Locking lips with New Zealand's Danielle Cormack on Wentworth has turned actress Kate Jenkinson into an international gay icon.

The Aussie actress, until now best known for her comedic skills as Rebel Wilson's offsider in Super Fun Night, is unfazed at playing Allie Novak, the woman who seduced the formerly straight H Block top dog.

"We just instantly hit it off," says Jenkinson, of her first meeting with Cormack. "We just had the connection that those two characters needed to have."

Kate Jenkinson plays Allie in Wentworth.

New inmate Allie, a gay, drug-addicted prostitute, was caught up in the retribution group Red Right Hand, led by Kaz Proctor (Tammy Macintosh). When the group was arrested at the end of season three, after a tip-off it believes was from Bea, Allie finds her loyalties divided between her friend and protector Kaz and the enemy, Bea.

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Jenkinson says when she joined the show at the start of this season, she knew little of what was planned for her character.

"I knew she was written as a love interest for Bea Smith.

"I didn't know how that would manifest and I didn't know if that was going to be sustained," she says.

"From week to week we have no idea what is going to happen in the series. We've all been given a trajectory of what our character is going to do but along the way anything can happen. We read those scripts really not knowing what's going to happen. It makes for very exciting television and it makes for very exciting reading as well, because as you know it's prison, it's cut-throat and anything can happen."

For Kate, her stint as Allie is a rare second chance. She was asked to audition for Wentworth's first season but turned down the opportunity because she was just starting to get work in the US.

"Then years later I saw the show on Netflix and I was hooked, completely hooked. By that stage I was in America working and I thought, 'Damn, did I make the right choice?' " she says.

"Then when I had the opportunity to audition again for a different character, I leapt at the opportunity and I feel like it was all meant to be. I feel like I was meant to play Allie."

Jenkinson, who shares her time between Los Angeles and Melbourne, says the prison drama is hugely popular with Americans.

"I was at a Super Bowl party at the beginning of this year. I didn't know anybody at this party apart from the friend who took me.

"My friend mentioned to someone that I was shooting Wentworth and about 20 heads pivoted and looked at me. They were just so excited that I was in Wentworth because they were all fans of the show. It's definitely got a huge following all around the world."

Jenkinson, 35, has been a fixture on Australian – and New Zealand – TV screens since 2007 when she starred with friend Rebel Wilson in the comedy series Bogan Pride.

She has also appeared in a host of popular dramas including House Husbands, Offspring and Tangle.

"I like to keep things fresh and mix stuff up. I love comedy and that's always where I feel the most comfortable, but an opportunity like Wentworth comes up and you just can't say no.

"The material is too good to say 'no' to. That's what I think is so miraculous about this show too that, even though it is heavy, dense and dark, they do manage to get really beautiful moments of humour in there as well."

However, it was the grittier elements of Allie that challenged her most – so she did her homework.

"I met women in LA who have struggled their entire lives with addiction and, obviously, with addiction can come prostitution and homelessness and a lot of Allie traits," Jenkinson says.

"What was so astonishing was they weren't really that different to you or me. It was very interesting to learn you didn't have to be from the wrong side of the tracks to end up the victim of drug addiction. That was really eye opening for me.

"I think that's why people love the show so much. They can see themselves in these women, realise that we are all just a few bad decisions away from ending up somewhere else from where we are now. It's a reminder to appreciate what you've got."

Wentworth, TV2, Mondays.

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