When Aliyah O’Brien booked her recurring role on Rookie Blue, she was giddy with glee – and then wariness set in.
The Vancouver actress had been tapped to play forensic pathologist Holly in the fourth season of Global’s top-rated crime procedural. Holly would be locking lips with Gail, a hardened cop portrayed by series regular Charlotte Sullivan.
It wasn’t the same-sex nature of the relationship that bothered O’Brien; far from it.
“I was worried about it being gratuitous,” recalls O’Brien in a phone interview with WE on the eve of Rookie Blue’s fifth season premiere.
In a bold move for any new hire, she brought her concerns directly to Rookie Blue executive producer Tassie Cameron during her wardrobe fitting.
“[Cameron] reassured me that they wanted to do this right, that they were going to take their time with it and it was going to be about people finding themselves and finding each other,” says O’Brien.
And Cameron was true to her word. “I feel lucky and proud to play a role that isn’t just [about] gratuitous lesbian sex,” says O’Brien. “It’s about falling in love. They’ve created a beautiful love story.”
Down south, the Toronto-shot drama airs on ABC, and Holly and Gail’s slow-burn romance has proven to be a hit with audiences on both sides of the border.
O’Brien – whose lengthy filmography includes multi-faceted roles on Sanctuary and Men with Brooms – chokes up when she talks about her lesbian fans.
“Just this morning I received a message that said, ‘Thank you for your amazing performance, I don't know if you're aware of how much equal representation means to LGBT people, it was breakthrough,’” she says, her voice thick with emotion.
Not that the role has been without its challenges. O’Brien has had to deliver Holly’s wordy pathologist-speak like a seasoned crime scene pro.
“On my first day on set, one of the actors told me that the girl who had been reading for me at the read-through had a really hard time with all the big words, and he was thinking ‘whoever gets cast in this role is going to have a nightmare,’” says O’Brien.
“After we did the first take, the director said, ‘you know what I love about you? You’re fucking it up and you didn’t give up.’ That made me laugh and feel welcomed into the Rookie Blue family.”
Rookie Blue airs Mondays at 10pm on Global.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
On Charlotte Sullivan, who portrays Holly’s love interest, Gail: “It’s not hard to be in love with Charlotte Sullivan. She’s amazing and I don’t have to use substitutions. She’s adorable. She plays this sexy, edgy, badass chick on TV, and then in person, she’s this sweet, lovely, geeky, adorable woman. We have a lot of fun together. I like kissing her. It’s easy with her. We just shot the finale of season 5 and I didn’t want to say goodbye.”
On what she enjoys most about playing Holly: “I enjoy the fact that she’s a three dimensional person. In a lot of roles and TV, women get the sideshow gig, where you’re the stereotype of some kind, and Holly gets to be a real person. She’s smart and she’s cool. She’s a forensic pathologist and she also happens to be gay, which is awesome.”
On the type of roles she likes to play: “As much as I consider myself a humanitarian, and a proponent of love and compassion in the world, I do love playing badass characters. They’re a blast. As a woman, it feels cool to be kick ass and be empowered in that way. But I do love characters like Holly, where there’s some depth and a love story. I don’t always get to play those kinds of roles. And comedy. I love comedy! I did a year on a show called Men with Brooms, and it was a dream to go to work and laugh every day. We all spent a summer in Winnipeg living in the same apartment building. It was fun. “
