Home and Away’s newest star Kyle Shilling has opened up about taking over the reins from Patrick O’Connor at one of the Bay’s most iconic venues, Ben’s Board Shop.
Kyle rocked up on UK screens earlier in March, as surfboard shaper Mali Hudson, a buddy of fellow surfer Dean Thompson (Patrick O’Connor).
As Dean and his girlfriend Ziggy Astoni (Sophie Dillman) navigate the ups and downs of being new parents, Dean wants to spend more time with his family and asks Mali to run the shop full-time.
Although intrigued by the opportunity, Mali is left in a dilemma over whether he can leave his family.
"Mali is very family-orientated. But he wants to do right by everyone, he wants to do right by his family but he also wants to do right by his mates," explained Kyle.
The storyline will see TV newcomer Kyle become a permanent member of the cast, smoothing the way for a bitter-sweet goodbye to the much-loved Dean and Ziggy.
“Patrick, who plays Dean, is such an amazing person, he took me under his wing and he and Sophie [Ziggy] really helped me navigate through this whole world of screenwork,” revealed Kyle.
“Patrick is a good friend of mine now. When his character offers me the board shop, there was such a sense of him also offering me this space now.
“It was very emotional — for them more than myself — and for everyone around. Big shoes to fill, but luckily we have the same size shoes so it’s all good!”
As well as becoming Summer Bay’s resident surf dude, Mali has quickly found romance with Rose Delaney (Kirsty Marillier).
“Mali is smitten when he sees her!” Kyle shared.
“She kind of gives her big brother Xander Delaney (Luke Van Os) a bit of cheek. Mali sees that and he goes, ‘Ah, she’s like me! I like this girl.’
“Then he goes in all guns blazing and asks her out for dinner.”
Although this is Kyle’s first TV acting gig, he’s already an accomplished performer.
After studying dance for four years, Kyle joined an Indigenous contemporary dance company, Bangarra Dance Theatre. A back injury saw him moving into theatre acting, and he’s also released his own hip hop tracks under the name BLACX.
“When I started doing theatre shows I was put in touch with an amazing acting agency, who took me under their wing,” explained Kyle.
“I did a few ads but when I realised that they really believed in me I thought, okay, I’m putting my foot down and this is my aim to get into TV.
“It was something that I always wanted to do and I’m stoked to be on one of the biggest Australian shows.”
Kyle is a landmark signing for Home and Away, as he’s the show’s first Indigenous actor in a regular role and he’s loving being able to bring some Aboriginal Australian culture to Summer Bay.
“In the episode when I first came in I used the term ‘jarjum’, which means ‘kid’ or ‘baby’ in the Indigenous Bundjalung language,” revealed Kyle.
“When I first used that word on screen, the internet went off! People couldn’t believe it. It’s great to get a bit of our lingo into the series.
“I grew up not seeing many Indigenous people represented on TV shows and over the past few years a lot of people have voiced that there needs to be more.
“For myself to be that person, I’m stoked and happy that it will hopefully open the door for many more to come.”
Home and Away airs weekdays at 1:45 pm on Channel 5 and 6:00 pm on 5Star followed by a 'first look' episode on 5Star at 6:30 pm.
