Gold Coast Bulletin
11th December 2008
FRIENDS of Sea Patrol actor Kirsty Lee Allan made the most of a fleeting visit to the Gold Coast on the weekend.
The group of 10, all actors and models from Sydney, had surfing lessons and dined at top restaurants as Allan herself was mostly caught on-set filming the Navy drama.
``Kirsty has been so busy her friends hadn't seen her for a long time so it was a great chance to catch up, even though she was filming on Saturday,'' said Scott Edwards, a friend of Allan's.
Edwards, who runs GETWET Surf School, took the group on a surfing tour before they dined at East.
``All the boys thought Christmas had come early,'' Edwards added. ``We had a fantastic weekend; the girls were unreal.''
The connection with Sea Patrol is not new for Edwards. Aside from his friendship with Allan, who plays Rebecca `Bomber' Brown in Sea Patrol, he also has taught lead actor Ian Stenlake, who stars as Lieutenant-Commander Mike Flynn, and Matthew Holmes (Chris `Swain' Blake) to surf in return for acting lessons.
TV Week
7th June 2008
Kirsty's Dance Workout
How does Kirsty Lee Allan stay in shape? By avoiding the gym and making exercise fun.
Before joining the cast of Sea Patrol, Kirsty Lee Allan was a professional dancer, performing in far-flung places like Spain and Disneyland in Hong Kong.
These days, she may have traded in her lycra for a pair of those baggy grey overalls, but Kirsty still enjoys a vigorous dance class or three each week.
I’ve been dancing my whole life, but when I landed Sea Patrol I stopped, she says. I’ve just started to get back into classes and I go a couple of times a week, when I’ve got the time or there’s a good class on.
The classes (which Kirsty likes to do at the Sydney Dance Company, where these photos were taken) also fit with her preference for exercising with a group.
I’m not a big fan of exercising on my own. There’s no way I could get motivated to just get up and go for a run or a walk, Kirsty says. Instead, she supplements her dancing with regular team sports.
I played netball when I was younger, and I love it, so all my girlfriends and I decided to get a team together, she says. I also play Oztag every Monday night. My girlfriend’s boyfriends really wanted to play, so they organized a mixed team.
There is one exception to the rule, however, and that’s surfing.
I got my first surfboard when I was on the Gold Coast [for Sea Patrol], and I learned to surf up there. When I got back I was going all the time, and I did a bit of a surfing trip to Foster, Victoria, and another one down to Melbourne with a friend. We surfed all along the coast. But now, because it’ s getting cold and I haven’t got a steamer, I don’t go out so often.
Kirsty is the first to admit that all this regular exercise means she can indulge in other areas. I’m not the healthiest eater in the world, but I think that if I do other things to compensate for that, I feel good about myself.
Her biggest indulgences? I don’t think we should go there! She laughs before fessing up. McDonald’s nuggets every now and then. If I feel like something I’ll eat it; I’m not someone who’s like No, that’s not healthy. I’m a savoury person so I don’t eat sweets, but I’ll eat a lot of breads, dips and cheeses.
Her motto everything in moderation may serve her well most of the time, but when she feels like she needs to step things up a notch, Kirsty likes to set goals. I’ll set a goal that I have to do so much exercise a week and put a date on it, she reveals. I think with every goal you make you should really pout a timeline on it, otherwise it’s like, Oh yeah, I’ll do it one day. But if you set a deadline, you know when it’s getting close and you end up doin it.
For now, though, Kirsty’s number-one priority has absolutely nothing to do with exercise. Having recently finished filming new SBS comedy Couriers, she’s looking forward to a two-week break in the US.
I’m going to New York, Las Vegas, LA and Hawaii, she reveals. I’ve never been to Hawaii before so I’m looking forward to lying on a beach and relaxing!
VITAL STATS
What does healthy mean to you?
Definitely just feeling good. Drinking a lot of water, doing physical activity, trying to eat healthier.
You were a model and dancer before acting. Which industry has the most pressure to look a certain way?
Dancing, definitely. In modeling, things like having a big bust isn’t a bad thing but in dancing, I was consistently not put in routines or cut from jobs because I couldn’t wear a little top.
What about acting?
No, not al all. You’re on TV and it may add 5kg or whatever, but at the end of the day, if you’re a good actor, people are looking at that, I hope.
What part of your body are you happiest with and why?
I don’t know! I’ll go with my legs.
How do you just relax?
Just be reading a book or having dinner with friends.
Real-life drama for Sea Patrol's Jay Ryan and Kirsty Lee Allan
31st March 2008
Herald Sun
A stunt goes wrong and the lives of two actors hang in the balance as they desperately struggle to keep their heads above water.
Sounds like a cornball Hollywood script but it was a real life drama for Sea Patrol's Jay Ryan recently.
Filming series two of Channel 9's hit drama, Ryan and co-star Kirsty Lee Allan were caught up in a potentially deadly whirlpool - in shark-infested waters, no less.
"We were meant to be pretending to drown but every time we came up for air, we were getting sucked back under again, I started getting a bit worried, thinking, 'Am I acting here or actually drowning?'," he said.
"The stunties jumped in to get us out but they were getting sucked under too. It was pretty hairy.
"We all had a stiff drink that night."
Ryan is hoping his new project is a little less dangerous.
He's enlisted Sea Patrol co-star and good buddy Jeremy Lindsay Taylor to direct him in his play The Packer.
The one-man show, which begins at the Old Fitzroy Theatre on April 20, is a black comedy, set in New Zealand featuring eight characters.
Ryan has performed six seasons in the past five years, so he was looking for someone to inject some new ideas into the production.
"In a one-man show you need someone to bounce off," he explained.
But surely one buddy directing another is asking for trouble?
"It's been a dream run," Taylor said, "Not even one tiff."
The pair even went on a "research trip" to New Zealand, to see where the play is based.
"It was like a boy's weekend away," Ryan laughed. "We're both bogans from way back - we love drinking beer and making theatre."
2008 Media Articles
