Each time their eyes met on the set of Nothing Trivial, Debbie Newby-Ward, who plays the adorable Emma, and Aaron Ward, the enthusiastic quizmaster, would give each other supportive winks and glances. What started as a friendship seven years ago has since become a lot more. Not only are they living and working together, they’re now family too.
For Debbie, becoming pals with Aaron after meeting him on the set of an ad came with a major bonus – a husband.
The pair began by meeting for coffee, then graduated to nights out, on one of which Debbie met and fell for Aaron’s brother Brendon.
“I guess you could say I get on with the family quite well,” laughs Debbie, who tied the knot with pool builder Brendon two years ago. “I really hit it off with him and things naturally evolved. Now I’ve ended up with a good mate and a husband.”
“I should open my own dating service,” jokes Aaron, who was the pair’s best man. “They’re a great couple. It’s lovely to see them together – they’re very much in love.”
“It feels quite fateful that Aaron and I ended up meeting,” continues Debbie. “It’s like we were destined to be in each other’s world. It’s bizarre how much we have in common.”
So when a spare room came up recently at Debbie and Brendon’s flat, the close-knit trio decided to become flatmates.
But with Debbie and Aaron both spending long days on set filming Nothing Trivial together, Debbie admits Brendon sometimes feels a little out of the loop.
“At times I think Brendon’s been like, ‘oh man, where is everyone?’ But he’s survived. He’s always been really supportive of my work. Having a brother who’s an actor means he knows the drill.”
And even when Debbie and Aaron are at home, a lot of their time is still devoted to the show. “We’ll sit on the couch and run lines together, and we spend about an hour each night debriefing on everything that’s happened,” says Aaron.
For both stars, making it in this profession has been a labour of love. “Neither of us were brought up in the acting world. We’ve both been kind of like the black sheep of our families,” says Debbie, to which Aaron pulls a shocked face.
“Well, oum did want me to work at Wattie’s,” he admits.
“I had a job there for a year while I was saving to go to drama school and I think she wanted me to stay on.”
And being in the same profession means when the work isn’t so plentiful the pair can lean on each other.
“You have to have faith that you’re going to get work again. You have to remember how it feels when you’re working,” says Aaron, who also does clown work, theatre sports and oCing for corporate gigs.
“We really support each other,” says Debbie. “often when you don’t get a part it means you’re losing out to your mates, but we don’t worry about that.”
Plus, with two actors on site there’s rarely a dull moment in the house.
“There have been times when Aaron’s raced out of the house with a bag of tricks and a funny wig on, and then 20 minutes later I’ll run out with wings attached to my back, tripping over tulle,” laughs Debbie, who also does children’s entertainment. “The neighbours must wonder what’s going on.”
But most importantly, what they treasure is the brother-sister bond they’ve formed.
“Aaron’s really funny and we’re always laughing, but we can also have a good heart-to-heart. our energy is very sparky and fun, but because we’re family we care about each other a lot.”
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