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[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
Kelly is the daughter of a hearing mother, Vicky, whose husband has left home. Her good looks and warm, easy-going personality suggest that she has everything going for her, but her parents' break-up has made her vulnerable. Under the surface, she is deeply unhappy, and towards the end of the first series it's revealed that her mother's boyfriend, Alan, has sexually abused her.
'Playing Kelly has been a fantastic experience for me, evoking lots of different emotions,' says Samantha Baker, at 16 the youngest member of the cast. In Rush 2, there are certain scenes which are really powerful – where Kelly felt very frightened and alone. It made me think about how awful it must be to be in that kind of situation.
'The most difficult part of Rush for me is the "crying" scenes. When I first read the script I thought, "God, I won't be able to cry and make it look real." However, when we got round to filming, I realised that by concentrating hard and thinking about sad things, I could finally do it (a bit!).
'Kelly teasing Adam is part of the relationship Kelly shares with him. She treats him like a puppy dog! Adam has really worked hard to build up the relationship with Kelly.
'Filming Rush has undoubtedly been the best experience in my life!'
Samantha was born hearing but at the age of 10 months caught meningitis, which left her completely deaf. 'My parents and family are hearing but they do sign at various different levels,' she told VEE-TV online.
'I've really enjoyed being amongst people my own age who are also deaf signers,' she says. 'The experience of going to school with other deaf children has given me an awareness of Deaf culture and a strong sense of identity and deaf pride. This can be a difficult issue sometimes for deaf children with hearing parents.'
Samantha started acting in primary school, when she was cast as Sandy in Grease. 'This gave me the bug,' she says. Her first television role was in the BAFTA-winning Dream On, a Channel 4 drama for schools written by Rush director Ray Harrison Graham. As a result of her performance in Rush, she was auditioned for the role of Elena in The Inspector Linley Mysteries series and got the part.
'I would definitely love a career in TV acting full time,' Samantha says, 'but I realise the business is not too reliable, not a steady job. I would love to take on a main character role in one of the top soaps – I think having a deaf character could add depth and loads of issues to any soap. Until that happens, I will content myself with going to college and hopefully studying drama.'
Graphic version
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