Jail House Cock

STRAIGHT MATE BY MATTHEW MYERS JAIL HOUSE COCK After roles in Days Of Our Lives, NCIS and CSI, Bernard Curry is back in Oz and behind bars! He tells Matt Myers about life in Wentworth Detention Centre. DNA: You play bad-boy warden Jake Stewart in Wentworth. When your character was introduced, was there some sexual tension between Jake and fellow warden Will Jackson (Robbie Magasiva) in the locker room? Bernard Curry: Oh, yes! When I read the character breakdown in the script it said that sexually Jake couldn’t be pigeonholed. He’s an opportunist and will entertain any opportunity that comes his way. He’s probably tried the other side and enjoyed it, but also likes women. Fletch had left the show, and he was quite blokey, then Jake comes in, who’s a little more fluid. There were a few of those moments in the locker room where Jake’s come out of the shower and Will’s like, “Other people use this locker room, too!” I think it’s fair to say they explored a little sexual tension between them… but I don’t think it was ever an intention to go down that road. It helped the audience understand that Jake is able to cross the line. Cross the line? There’s a line that most people won’t cross but Jake will gladly cross it to get what he wants. It’s a survival instinct and one of the great themes of Wentworth. Survival of the fittest? Yes, on either side of the bars. Wentworth is about power, how to get it, keep it and what to do with Sexually, it. That applies to the prison guards as well as the Jake can’t be prisoners. Another theme is family. The inmates create their own family and the guards do, too. pigeonholed. Is Jake a bad boy just to survive? I don’t think he sets out to be a bad guy. Whenever He’s an he’s backed into a corner he’ll cross that line to survive. People love to hate Jake; I think he’s a kind opportunist and of anti-hero. Last season he realised he’s in love will entertain with Vera, but he’s done all this shit to her to serve the purposes of Ferguson, and regrets that. any opportunity. Wentworth has such a huge following. What do you put that down to? It already had a devoted following because it was 34 DNA a reimagining of Prisoner, which, for its time, was groundbreaking. Women in prison bashing each Jake: flirt with other up had never been explored on television no shirt. until then. It also had homosexual relationships. Wentworth is much darker than Prisoner: more gritty and real. The production quality is higher! Fundamentally, and each season has been better than the last. The cast and crew are genuinely passionate about Wentworth – you can feel it on the set. What about the attraction of a man in uniform? You and Robbie look pretty good in those crisp white shirts and ties. [Laughing] That’s one of the ways we explore power in the show and how it shifts when we put on that uniform. It’s very structured with the shirt and tie and, for me personally, I take pride in doing the right knot for the tie! I like to have a slight bit of shirt cuff showing, too. Then there’s the utility belt and a few stances that create a visual sense of power – there’s a sexy thing about that. Something about a guy in uniform that works. Have you ever played a gay role? Well… I played a guy on the US show Hit The Floor, called Jesse. He’s a real bastard to one of the main dancers. They have a kid together and he’s a real prick, but she gets him back. Jesse really wants this contract, and a big, fancy basket baller says, “What can you really do for me?” This basket baller is basically saying, “I want to fuck you,” and you see my character thinking, “Will I go there for the sake of the contract?” The next thing, you see him in bed being fucked by the basket baller! Then the woman comes in and starts taking photos, and he gets his comeuppance. He wasn’t gay, but it was close. Who is your music diva? Bad boy Jake Eva Cassidy. She’s an obscure songstress with at work. the most magical voice. A friend put me on to her album Songbird and I was blown away. I could listen to Eva Cassidy all day. is helping hands for mental illness. They have The What do you do to keep fit? Extremely Long Lunch on August 18, which is their Keeping in good shape a major factor in acting. A main annual fundraiser at Federation Square, friend of mine in LA, Luke Milton, does Training Melbourne. I’ll be emceeing and my band Johnny Mate, which has a great, lighthearted group- Wonderpants will be playing. training atmosphere. It’s high intensity interval Have you ever had an on-set wardrobe training and I’ve had great results from it. I’ve malfunction? actually set up – in what’s meant to be the formal The first TV show I ever did was Snowy. Rebecca dining room of my home – my own little circuit Gibney played a teacher and I was a student training course. I also go to Jimmy Taylor’s who had a sexual encounter with her. She was Fitness XO in Richmond. Jake often has to get his sitting opposite me and I was a bit star-struck top off on screen! and I knocked a cup of coffee all over her. I was Who, in the industry, has inspired you the most? mortified! Working with Pamela Rabe on Wentworth has been This is our Sleepwear issue. What do you wear to pretty inspiring. Given the work we did together, I bed? really feel I stepped up another level in terms of my DNA: IF YOU WERE GAY, WHO I used to wear undies [briefs] and I’ve never liked acting experience and skills. It was wonderful to WOULD BE THE ONE? the loose boxer shorts, so I moved to the tighter watch her work and it was a joy to dance with her, Bernard: Ryan Reynolds, who boxer briefs that keep everything in the right so to speak. Every single actor on Wentworth brings plays Deadpool. He looks like place and packaged. They support the bum a little me up to a higher standard. fun to hang out with and doesn’t bit as well! Tell us about A Boy Called Sailboat. take himself seriously. Obviously, It’s a film my brother Andrew has coming out he’s very good looking, too. He that I have a small role in. It’s a truly beautiful and his wife Blake Lively have this MORE: Wentworth Season 6 returns 19 June on and magical film. It just won a couple of awards thing on Twitter where they troll Foxtel’s Showcase and streaming on Foxtel Now at the Newport Beach Festival in LA and they’re each other and take the piss. I and is on free-to-air on ABC1. For more on One In hoping to get it into the Melbourne Film Festival. think that’s great. Five go to oneinfive.com.au I do a lot of charity work with One In Five, which DNA 35.

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