Frankie Adams as Candy Blue in new Amazon Studios drama series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Photo: Amazon Prime
Being able to make film and TV roles ‘Polynesian by proxy’ is one of the unexpected benefits of the job for Samoan-Kiwi actor Frankie Adams.
The 29-year-old plays blue-haired Candy Blue in new Amazon Studios drama series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, which is based on the international best-selling novel by Australian author Holly Ringland. Blue is one of a group of characters who have sought refuge at a flower farm presided over by Sigourney Weaver.
Adams’ character has blue hair (Adams dyed her own for seven months, rather than wear a wig) and speaks in an Australian accent. She told Susie Ferguson that she’s proud to bring some Pasifika representation to the seven-part series.
“I really love any characters that I kind of by proxy make Polynesian… that makes me very proud as a performer to have that. I don't think they ever imagined that Candy was Samoan, but I'm really glad I brought that to the table.”
Adams, who played tough-as-nails Martian marine Bobbie Draper in recent sci-fi series Expanse, says she was intimidated by the thought of working with Weaver (famous for her roles in the 80s Alien films) but that evaporated as soon as they met.
“She walked directly towards me and said, ‘hi Frankie, I’m Sig. You're really tall! And I was like, ‘you’re really tall!’. So that broke the ice very quickly. And she just carried on being like that. I was really excited. I was like, ‘oh my goodness, I get to learn off of this incredible woman who's had this long acting career’ and so I was really overjoyed to work with her, and she just made it such a comfortable and fun environment for everyone.”
Weaver retains a “child-like energy”, Adams says.
“But she’s such a professional, she’s always prepared, but also so lenient and allowing us to play. She was so giving, even if the camera was on me, she was always giving and really generous with her performance. And she just also has a great time on set. I think what's so nice is seeing the more unserious sides to actors that we all would probably look at as quite serious. She's just a joy.”
The show was largely filmed in the small northern New South Wales town of Scone, population around 5500. Adams says the experience helped the actors and crew to bond.
“We brought the circus to town… we were all living on the same street. So, we could spend time with each other. There were two pubs and we definitely visited them regularly and really got to know each other and connect. The beauty of being on location is that you end up befriending and spending a lot of time with the cast and crew in ways that you wouldn't if you were shooting in a city.
“Being surrounded by a majority female cast was such a joy, it was so much fun to be around all these vivacious, cheeky, clever women. We had such a good time.”
Photo: Amazon Studios
While it deals with some heavy themes, Adams says The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is an “intriguing and captivating” watch.
“You are wondering what's happening the whole time and then as things start to reveal themselves, you have those ‘oh my god’ moments of shock and emotion and all the things that I think make for good TV watching.
“I hope that anyone who's experienced difficult relationships come out of it feeling like they've been seen and understood. I really hope that women and groups of friends watch it and they go, ‘oh my goodness, look at all of the love on the show’. Even if it's just something that kind of takes you away from your own life for seven hours and opens up your eyes to something new. I'd be pretty stoked with that.”
Adams is probably best-known in New Zealand for playing Ula, Vasa's teenage daughter, in drama-ridden Shortland Street. She's racked up an impressive list of film and TV credits since then, including parts in Mortal Engines, One Thousand Ropes, Wentworth, and mini series The Panthers.
Her next big screen role is a comedic cameo in Taika Waititi’s upcoming film Next Goal Wins. She’s cagey about what audiences can expect to see her in after that.
“I’m not sure if I’d be able to say, but follow me on Instagram if you want and maybe I'll drop some hints."
This interview was recorded prior to the SAG-AFTRA strikes.
