Next big thing: Kelly Brook has landed a major role in new prime-time US comedy TV series One Big Happy
Kelly
Brook’s arrival in Hollywood three months ago was a decidedly low-key
affair. Instead of embracing her pin-up image, she let it be known that
she was ‘reinventing’ herself as a serious actress.
In
true Tinseltown style, she swiftly airbrushed her disastrous British
television career from her biography, during which she was dumped as a
judge on Britain’s Got Talent after just one appearance and axed from
The Big Breakfast amid accusations that she couldn’t read the Autocue.
And
in an effort to be seen as more than a lingerie model famous for
flaunting her body, she posted a series of snaps on Instagram of herself
cycling in the California sunshine and sparring in a gym.
But
now it seems she has already ditched her attempts to be ‘taken
seriously’ after landing a major role in a new prime-time US comedy TV
series – a move she describes as ‘the biggest opportunity of my life’.
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The British beauty, far right, with One Big Happy co=stars Nick Zano and Elisha Cuthbert
To
publicise the NBC show, called One Big Happy, a trailer stars a naked
Kelly (tastefully pixelated) playing a studio audience for laughs with
jokes about her ‘big boobs’. In the racy clip, she says playfully: ‘How
would I do on the lesbian market? I don’t think I’ve ever been
appraised.’
The
role is tipped to promote her into the A-list, with TV producers
touting her to the American press as ‘Britain’s Sofia Vergara’ – a
reference to the bombshell Colombian actress and star of the hit show
Modern Family. Sofia has become the highest-earning actress on US TV,
raking in an estimated £22 million a year. And Kelly, 35, is only too
happy to comply.
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Group hug: Kelly, third from the left,
with stars and executives from the sitcom, including chat-show host and
series producer Ellen DeGeneres, in cream jacket
‘Kelly
is back doing what she does best,’ said a friend last night. ‘It was a
very conscious decision. She knows it’s something of a cliche for her to
be the glamour girl showing off her breasts, but she is convinced that,
at 35, this is her last big chance to break into Hollywood.
‘Despite
all her past talk of reinvention, of becoming a serious actress or
presenter, she knows it was her body that caught the eye of the show’s
producers. She finally gets it that it is her body that will bring her
to the attention of the public in America.
‘She
accepts she has always been a bit of a figure of fun in England. But
what people don’t realise is that there’s a ruthless streak in Kelly.
She’s tough and she’s a survivor.
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Kelly arrived in Hollywood three months ago to reinvent herself as a serious actress
‘The
very fact she’s made it on to a prime-time comedy show in the US is
something to be applauded when you think about how many girls arrive in
Hollywood each year trying to get work.’ And as proof that Kelly is
determined to ensure her pin-up statistics get the maximum coverage, she
has posted a slow-motion video of herself on social media in a tiny
pink and orange bikini emerging sexily from an LA swimming pool.
Informing
her fans last week that she has shed 7lb on the Atkins diet, she shows
off her leaner shape in a series of provocative poses.
Kelly’s
new show, which premieres in the US next month, is the brainchild of
talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, who has become something of a mentor to
Kelly. One Big Happy stars up-and-coming Canadian actress Elisha
Cuthbert (who played Kim Bauer in 24), and Nick Zano, star of Melrose
Place.
Elisha’s
character Lizzy is a lesbian who decides she wants to have a baby with
her straight childhood friend Luke (Zano). But things become complicated
when Luke meets Prudence (Kelly), a ‘free-spirited British girl’, in a
bar and falls instantly in love. When Lizzy finally finds out she is
pregnant, Luke announces that he and Prudence are married – creating one
very different ‘family’.
Kelly’s performance has been a big hit with the show’s writer and executive producer, Liz Feldman.
She
says: ‘Our US casting director, Julie Ashton, found Kelly after a long
and exhaustive search. She remembered her from her days on the TV series
Smallville [in 2001] and sought her out in England.
‘We
had seen hundreds of women for the part of Prudence. People were
auditioning on three continents. We saw some lovely, talented actresses
but no one quite had the right balance between beautiful and funny until
Kelly came along.’
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Kelly, pictured hosting Channel 4's
Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan, has airbrushed her disastrous UK
television career from her biography
She
adds: ‘Kelly’s tape was sent to me on a Saturday night and I
immediately knew she was a star, though I wasn’t at all familiar with
her. She flew to LA two days later to do her screen test, blew us all
away, and the role was hers by Friday.
‘We
were having a hard time finding a bombshell beauty who could really do
comedy. I was so relieved when she came in to do her screen test because
she made me laugh.
‘It’s
obvious to everyone that she’s gorgeous but it’s certainly unexpected
that she can really land a joke. It’s extremely rare to find someone
that gorgeous and that hilarious.
‘She’s
already a star – America just doesn’t know it yet. But they will,
because she really does shine on the screen. She’s so likeable and has
such great energy and timing, I think audiences are going to be very
taken with her.
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Kelly,
pictured left, is being touted to the American press as the Britain's
Sofia Vergara. The Colombian bombshell, pictured right, is the highest
earning actress on US TV
‘I
really hope One Big Happy airs in the UK. The character of Prudence
comes from that love and enchantment I have with England. So it would be
a dream for it to be shown there. And I would love for everyone in the
UK to see just how fantastic Kelly is on the show. I think people will
fall in love with her in a new way.’
The
actress herself, well-known for her high-profile romances with
Hollywood stars Jason Statham and Billy Zane, says the role has
transformed her life.
‘I
was living in a little cottage in the English countryside when I read
the script. I had a lovely life in England. I own a restaurant, I’m very
busy. It took a lot for me to leave my family and my life and come
here, but when I read the script I don’t think I’d reacted to anything
so profoundly in a long time. It was just a case of “I need to get on a
plane and try to get that job”.’
‘Initially,
I put myself on tape and sent it to Ellen and the producers and they
said “Yes, fly out” and I was on a plane the next day, and it’s been a
rollercoaster since then.
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Kelly has previously had high profile romances Hollywood stars Billy Zane and Jason Statham
‘I think they saw about 400 girls and I came in at the 11th hour.
‘When
I flew in, they had a few girls lined up and the girl who came before
me said, “You have to kiss in the audition!” And I thought, “Oh well, I
just have to go for it.”
‘There
are not that many roles for British girls who look like me or sound
like me on American television. I’m not going to get a role on Downton
Abbey, let’s be honest.
‘So I just went in there and it clicked and that was that.’
