australian television information archive

Love Justine's Way

JUSTINE Clarke is excited about the new family she's joining in the third series of Love My Way.

It's not like she needs a new family. After all, Clarke has two children of her own who have joined her on the Sydney set on the final day of shooting pay-TV drama Love My Way.

But Clarke, who joins the cast for the third series, is only too aware there is a familial bond.

She's been watching them say goodbye like family members waving goodbye at the airport.

"You can get so involved in it, it becomes your whole life," Clarke says of the show. And while she is a newcomer, Clarke has been welcomed "very lovingly".

Clarke plays Simone, the estranged older sister of Julia (Asher Keddie). Simone is a geography teacher in Newcastle who moves back to Sydney and bumps into her sister.

"That sparks the beginning of a new relationship with her sister as an adult woman," Clarke says.

"They have similar character traits but very different moral codes."

One scene, filmed at popular Sydney nightclub Ruby Rabbit, finds the sisters out with a character played by Alex Dimitriades.

"The two women are at different stages of their lives," Clarke says.

Julia is a wife and a mother and approaches going out to have drink in a very different way to Simone, who is single.

Clarke says she couldn't help but draw on something from her own background to assist with the role.

"I have two sisters and a brother and I think we can always draw on family conflict of some description," she says.

"Also families try to define who you are and it's very hard to break out of that and try and be who you want to be."

Produced by John Edwards and Karvan (who is also cocreator and star), Love My Way revolves around the families of Frankie Paige (Karvan) and Charlie Jackson (Dan Wyllie).

The show has won Best Television Drama Series at the Australian Film Institute Awards two years running.

"The strength of the show is in the writing and the detail given these modern characters and also then the detail that the actors bring," Clarke believes.

The show originally broadcast on pay-TV channel Fox8, but this year moves to Showtime. It's a big move and a big risk, given Showtime does not feature in the basic subscription package.

But it's unlikely such a show would exist on free-to-air TV. Being on pay-TV has allowed the writers to get away with more, including plenty of swearing.

"There is no doubt that pay-TV has enabled it to be more honest," says Clarke.

Love My Way, Monday, Showtime (Pay TV), 8.30pm

By Stephen Downie
February 21, 2007
The Daily Telegraph