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Big Wide World : March2002
Michael Wesley Smith (Jack), Victoria Spence (Salene), Caleb Ross (Lex) & Meryl Cassie (Ebony) Interview.
Article written by Steve Williams.
Intro: What would happen if all the adults in the world were wiped out? That’s the idea behind The Tribe, the hit series from New Zealand that’s now on it’s fourth series on Channel Five. The show is such a success that an album’s just been released, with the cast performing many of the songs. Some of the cast are in the UK at the moment, and we were lucky enough to catch up with Meryl Cassie (who plays Ebony), Caleb Ross (Lex), Michael Wesley-Smith (Jack) and Tori Spence (Salene).
You’ve just come from Germany, yeah?
All: Yeah.
It’s overdubbed in Germany, then? That must get quite confusing.
Michael: It’s quite funny. You get strong German voices.
So you’ve been in the UK for a few days. Are you enjoying it?
All: It’s been good fun.
Now you’ve all been in the series since the start, for 208 shows – that must get a little tiring.
Tori: No, because every series is different. The storylines always surprise you, and your character always goes in different directions.
I read a quote from the creator describing the show as “Mad Max meets Neighbours”. Do you think that’s appropriate?
Caleb: Yeah, like Neighbours we have a whole lots of people and we cover a lot of different issues, things like relationship break-up and so on. Since it’s such a young cast we cover a lot of teen issues, and twenty-something issues like bulimia, against the backdrop of a Mad Max-sort of thing.
Do you think that setting attracts people who wouldn’t watch something like Neighbours or Home and Away?
Michael: I suppose so. There are a lot of soaps, but the difference in the settings makes it interesting.
The thing I noticed while I was watching it was that it’s quite complex to get into. It’s sort of like a novel on TV.
Meryl: I think a lot of people when they watch it for the first time think, oh, what’s this about, but I think that encourages them to watch it more. It might get confusing if you watched it halfway through a series. In the first episode of the first series everything was explained, so it helps if you watch it all the way through.
There are a lot of interesting concepts to the show, it gets quite complex.
Meryl: Yeah, there are lots of storylines, you’ve got the whole relationship part and so on, and it’s all scrambled up.
It’s a bit like Twin Peaks in a way, you’ve got to watch it carefully.
Michael: Yeah, totally. I think it’s because there are so many core cast characters, there are fifteen, and they all have their own storylines and backgrounds.
It’s quite a young cast as well, so I suppose it could run for some time. Would you be happy to carry on?
Michael: Yeah, I mean it could go to another series and they could decide to change the whole cast completely. I mean, we’re a dying species.
So where would you like to go after the series? Would you like to carry on acting, or carry on singing?
Meryl: I personally would like to stay in the entertainment industry. I love to act and I love to sing as well.
Tori: As for me, I’m going back to school to finish off. This is an important year for me. But I’d like to get back to acting as soon as I’ve finished because I love it. It’s pretty much taken up all of the last four years of our lives.
I suppose the best thing is because the cast is so young, you’re getting a lot of experience early in your career.
Tori: Absolutely.
Michael: I’m not really sure what I want to do in the next five years or so. I’d like to keep acting in my life, either as a hobby... if someone asked me to do a job, I’d consider it, but I’m not waiting for the phone to ring. I’m going to try and pursue studies at university. I’m not too sure if I’ll see that out, but it should give me a taste of whether I like it.
Caleb: I want to carry on acting. I’d like to move out of TV into film, I’d like to move into directing, and I’d like to carry on in music.
Michael, there are a lot of websites devoted to you. Do you feel you’d be a good romantic lead?
Michael: Depends who I’m opposite!
I’d also like to ask about the style of the show. When your characters are developed, do they have a specific style in mind?
Tori: Yeah, well Meryl plays Ebony who’s a real badass and wears all the leather and so on...
Michael: You should say bottom!
Tori: Shut up! While my character is more motherly and that’s reflected in the style.
Meryl: But everyone in the show is very effective and very different.
Tori: I think everyone’s look and style goes with our characters. They all had in their minds an idea of the character’s costume and make-up and that was carried through throughout the series.
Would you ever wear any of the clothes in real life?
All: Some!
Meryl: It depends on where we’re going.
Caleb: We wouldn’t wear it going down to the shops. But some of the jackets...
Meryl: ... and the jewellery...
Caleb: ...are quite cool.
Do you ever think, oh, 200 shows, can’t we do an episode as ourselves?
Meryl: Sometimes. But the costumes get a good response. It’s all part of the show.
As for the album, Meryl, you sing the theme tune, don’t you?
Meryl: Yeah, we recorded it in Wellington with an English producer, John Williams, he wrote all the songs for us. It’s been going well, we’ve had a good response from it.
And Simon May is involved as well, I note, who did the theme to EastEnders. No covers of Every Loser Wins, though. Do you all sing on it?
Tori: Caleb and Meryl sing most of it.
Do you think the music plays an important part in the series?
Tori: Oh definitely. I think the album is important, it’s really different for a television show to have an album like this and have the cast sing on it, which is really unique. It’s good to have a cast who can all sing.
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