Shorty's Nicole & Iana I LOVE HER LIKE A DAUGHTER

THE CO-STARS HAVE FORGED AN OUTRAGEOUS FRIENDSHIP SINCE GETTING CLOSE ON SET

- Cloe Willetts

It’s a sign of great acting when you’re mistaken for your Shortland Street character when in public! Just ask Kiwi actress Nicole Whippy and her young co-star Iana Grace, who can be seen grabbing lunch between scenes for the TVNZ show or getting pedicures together in Auckland City.

“Nicole plays my mum on Shorty and sometimes when we are out, people ask if I’m her real daughter. Nicole just says, ‘Yep, sure, whatever’,” laughs Iana, 25, who plays Ferndale’s troubled pyromaniac teen, Sophia King. “It’s quite funny because sometimes I don’t know if people think I’m actually Sophia. But I promise I’m not a fire starter because my dad’s a fireman!”

For former Outrageous Fortune actress Nicole, 43, who plays social worker and devoted mum Cece King, having Iana as her on-air daughter has been a dream. “The Cece and Sophia characters are very tied up in each other, so you really have to sell them,” says the mum of Pearl, 11, and Vida, five. “When people start asking if Iana is my daughter when they see us out, there’s a reason for that. They believe in what we’re doing.”