Kane Jenkins
| Kane Jenkins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Shortland Street character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | KJ Apa | ||||||||
| Duration | 2013–15 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 11 December 2013 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 6 July 2015 | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Simon Bennett | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
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| Father | Jimmy Isaac |
|---|---|
| Mother | Jennifer Jenkins |
| Sisters | Dayna Jenkins |
| Half-sisters | Stevie Isaac |
Kane Jenkins is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by KJ Apa from late 2013 to mid 2015. The character was introduced as part of the extended Cooper family unit and as a means to depict youth-suicide.
Often known to depict topical and ethical issues of the day, in 2013 Shortland Street producers decided to undergo a storyline that would reflect the high rates of youth suicide in New Zealand. They wrote the role of Kane, the teenage brother of Dayna Jenkins. Reuben Milner auditioned for the role but was instead cast as Kane's best friend Jack. With no prior acting experience, KJ Apa won the role. He had organised an audition through his modelling agency and within weeks had begun filming. Kane debuted on screen on 11 December 2013. Whilst filming the show, Apa also studied at Kings College. Apa had to quit high school rugby to act in the show but was allowed travel between school and the set as part of his contract. In May 2015 speculation arose that Kane would be departing the show when Apa was spotted in Los Angeles. Apa had previously stated he would "wait and see" how long he stayed on the show. The rumours proved to be true with Apa quitting the role after 18 months. Kane made his last appearance on screen on 6 July 2015. Apa was rumoured to return for the show's 25th anniversary in 2017.
Kane arrived to visit his brain dead mother, Jennifer before her life support was turned off. During his visit Kane stayed with the Cooper family, Wendy (Jacqueline Nairn) and Murray (Matthew Chamberlain) and in the new year, agreed to be fostered by them. He began to date Honour Aleni (Sophie McIntosh) and accepted a rugby scholarship to a prestigious private school, only to lose this and get suspended when Murray Cooper (Matthew Chamberlain) became over invested in his schoolwork and started doing it himself. Kane and Honour broke up and after having his life saved by his best friend Toby (Robert Evison), helped him cover up the murder of Brett Franklin (Matt Dwyer). The revelation of the murder saw Kane facing serious charges of covering the crime up which was followed by an injury to his leg, leaving him out of rugby season. Depressed and alone he began to rely on his best friend Jack (Reuben Milner). However Jack mistook this for romance and made a move on Kane, leading to the two falling out and Kane subsequently being bullied when his school friends believed he was gay.
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