Sacha Horler and Krew Boylan in ‘Sando.’
Krew Boylan and her fellow cast members and crew were devastated when Genevieve Morris was forced to withdraw from the lead role of the ABC/Jungle Entertainment comedy Sando for health reasons after the first week of shooting.
Sacha Horler successfully auditioned for the part and made the character her own, winning the admiration of her colleagues.
The changeover made a big difference in the relationship between Horler as discount furniture queen Victoria ‘Sando’ Sandringham and Boylan as her estranged daughter Susie.
Mother and daughter had a bitter falling out 10 years earlier when it was shockingly revealed on Susie’s wedding day that Sando had a one-night stand resulting in pregnancy with her fiancé (Firass Dirani). So Sando is desperate to reconnect with her family and to keep her business from being usurped by her nemesis (Rob Carlton).
“Sacha is an absolute pro and it was such a privilege to work with her,” Krew tells IF. “I really loved sparring with her. My character’s relationship with Sacha’s character was so different to Genevieve’s character.
“My character had a bit more spite and bite when Sacha stepped in. Susie is very different from the characters I’ve played before. When you dig into it she has good reasons to be furious with her mother. I approached her a bit like someone I know who can be quite uptight and bossy.”
Phil Lloyd and Charlie Garber created the show, which premieres at 9 pm on Wednesday March 21. Lloyd plays Sando’s former husband Don, a jingles writer who fancies himself as a serious musician and is the lover of Nicky (Adele Vuko), Susie’s best friend and live-in therapist. Uli Latukefu is Susie’s husband Gary and stand-up comedian Dylan Hesp is Eric, Sando’s son.
Chloe Rickard produced the series directed by Erin White (It’s a Date, Little Lunch) and the Van Vuuren Bros. (Squinters, Bondi Hipsters). The scripts were written by Lloyd, Garber, Gary Eck, Helen Dallimore and Tiffany Zehnal.
Boylan has written the screenplay of Seriously Red, a comedy/drama/musical which will be directed by Kate Woods and could start shooting later this year. It will be Woods’ first Australian feature since Looking for Alibrandi in 2000.
She will play the lead, Raylene or “Red,” an outsider who is obsessed with Dolly Parton and believes that impersonating the buxom singer will be the key to happiness.
The producers are Robyn Kershaw and Dollhouse Pictures’ Jessica Carrera. Boylan, who is represented by RGM Artists, and Carrera co-founded the creative collective with Rose Byrne, Shannon Murphy and Gracie Otto.
Boylan started writing the script four or five years ago when her career was at low ebb, before she landed the lead role in FremantleMedia Australia/Nine Network’s Schapelle and she played Lynne Randell in the M4 Entertainment/Seven Network miniseries Molly.
“At the time I was a bit heartbroken over my acting career, which was not going where I wanted it to go,” she said. “I had been writing for years, but not seriously, so I started writing the script at The Writers’ Studio in Bronte; they are a great group of mentors. Whenever I didn’t have an acting job I went back to writing.”
Her friends Yael Stone and Pia Miranda both suggested Woods as the ideal director so Boylan sent her the script. “I wanted a female director who is good at both comedy and heart, which Kate is great at. We’re so thrilled to have her,” she said.
Casting should be fun, not least for the roles of impersonators who take off Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Kenny Rogers.
Bolyan is a big supporter of the #MeToo movement and has donated to the Times Up campaign, observing ,”They were so necessary and great and empowering.”