Press archive » Baxter's fall from grace (June 2006)

June 22th 2006

Nice guy Baxter Cormack (Tom Hern) faces a crisis of confidence this week that will have major consequences for his romance with reformed wild child Claire Solomon (Emily Robins).

"Things aren't rock steady in the rest of his life and that spills over into his relationship," explains actor Tom Hern who says his on-screen alter-ego is going through a "time of major growth" as he struggles to reconcile his Christian beliefs to the sometimes harsh realities of his working life.

"His ideals are tested again and again in the workplace," says Hern. "He's being pushed outside his comfort zone on a daily basis and it affects his belief system." A former bad boy, Baxter has successfully rebuilt his life using the principles of Christianity. Now life in Shortland Street's busy emergency department is teaching him that he can't save everyone, and he can't help everyone.

"Baxter has believed and hoped that the world works in a certain kind of way, explains Hern. "What he's learning is that sometimes you can't help the patient." With the recent hostage situation, and a suspected child abuser, Shortland Street hospital has thrown up its fair share of challenges for the young nurse and the stress is taking its toll.

"Things aren't running to the formula by which he lives his life. He feels the ground moving beneath his feet." Baxter's sense of shakiness wasn't helped by the reappearance of his disreputable father Gus (Rod Lousich) last month. His father's visit left him with some sense of reconciliation - but Gus also managed to drive a wedge between Baxter and Claire.

Now Baxter's looking outside both Claire and his church for assistance in dealing with his latest dilemma. "Socially he's starting to share a bit of the burden with his other workmates who know what he's going through; Alice for one, TK for another."

Hern warns that Baxter's crisis could have serious impact on his relationship with Claire. "When you're really tested about how the world works, sometimes you make a rash decision to try to remedy things and get things back in order."

"Baxter is acting out of desperation to have control over his own destiny."

Find out where Baxter's desperation leads, this week at 7.00pm.

Source of this article: TVNZ
Date of this item added: 2006-06-22