Interveiw with Indiana Evans and Rhys Wakefield

[matty and luke forever]

Meeting Indiana Evans and Rhys Wakefield

We get to catch up with Indiana and Rhys together at Channel 7 Studios. Yes, they’re cool, they’re friendly and great fun to meet!

Indiana, you began modelling at the age of 11 and you’re a TV star by the age of 15. Did you ever imagine yourself as a professional actor by the time you were 15?

“No,” Indiana laughs, “I’m amazed at how quickly my professional life took off. I had started high school at Newtown School for Performing Arts, but was only there for two weeks, as the role of Matilda in Home and Away came up early in the year. I now do correspondence school while I’m working with Home and Away.”

With the fast pace of Home and Away, are you able to keep up with friends and with your hobbies?

“I still have my friends from primary school and I actually made some friends at Newtown School. I like to keep in touch with them.” says Indiana. “I just love doing kid-type things, that’s when I relax and be myself!”

“I try to keep up with my hobbies, such as drawing and music, but time is rather limited because of my school studies and filming work…actually any spare time I have is spent on school work! But I like putting time into socialising too, as that part of my life’s important to me, " says Indiana.

“Yes, I’m keen on drawing, but I’m not very good!” Indiana says.

Rhys interrupts: “She’s very good! But very modest!”

Indiana: “Ha Ha. But I really enjoy it – my mother and sister are artistic too. We all love art and like to be creative.”

“Years ago I learnt ballet, jazz and tap dancing, although my sister was more the dancer than I was. No, I never imagined myself as a professional dancer,” laughs Indiana.

This has been a big year for Rhys too as he’s combining studying for his HSC as well as adjusting to an actor’s life.

“I’m at McDonald Performing Arts College, North Strathfield and whenever I have a day off from Home and Away I try and go in to school,” Rhys says. “I’ve divided my subjects for the HSC into two years, so I’m doing some this year and the rest next year. It’s kind of hard, but I think it will pay off.”

Did Rhys ever see himself as one of the actors of Home and Away?

“I remember watching Home and Away when I was a little kid with my brother and we watched it religiously, and knew everything about it…but never did I imagine that one day I might be in the show myself!”

"I’d done acting before at my school...but I was very surprised to have won the role of Lucas Holden in Home and Away. My agent called me, and I was so shocked, I didn’t know what to say. It’s quite weird to go from one extreme to the other – to be unknown one day and overnight, you’re a well-known figure!! You can’t prepare yourself for it! It’s such a crazy experience," Rhys says.

‘It’s a strange concept that people you don’t even know come up and talk to you because they’ve seen you in Home and Away. It’s OK with me, but it’s still bizarre!”, says Rhys.

Rhys says, "Being in Home and Away has been a great learning experience for me…you learn so much as you go. I’ve learnt how the camera crew works – that’s amazing. And through the exposure to so much, one’s social skills are enhanced…even talking to adults seems easier now and exposure to publicity, as in this interview, is a learning experience for us!”

Indiana agrees, “It was great learning exactly how the cameras work and how a camera crew works…it’s fascinating! Basically all the stuff in this industry you tend to have to learn in one go. Everything we do in filming is a learning experience. Even adjusting to publicity, and interviews…like now…”, she laughs.

Rhys says, “‘So it’s great when I get to hang out with my mates and I get back to being the kid I am again. I’m actually going through two levels of growth – I’m growing in my career, but not too mature for my friends!"

Is Rhys like his character Lucas Holden?

Indiana says, “ Yes, they are both very smart!"

Rhys: “Ha Ha. Well, I do feel connected to the character…I can be a bit serious as Lucas is and I like writing as Lucas does. He plays football for fun, he’s not really competitive. Like me, I play sport for fun, I’m not all that competitive (in sport, that is). Yes, I’m inclined to be rather sensitive as Lucas is so it does make it easier for me to play the character!”

That First Kiss

Indiana: “When it was time for Rhys and me to kiss as the lovers in Colleen’s play it was quite a moment!”

“Yes!” laughs Rhys: “Quite nerve-wracking, really.”

Indiana says, “The director, who was very sensitive to Rhys and me, cleared the room of everyone else, which made it so much easier for us!" “Yes,” Rhys said, “had he not cleared everyone away, it would have made us very nervous, but as it was the scene went very well. We survived!” he laughs.

Indiana: “Actually, I’ve matured through being on the show – and one thing we’ve both learnt is patience!! Having to wait between scenes is a learning experience.”

Indiana's Profile

Born: 27 July 1990.

Star sign: Leo. “Yes, I’m a Leo. They say there are many Leos in the entertainment industry.” (And they all seem to have wonderful hair, as Indiana does). “I s’pose so,” Indiana says modestly.

Indiana’s Pets: “Yes, I have a cat, an evil cat called ‘Nemo”. He’s very cute, but very feisty..he attacks you!!’ but he’s very very cute…not fluffy, not sleek, but in the middle, as cats go.”

Wishes for the future: “I admire Cate Blanchett as an actor: that’s my ultimate goal. To be as good as she is!!”

Rhys' Profile

Born:20 November 1988

Star sign: I’m a Scorpio, yes, rather deep and sometimes a sting in the tail! Ha Ha.

Rhys’s Pet: “My dog Molly’s a border cross kelpie dog. She’s a very clever dog,she's gifted! She can ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ when I tell her. She’s very cool, she’s my baby. I take her for walks, but she pulled a ligament the other day in her leg when she turned around quickly… (no, she’s not all that athletic, she’s more an intellectual dog!) so she was limping for several days!”

Loves: “Cooking. My brother and I both love cooking and can make a good meal. I love making curries (mild, though!) and I love Thai food. I like how guys love cooking these days…there are so many cooking shows on TV too.”

“And I love just hanging out with my mates, which I’ll be doing a lot of in the break.”

Wishes for the future: I’m hoping to go to LA at the conclusion of my contract with Home and Away, and try my luck there. I’d love to get a part in an international film or another TV series.

Rhys says “I think I see the world differently to most people. I’m a bit unusual in that way. When I’m bored…I can see a leaf as a dinosaur, or make a boat out of leaves, I can see all sorts of absurd things in everything!"

Rhys says: “We were both so amazed at how friendly the Home and Away crew is to us. They are all such good guys, all so grounded."

“Yes," says Indiana, “we appreciated it very much. They were very welcoming to us from the first day. They are all very friendly people!”

"We’re both looking forward to the break,” Rhys says. “I’ll catch up with my friends.”

Indiana says: “I think when I see my friends, that’s my chance to be a kid…there is another me…”

It was a pleasure for us to meet Indiana and Rhys, the two youngest actors in Home and Away. The future looks bright for them both.

[Tamxxx]

Aww, thanks for posting, Indianna and Rhys see so lovely in that interview

[Kimmy]

Born: 27 July 1990.

Star sign: Leo. “Yes, I’m a Leo. They say there are many Leos in the entertainment industry.” (And they all seem to have wonderful hair, as Indiana does). “I s’pose so,” Indiana says modestly.

I'm born 2 days before her...Go Leos haha

[loveangelmusicbaby]

Aaaw they are both so sweet in that interview. I though Rhys was born in 1990? He looks young for a 17 year old. I mean I can't beleive he turns 18 this year! He is about 4 weeks older than my cousin! Great couple on Home and Away! They are so cute together.

[jessk84]

They would make such a gorgeous couple in real life aswell hehe.

[princess_in_pink]

wow. im born two days befor her!!

[Jackieleanne]

Good article, I just read this, and looking through it from the sweet comments they make about each other you can tell how much they like each other, and now we know that they are together, and would have been dating when they did the interview, its so sweet looking back on it.

[xsamie]

They are such an amazing couple, all the nice things they said about eachother was so cute.

[Traceve]

Thanks for posting that, that was so cute!

[-Annie-]

Thanks for posting! They're soo adorable!