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Guide (Herald Sun - Melbourne) July 10, 2002 Cover LION KING Cubs on prowl It's hard yakka on the set of Nine's new cop drama, writes Robert Fidgeon. The young actor is weeping tears of frustration. It's not in the script. What appears a relatively
straight-forward 60-second piece for the camera - the actor exchanges dialogue
with Alex Dimitriades and Penny Cook - isn't coming together as she hoped. There's no shortage of people on hand to offer advice. The director offers suggestions. Dimitriades offers words of encouragement. They go again. No good. The
actor hurries down the stairs, sheds her tears, returns to try again. "Series television puts a lot of
pressure on a lot of people, but that's the way it goes," Dimitriades
says. "If you're going someplace new with a show or your character,
that's exciting. There's certainly a lot riding on the shoulders of Dimitriades and his three young co-leads, Tom Long (Seachange), Alexandra Davies (Flat Chat) and Anna Lise Phillips (The Boys). Channel 9's $7 million police series will go up against Seven's longtime favourite Blue Heelers in a winner-take-all battle. Heelers features country cops and is pitched at the broad family audience. In the hope of attracting younger viewers, Lions is set in the city and built around the exploits of four young officers. The series sees Dimitriades team with producer Michael Jenkins again. the two first got together 10 years ago when Dimitriades catapulted to fame as the star of Jenkins' movie, The Heartbreak Kid. It's been a mutually beneficial partnership, which has taken the duo through subsequent projects, including the TV series spin-off Heartbreak High, the acclaimed mini series Blue Murder, and the 60 episodes of the ABC's gritty cop drama Wildside. Dimitriades admits it was Jenkins' involvement that enticed him back to the grind of a smallscreen drama series. "You ask yourself whether you want to commit to a series - and I was certainly a little sceptical about going back into series television - but with Michael involved I knew I could trust what he did would be quality," Dimitriades says. "Michael and I work very well together and I'm very thankful to be asked aboard." Also grateful to be aboard is Alexandra
Davies, of Flat Chat. "Initially, Eddie doesn't even speak to Donna, but the pair develop a deep friendship," Davies says. "This is such a tremendous break for me, and working alongside Alex is a great experience. "Eddie, however, is a complex character who's not so easy to pigeon-hole." Dimitriades describes Eddie as
"methodical and very private." It's a description that could just as
easily fit Dimitriades himself. The network and Michael Jenkins want all
the Young Lions characters to be more appealing to viewers than those they got
to know in Wildside. Dimitriades speaks enthusiastically of working with his three co-leads, describing them all as "top actors, all doing a great job." "In fact that's the great thing about working on this show; it's kind of easy-going," he says. "There are no problems that need working though, or anything like that."
SAME FACES, NEW BASIS The first day the Young Lions cast got together was something akin to a class reunion. Young Lions executive producer Michael Jenkins is one half of the production team behind the hard hitting ABC police series Wildside. Young Lions lead Alex Dimitriades also starred in Wildside. And, as our picture shows, Anna Lise
Phillips was a guest star in Wildside with Dimitriades and now stars as Sen.-Constable
Cameron Smart in Young Lions, alongside Tom Long. TV EYE Young Lions |