THE NEW CHERYL WEST
The search for the young Cheryl West is over — but producers of the hit TV3 drama Westside are staying mum about the identity of the actress set to reprise one of New Zealand TV’s most iconic roles.
Spy has learned she has filmed her first scenes for the upcoming third season of the
Outrageous Fortune prequel, after seeing leaked on-set pics of an actress in bed.
The TV world has been abuzz with who might fill superstar Robyn Malcolm’s shoes, as the 16-year-old Cheryl who hooks up with Wolf West, played by Kiwi-born Aussie Reef Ireland. But South Pacific Pictures producer Mark
Beesley won’t spill the beans. “Spoilers have that name for a reason. The less our audience knows about what the young Cheryl looks like or how and when she arrives in Westside, the more they will enjoy her entrance,” he told Spy.
“We don’t want to spoil their fun by saying too much.
“Westside fans understand the show is about Ted and Rita West and while they might cross paths with a young Cheryl this season, that is but one part of Westside’s story.”
We understand SPP keeping it a mystery — but that didn’t stop Spy doing some digging. We have narrowed the field to three Kiwi actresses — Jessie Lawrence, Lily Powell and Elizabeth Dowden. So who could be Cheryl If producers are after a sexkitten Cheryl, Spy reckons that would be Dowden. She’s a bright young star on the Auckland social scene, and was most recently in the American series 1953, shot in New Zealand and telling the story of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunnies. Rock-chick Cheryl would go to Lawrence,
who recently wrapped filming on the highly anticipated Great Southern series Why Does
Love Do This to Me, which tells the story of popular NZ music group The Exponents.
The show is set in the same 80s time frame as Westside and Lawrence reportedly rocked her role.
Age-appropriate Cheryl would be 16-year-old Powell, best known for her role as wayward teenager Jasmine on the TV2 series Step Dave. Playing a Westie criminal-in-the-making would be an interesting leap.
There is one casting we know for sure — our own NZME Focus presenter Laura McGoldrick is reprising her role as quintessential nosy neighbour Wendy.