Shorty stars Kura & Brynley ‘WE'RE COMEDY SOULMATES!'

Street besties Kura Forrester and Brynley Stent reveal the tears and triumphs on their journey to soap stardom

- Elisabeth Easther

They’re the stand-up comediennes and long-time besties bringing some much- needed d comic relief to drama-plagued Ferndale and, as you’d expect, Kura Forrester and Brynley Stent’s first day together on the Shortland nd Street set was a barrel of laughs.

“I showed her where the toilets were,” says Kura deadpan.

Giggling at the memory, Brynley elaborates, “Yeah, she gave me a tour on my first day and pretended I was a fan who’d won a competition while she introduced d me to everyone. Thanks for that!”

However, because her character Kelly-Anne Johnson made a brief appearance on the long-running TVNZ 2 soap before Kura’s Desdemona Schmidt debuted, Brynley grins, “Technically, I’m her senior. I was on Shortland Street ahead of her, three years ago.”

Although she admits she didn’t feel so at home on the series on her initial stint. “The first time, I was so shy, I just sat in my dressing room by myself,” confesses Brynley, 32. “Now Kura is there, I’m more confident to socialise at lunchtime or in downtimes” times.

And Kura, 36, says having her close friend on set has made work more enjoyable for her too. “I go to her dressing room and we have these big deep-and meaningful about actual real-life things,” she tells. “We don’t talk about work. Brynley doesn’t need advice from me about the show – she knows exactly what she’s doing.”

Both Lower Hutt-born Kura and Christchurch girl Brynley have been making people laugh since they were small.

“I thought I was pretty funny when I was young, but probably I was more precocious and not as funny as I’d have hoped,” grimaces Brynley.