{"id":381718,"date":"2025-12-31T03:07:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T03:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/381718\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T03:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T03:07:13","slug":"ashleigh-cummings-makes-late-run-for-crime-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/381718\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashleigh Cummings makes late Run for crime drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\tAfter a schedule clash Ashleigh Cummings thought she would have to forgo new Binge drama Run, but then a call came through just days before filming commenced.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Ashleigh Cummings very nearly didn\u2019t make it into the cast of new Foxtel \/ Binge drama, Run.<\/p>\n

Originally unavailable during early casting, she became a last minute choice for the role of Jackie Lewis, the girlfriend of notorious WA bank robber, Brenden Abbott -otherwise known as The Postcard Bandit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI signed on about four or five days before we started filming, so I had next to no time to prep,\u201d she tells TV Tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in America, and I think the scripts had come through in January but I didn\u2019t know Ben (Young) was directing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time there were some scheduling conflicts, so it wasn\u2019t an option for me. Then later on, I was talking to one of my best friends in the world, Christian Byers, who\u2019s been my best mate since I was about 15\u2026.. we\u2019d been dying to work together again since Puberty Blues and then the offer came through about two days later out of the blue so it was very serendipitous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did that mean she was replacing another actor for the role?<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think they had possibly had someone in mind, or had multiple people in mind and it wasn\u2019t kind of working. Then at the last minute, all the stars aligned, and they sent an offer through, and I was available. It was a dream, because I think Ben had originally had me in mind for Jackie and we\u2019d been wanting to work together for a really long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The role of Jackie is fictitously created, and portrayed as someone who is pulled in two directions \u2013 toward the boy she once loved and the man he\u2019s become, and towards a future with the chaos and danger Brenden brings, played by George Mason.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a real Jackie, but we don\u2019t know a great deal about her, and didn\u2019t want to ascribe a false emotional journey to a real person\u2019s life. So we changed her name to Jackie Lewis. I think she\u2019s a pretty tough young woman with a creative spirit that grew up in a bit of a rough environment,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had zero time to prep. I skimmed the books and what material was available, and then I really leant a lot on George, who\u2019s brilliant and such a generous and attuned actor. He\u2019d done a lot of research. He knew the world inside out as did Bonnie (Moir), the other director, as well. Sarah Walker the writer was wonderful but we kind of had no choice but to dive in the deep end and make her our own. Because there wasn\u2019t that much information, there was more liberty to trust instincts and do what the story needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott is a notorious West Australian bank robber, reported to have stolen and hidden millions of dollars, and believed to have been responsible for \u201c40 to 50\u201d bank robberies across Western Australia, South Australia and the Gold Coast. He is also the only prisoner to have escaped from Fremantle Prison twice.<\/p>\n

The six part drama also features Keiynan Lonsdale, Robyn Malcolm, David Howell, Mia Artemis, Christian Byers, Roxie Mohebbi, Oscar Redding, Anthony Hayes and Jayden Popik.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first drama on Abbott, with Nine having screened the telemovie The Postcard Bandit in 2003, starring Tom Long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve actually never seen that one and I intentionally didn\u2019t, but I will watch it after I\u2019ve finished this, because I really didn\u2019t want that to influence my choices in the show,\u201d says Cummings. \u201cI wanted to stay as present to this process and this iteration of it as possible, even during press. I want to watch it with fresh eyes and not comparatively. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing it and comparing the pair.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s nice doing press on this job, because I\u2019m not terrified of spoiling anything. Everyone knows or can find the information about what really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/a><\/p>\n

Binge \/ Foxtel will also screen the documentary The Postcard Bandit which explores the complex relationship between Abbott and his son, James, who has known his infamous father only through prison bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw a trailer for it and it was quite interesting because neither party had any real interaction with the other other than the fact that James Abbott and his partner were on set. We\u2019ve actually become really close with them. They\u2019re beautiful beings. I really adore them,\u201d Cummings insists.<\/p>\n

Run also features a brief reunion for Cummings with her former Miss Fisher\u2019s Murder Mystery beau, Hugo Johnstone-Burt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHamish Lewis, the producer, is one of his best friends and he thought it would be an absolute laugh if he brought Hugo over, and we play lovers again in a very different context. So any Miss Fisher fans should stay tuned for a reappearance of \u2018Dot and Hugh\u2019 in a very different era and with very different spirits! It was such a dream to reunite with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since finishing on Miss Fisher and her other big Aussie success, Puberty Blues, Cummings has been working internationally including The Beast Within, Long Bright River and Citadel.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext year I\u2019ll have Citadel Season Two coming out, and I\u2019m just juggling a couple of things on the horizon with that, but hopefully Season Two of Run, because it was one of the most joyful filmmaking experiences I\u2019ve had in my career,\u201d she maintains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story\u2019s just begun. Brendan Abbott escapes jail twice, and we\u2019ve only covered the first time. So there\u2019s a lot yet to be uncovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Run screens all episodes Thursday 1 January on Binge \/ Dbl 8:30pm Showcase.
The Postcard Bandit Wednesday January 7 on Binge \/ 8:30pm Showcase<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a schedule clash Ashleigh Cummings thought she would have to forgo new Binge drama Run, but then…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-381718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}