Screen lovers
networking and auditioning for roles.
When they returned, the pair bounced between Kiriona’s family in Whanganui and McEwan’s in New Plymouth while they saved for their wedding.
Kiriona went on to cast several roles, including in the Australian movie Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan before earning his regular spot on Shortland Street earlier this year.
McEwan filmed an episode for television series Power Rangers Ninja Steel last year but says for her acting jobs were otherwise few and far between.
That was until October, when she joined her husband on the country’s longest-running soap.
Having often visited Kiriona on set before landing the role, McEwan says he congratulated her with the old quote ‘‘if you hang out at the barbershop long enough you’re going to get a haircut.’’
She got word of her part as Tess in September while walking home from a shift at a cafe in Ponsonby.
‘‘My agent phoned and said to me: ‘how do you feel about quitting your job because you’ve been offered a role on Shortland Street,’’ she recalls.
‘‘I was like ‘what? I didn’t even audition’.’’
Turns out the casting directors had held on to a tape of McEwan from an audition earlier in the year.
‘‘By the time I got home I had already texted my boss at the cafe and told her I had to quit.’’
When McEwan arrived in Ferndale it was a notoriously hectic time of year on set with the team gearing up for the Christmas cliffhanger, which aired on Thursday with Tess going into labour,
She praised everyone for their hard work and describes a ‘‘really cool family vibe amongst the cast and crew’’, paying special mention to actor Michael Galvin who plays her on screen de facto fatherin-law, Chris Warner.
‘‘It’s really fun working with Michael. He’s honestly the most down to earth guy and he’s so funny. We get a long really well.’’
McEwan’s not entirely sure how long Tess will stick around in Ferndale but reveals the character ‘‘gets a good run.’’
And in the meantime, the newlywed says the pregnancy storyline is definitely ‘‘fulfilling an urge.’’