Grace Kwan
| Grace Kwan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortland Street character | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Lynette Forday | ||||||||
| Duration | 1994–97, 2013— | ||||||||
| First appearance | 16 February 1994 | ||||||||
| Classification | Present; recurring | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Tony Holden (1994) Simon Bennett (2013) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Dr. Grace Kwan is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, portrayed by Lynette Forday from 1994 to 1997 and again 17 years later in a guest role.
Creation and casting
At a time when producers were structuring Shortland Street as a soap with a culturally diverse cast, the character of Grace Kwan was created - a hard working Asian doctor.[1] In 1994, Lynette Forday joined the cast as the part of Grace.[2] After 3 years on the soap, Forday left the soap with Grace making her final appearance in 1997.[3] In 2013 Forday was offered to reprise the role after 16 years off screen, to which she was happy to agree.[3] She signed an initial "Major Recurring Guest" contract.[2] Forday described returning to the set as "odd" but also "wonderful".[3] Forday had considered the idea of returning to play Grace as a "no-brainer" and was happy to work alongside her former co worker, Michael Galvin (Dr. Chris Warner), "It was very surreal ... We have been doing a lot of work together and he's just lovely. He's been very helpful and is amazing."[3] In October Television New Zealand announced Grace would be returning to the show during the month.[4] Grace made her return on screen on 23 October 2013.
Storylines
Following the departure of Simon Hilton-Jones (John Wraight) from Shortland Street clinic, Chief Executive Officer Michael McKenna (Paul Gittins) decided to poach Grace from his rival Sir. Bruce Warner's (Ken Blackburn) clinic. Bruce was devastated to hear Grace was leaving and made a hugely public announcement of his love for her in the Kennedy's bar, to which she rejected him. Grace began work at Shortland Street though her naturally flirtatious manner led many to believe she was having an affair with both Bruce and Michael - even Michael's wife Alex (Liddy Holloway). Grace dated Darryl Neilson (Mark Ferguson) but soon came to realize he was stealing her eggs and selling them off, leading to a break up. She subsequently had a brief relationship with Zac Smith (Mike Edward) but ended up deciding to flee Ferndale after reconciling with Darryl. However Darryl's dead body was found in the Auckland harbor. The following year Grace fell in love with Lionel Skeggins (John Leigh) but instead took up with Minnie's (Katrina Devine) father, Ryan Birch (Robert Harte). However she soon came to realize Ryan had in fact raped her best friend Ellen (Robyn Malcolm) several years beforehand and they broke up. Grace finally got together with Lionel but the romance was short lived and she moved onto Frank Malone (Christopher Hobbs). In 1997 whilst cooking, Grace accidentally severed her finger however luckily managed to reattach it. Shortly after, Grace got a job in Australia and departed Ferndale. She returned near the end of October 2013 much to Chris's surprise.
Character development
Forday enjoyed the characterization of Grace and the emotions it allowed her to play, "I loved the character of Grace ... it's lovely to play a strong woman who is still fun. It's nice to see on screen, a woman who is still successful and strong but also prepared to have fun, not being portrayed as just a dragon lady."[3] Michael Galvin described Grace as a woman who, "takes no prisoners and she doesn't put up with any bullshit. Chris tries to outwit her and fails. She's very smart, very strong."[3] Despite her age compared to her first stint, Forday believed Grace was, "still prepared to have fun" and Galvin suggested that romance may blossom between her and Chris.[3]
Reception
The character of Grace was criticized by columnist Tze Ming Mok who although praised Shortland Street for involving Asian characters, found her very unrepresentative of Asian culture. She did however point out that the character was a more favorable portrayal than the later character of Li Mei Chen (Li Ming Hu).[5] Michael Galvin (Chris Warner) pointed out the storyline that saw Grace give Chris an emergency tracheotomy with her Star Trek pen in 1994 as one of the most memorable moments of the soap opera.[6][7]
References
- ^ Shortland Street - Production, Text and Audience (First ed.). Auckland: Macmillan Publishers New Zealand. 1996.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help); Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ a b "Presenter Biography - Lynette Forday" (PDF). Johnson & Laird.
- ^ a b c d e f g Allbury, Isobel (3 October 2013). "Amazing Grace". New Zealand TV Guide. Fairfax Media.
- ^ "The return of Grace Kwan". tvnz.co.nz. Television New Zealand. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013.
- ^ Ming Mok, Tze (7 July 2006). "Shortland Street's ethnic cleansing is a relief to us all". Sunday Star Times. Fairfax Media.
- ^ Hunkin, Joanna (30 May 2008). "Dr Warner's case book". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media.
- ^ "Shortland Street: Remarried to the job". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. 18 May 2002.