Sorted - new drama series for 91Èȱ¬ ONE
Dean Lennox Kelly plays Dex
There could be a case for saying that of all the six mates in Sorted, Dex is the nicest. Dean Lennox Kelly wouldn't disagree.
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"Dex is the man you can trust – he's solid and reliable," says Dean, adding in typical deadpan fashion, "...like a van."
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He continues: "Of all the boys he'll be the one who'll always make a point of saying, 'If you need anything give me a ring.' He's quite consistent, he's just a nice guy and he wants everything to be just so."
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That leads him to go a little bit too far in trying to incorporate Jack into the group – but it's sincerely meant.
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"This show is so about the gang, about the friendship, and whatever happens in each episode it always boils down to that – we're all there for each other," he comments. "With Jack, Dex just doesn't want him to be an outsider, he wants to bring him in because he doesn't want any splits in the gang. He thinks he's doing a good thing..."
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Where Dex falls down is probably in his inability to understand that Jack actually wants to remain an outsider. For Dex, close relationships are important – especially his own with his girlfriend.
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"He's in love with Amy, who's older than him," explains Dean. "He's 30, she's 40 with a marriage behind her and two kids. Dex treats the kids like his own and they love him too, so I think that speaks a lot about the kind of man he is. It says something about him that he's 10 years younger and he takes on two fairly grown-up children – that's quite a big deal, I think about that sometimes, I don't know if I could do that.
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"But then, I think he's more gentle than me," continues Dean. "There is a real consistency about him in that his temperament is on the level – I'm a bit more up and down. My girlfriend calls me stormy ... that about sums me up."
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It's hard to imagine this placid, friendly 31-year-old throwing a strop of any kind; he actually seems quite similar to the character he plays in Channel 4's Shameless, honest, lovable, laid-back Kev.
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He was also recently seen as Puck in the 91Èȱ¬'s reworking of
A Midsummer Night's Dream and has appeared in Tipping The Velvet and The
Worst Week Of My Life on TV, and in films including Mike Bassett, England
Manager and Deathwatch, but it's as Kev that he really broke through.
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Dean is a big fan of Sorted writer, Danny. "His situations and characters are all very believable," enthuses Dean. "Danny's dialogue is both funny and dramatic, one minute you're laughing, the next minute your heart's sinking."
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So Dean's enjoying his role. "It's been great, it's nice to be a postman for a change," he grins. "Although "I'm becoming a professional northerner," he adds with a laugh.
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Dean and his actor brother Craig grew up in Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool, before they headed south to pursue their respective careers. Nowadays Dean lives about as far south as you can get - in Brighton.
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"I'm back by the sea – that's why I went to Brighton," he says. "I was in London for seven years – I left home when I was 18 – so I'm coming up to that stage now where I've almost lived half my life away from the north.
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"I do miss it because the pace of life is slower up there
and you seem to have more space, but there are loads of northerners down
south; so I've got a lot of northern friends. Plus I've spent the last three
years in Manchester working anyway. My life is the M6..."
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He was back up it recently to take part in the Soccer Aid tournament at Old Trafford with the likes of Robbie Williams and Gazza, and the Liverpool fan turned out to be one of the stars of the celebrity England team.
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Playing as a striker in the final he showed some nifty footwork
as he ended up on the winning side and even noted certain similarities with
working on Sorted.
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"We were a team and we stuck together," he says, adding with a droll twinkle in his eyes. "They were both very male environments – lots of hugging and backslapping and bum-patting!"
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