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No bikkies for Frankie in new drama

IT'S been more than three months since he played the head cop who chased down Carl Williams and Co in Nine's hit crime series Underbelly, but one thing is still haunting Frankie J.Holden.

"If I had a dollar for every person who's walked up and asked me for some shortbread, I'd never have to work again. Everyone seems to have remembered that," he said.

He may not be handing out biscuits but Holden is playing a cop again in Nine's next crime drama, The Strip.

As Inspector Max Nelson, Holden leads a squad of detectives catching the bad guys on the Gold Coast. Also starring Aaron Jeffery (ex McLeod's Daughters), with Bob Morley and Simone McAullay (Home And Away) and newcomer Vanessa Gray, the series reveals the seedy underworld of Australia's playground.

"What attracted me to this is yes, I'm playing a cop, but this is totally removed from Underbelly," Holden said from Surfers Paradise.

"And I love that. There's a lot of room here to show the human side of the police, as well as the crimes they fight."

This time Holden is a diehard Queenslander, a Titans league fan with a stuffed cane toad on his desk and a penchant for heading to the surf as often as possible.

The Strip will premiere on Nine later this year.

Scott Ellis
July 20, 2008
Sydney Morning Herald