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Jacqueline McKenzie reveals her Bloom 'fangirl moment'

A bittersweet energy bubbles away on the set of Bloom Season 2. It's the final day of shooting and there's a mixture of sadness and contentment in the air, as the cast and crew wrap up filming and prepare to say goodbye.

But Jacqueline McKenzie is bursting with energy, such is her passion for the project. The acclaimed actress was so enamoured with Season 1 of the Stan original series, she started chasing down a role before Season 2 had even been announced.

"I loved this so much that when I got to do a scene where I go to Gwen [Phoebe Tonkin] and Ray [Bryan Brown]'s house, I was there before anyone that day and I'm walking in going, 'Oh my God, this is where they shot those scenes. This is Gwen and Ray's house'," she told 9Entertainment during a visit to the Melbourne set.

"I'm in the scene sitting on this lounge and looking at the house I know, because I know it well from the first season, and next minute Gwen and Ray are sitting in front of me and I've got to act. I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm having a fangirl moment'."

It wasn't simply a "fangirl moment" though; McKenzie loves Bloom so much she even gave Gwen and Ray the couple name "Gway".

"To work with Gway was pretty damn amazing — I just wanted to go again [with the scene] immediately," she gushed.

In Bloom the 52-year-old plays Anne, a former bio-tech CEO who has heard about the magical berries growing in the small town of Mullan. The berries have the power to transform people, like Gwen, into their younger selves.

"She's very interested in seeing what the properties of this berry are and whether or not there is any money to be made from it. There are also some personal reasons why she wants to work out what the hell is in it and how to propagate it. So she's a great new driving angle in the story."

Anne shows up in town with her daughter Eva (Ingrid Torelli) and a teenage boy named Luke (Ed Oxenbould), who she claims is a friend's son. But Luke is really her ex-husband Martin, who has reverted back to his youth thanks to the berries. And the casting of Ed Oxenboud, gave McKenzie yet another fangirl moment.

"I watched Paper Planes and he's just the most beautiful actor and lovely human being, and so talented," she said.

Oxenbould was equally impressed with McKenzie, joking "she was a great first ex-wife".

Anne, Luke and Eva are just a few of many new characters in Season 2 of Bloom who enhance the story established in Season 1 and help explore the theme of regret and desire. However, original characters like Ray and Gwen are dealing with even higher stakes, thanks to the increased potency of the berries.

While themes like regret, desire and the fountain of youth may seem intense, Bloom Season 2 is actually "lighter, a bit more fun" in tone according to Phoebe Tonkin, who returns as young Gwen.

"I was really excited to keep telling Gwen's story, and to explore more about her and her relationship with Ray," she said. "And we get to see more of their past and their history together this season, which was really fun.

"I think that I got to see more of her playfulness."

When we meet Ray and Gwen again, it's three months after older Gwen was saved from near-death by eating another berry. She's reverted to her youth and the couple are living it up far from Mullan, dancing the night away at a club. But with Ray still in his older years, they are getting plenty of awkward looks. It's a situation not lost on 72-year-old Brown as he acts opposite 30-year-old Tonkin.

"Jesus, I feel for her," he said, tongue in cheek. "I'm always apologising, saying, 'Look, I'm sorry I'm your husband when really I should be playing your father."

It's not long before Gwen wants Ray to be young too and she becomes obsessed with finding another berry in the hope it will turn the clock back for Ray.

And after getting to watch the journeys of both young and older Gwen — the latter played by Academy Award nominated actress Jacki Weaver — we finally get to meet young Ray in Season 2, with ex-Home and Away star Jackson Heywood in the role.

To help with preparing to play young Ray, Heywood caught up with Brown for a few drinks before filming. While they hung out, Heywood started to intuitively pick up Brown's mannerisms, posture and speaking patterns, which he said helped form his characterisation.

"We just went for a beer when we first met and just chatted and he's just a straight-up Aussie bloke, it was nice to see that," he said. "We just compared stories of what it's like growing up, and then figure out where we're similar and then try and bring that into the character."

Heywood hadn't seen Season 1 of Bloom until he heard Season 2 was being cast but when he sat down to watch it, he was blown away by the quality of the production.

"I watched a bit because I knew [casting was underway] but then I just binge-watched it in a day. It's so lovely to see a show like this come out of Australia because it is a high concept drama. It's a different genre than Australia is used to shooting."

And like everyone else on set, the final day of shooting is tinged with sadness for Heywood, but he leaves feeling content with his performance and being involved with such a unique story.

"You get a little bit nostalgic [on the last day] but there's also this great sense of you can breathe, it's done, it's in the bag, it's out of your hands," he said. "And that's a lovely feeling because you've done your part. Now I can just go kind of relax for a little while and I'll focus on the next thing."

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Ecrit par Misty 
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