The best of subscription TV, marking 20 years, will be celebrated at the ASTRAs, with presenter pairings including Antonia Kidman and Robert Irwin; Margaret Pomeranz and Don Hany; and Ksenija Lukich and Ryan Corr reflecting a cross-generation of stars and shows which have made a contribution, then and now.
PRISONER PIA JOINS WENTWORTH
FROM one child star to another — look what’s happened to Alibrandi star, Pia Miranda?
The ever-youthful 41-year-old leads an impressive list of guest stars for season three of Foxtel’s acclaimed prison drama, Wentworth (premiering 8.30pm, Tuesday April 7 on SoHo channel).
Miranda (pictured, right) plays inmate Jodie Spiteri; while former All Saints actors Libby Tanner joins as psychologist Bridget Westfall; with Tammy McIntosh as vigilante Karen Proctor.
A production spokeswoman hinted: “all three will impact the power play of the prison.”
A fourth season of 12 episodes of Wentworth was commissioned by Foxtel last week, with production set down for later this year.
MARDI GRAS SLIPPED A SAUSAGE
ASK The Butcher host Anthony Puharich knows a marketing opportunity when he sees it — toasting this weekend’s Mardi Gras and the extra visitors it draws to Sydney with a specialty sausage menu at his Vic Meats market, Pyrmont.
Adding sizzle to the occasion, try these on for size: “the chubby chorizo,” “the pork sworder,” “a chile willy” or perhaps, a more local delicacy “the spicy Boomerwang.”
Meanwhile, Magda Szubanski, Tom Ballard and The Feed’s Patrick Aboud will host SBS One’s broadcast of the parade, from 8.30pm tonight.
MAXIMUM AIR FOR DAVE EASTGATE
IF you’re not watching ABC2’s new kung fu comedy series, Maximum Choppage (Tuesdays, 9pm) you’re missing out on the acting stylings of one of Australia’s funniest men, the incomparable Dave Eastgate.
Studio guests to The Voice or The X Factor will know him as the hilarious warm-up guy; others, as that clingy loan in a bank commercial; or the hopeless mate on The Moodys.
Now he’s emerged from the shadows to take a starring role in the series, opposite Lawrence Leung.
Eastgate has done the hard yards of stand-up, getting his start in TV, writing lines for Mike Goldman on Big Brother’s Friday Night Games, while he worked full-time as a crowd entertainer at Dream World.
Still, he counts himself as a NIDA graduate ... as a joke. “I just did the two-week winter course on the Gold Coast,” he told me, “It was a beautiful time.”
ONE TO WATCH: All for one for Emma Hamilton
WITH the complexion of an English rose and a degree from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts under her belt, it’s little wonder Melbourne actor Emma Hamilton is proving popular in period drama.
After guest roles on BBC One’s Poirot and recently as Anne Stanhope in The Tudors, the 30-year-old makes an appearance in tonight’s episode of The Musketeers (8.30pm, BBC First).
She stars next opposite Jacki Weaver and Michael Caton in Australian feature film, Last Cab To Darwin, directed by Jeremy Sims.
TV GOSSIP: Nat’s mum rides wave to Hawaii
THEY stick together in the Sunrise family, so when plans were revealed for the cast and crew to jet off to Hawaii for a week of beachside broadcasts, one keen viewer was straight on the phone booking her ticket — Natalie Barr’s mum Julie.
The Sunbury local will be among 130 viewers flying over for the adventure, marking her first time in America.
She’ll be entertained with guest performances by US girl group G.R. L, Carly Rae Jepsen, Tim Omaji (aka Timomatic) and our Eurovision charge Guy Sebastian.
DON’T MISS: Kylie kisses up to The Project
SWAPPING her spot in a big red chair on The Voice, Kylie Minogue returns to our TV screens tomorrow — taking her place behind the desk on The Project.
The pop princess is back for her Kiss Me Once concert tour, timing the homecoming with Neighbours’ 30th anniversary celebrations that begin with a reunion special next Monday night.
Also joining Pete Helliar, Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore will be Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo.
MONDAY, 6.30PM, TEN
$14k a clip: NSW YouTube stars making more than you
YouTube stars in NSW are raking in thousands of dollars per video but it’s what they do in their clips that will drive traditional workers mad. Check out the rich list.
Glamming it up for a return to the racecourse
The first official racing carnival featuring the new $46.6m WINX stand at Randwick Racecourse is kicking off, with model and new mum Ksenija Lukich among those dressing up for the occasion.