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Examiner
By Christine Nyholm Grace Park portrays Akani Cuesta in The Cleaner, a dramatic series on A&E which stars Benjamin Bratt as extreme addiction interventionist William Banks. Park and Estaban Powell are the sidekicks, who have had drug addictions themselves, who assist Banks in his mission to help addicts get clean by any means necessary. Akani Cuesta is the exotic beauty on William’s team who is just as much one of the boys with her hardened street edge. Akani is a bit of a wild card, she enjoys her job and is good at it, but resents being monitored by William, with whom there is a hint of a past relationship. Outspoken and confident, Akani is an indispensable part of William's team, and is not afraid to point out William's faults. Grace Park co-starred on the critically acclaimed SCI FI series “Battlestar Galactica,” playing not one but two leading roles. Her performance in the season one cliffhanger garnered her a place in TV Guide’s “100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History.” Grace Park recently took the time for a television interview to talk with me about the series and her character. What can you tell me about your character? Akani is on the intervention team led by William Banks (Benjamin Bratt) , along with ….... (Estaban Powell). The series is about the stories of people with addictions and our team gets hired by family members to help get them clean, using often unorthodox methods. The Cleaner deals with important subject matter, alcoholism and drug addiction. The topic is especially timely right now with the death of Michael Jackson and the possibility that is related to drug abuse. Do you think the show would ever deal with a case like that? Well that would be an excellent show idea, but the scripts are done for this year. It is very sad about Michael Jackson, much as in the tragic cases of Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole and other celebrities who have died are a result of drugs. It is always sad when such a bright light goes out. The Cleaner is more about everyday people. People who have drug addictions get sick die all the time and we never hear about them. Those are the type of tragic stories we tell on The Cleaner. What kind of research do you do for your role? We have some great advisers on the show, especially Warren Boyd himself, who is the inspiration for The Cleaner. William Banks, the character Benjamin Bratt plays, is based upon the true life story of Warren Boyd who is very knowledgeable. Boyd was an addict himself who turned his life around and became an extreme interventionist to help other people with addictions. Warren Boyd gives us some great guidance on the set.
There
was a hint of a past relationship between your character and the lead character,
William Banks. Will viewers be seeing more of a relationship between them now
that he is having trouble with his marriage? Will be learning more about Akani's back story in the future?
There are not any immediate plans for
that, not this season anyway. The Cleaner concentrates more about the stories of
the addicts, their lives and addictions. The show is going to continue to be
focused on the stories of the addicts and not so much on the personal lives of
the characters.
Thank you, it means a lot that someone who has knowledge about the topic feels that way. It really means a lot to hear you say that. And thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me. The Cleaner airs on A&E on Tuesday nights at 10 pm ET / 9 pm Central Time.
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