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Jean-Marc Russ…

Jean-Marc shares his character Boris' fascination with food ¥ but only as far as eating it, not preparing, cooking and serving it too. "I can cook, but I'm a reluctant cook," says Jean-Marc. "I'd be a lousy chef. I have great respect for him, but while I would call myself a foodie, it always tastes much better when other people make it."

Jean-Marc did check out a couple of chefs before he started his role in Breakers and often, he'll pop his head into the canteen at the studios where the show is filmed to ask the chefs there how it's done. In return, he'll often eat in the canteen in his chef's outfit. "People wander in, see me, and think if it's good enough for a chef to eat there, the food must be all right."

Generally, though, Jean-Marc loves the challenge of having to look busy in the kitchen while he's delivering his lines. He also likes Boris very much. "I find him very close to me because I have lent a lot of myself to him, obviously," says Jean-Marc. "I feel very comfortable with him and love the humour. He's very dry, probably as dry as I am, and as witty as I'd like to be."

Before Breakers, Jean-Marc has played roles in Medivac, Fireand Blackwater Train on TV. He played another chef of sorts in the movie Joey, in charge of a hot dog stall. He has also done an enormous amount of theatre, in productions such as Country Style Livers, White Marriage, Raw and Summer of the Sevententh Doll. He has also directed and produced theatre, and acted ¥ in A Clockwork Orange and Shut Up And Nobody Get Hurt.

One day, he'd love also to direct film and TV, even possibly an episode of Breakers.

…as Boris McCann

Boris is the chef at Kate's cafe. At 29, Boris has been around the world six times as a merchant sailor and once as a backpacker. He has seen things and been to places most other people haven't even heard of. And they're unlikely to—he is a man of few words, not given to boast about his adventures. However, he's not averse to a spot of place-name dropping when it suits him. And he has a sailor's penchant for tall tales.

Boris has a wickedly dry sense of humour and enjoys nothing more than teasing the kids who work at Kate's. He is a big man and surprisingly trim for a chef. His shaved head only serves to make him even more physically imposing. Boris can get rid of a troublesome customer just by looking out from the kitchen, the irony being that he wouldn't hurt a fly. At least, that's what he says.

Off duty, Boris tends to keep himself to himself. As a ship's cook he would have spend much of his time in splendid solitude and he is happy in his own company.