Su-Lin ties the knot and steps out of TV soap stereotype

WHEN Su-Lin Chenn married Dr Steve Harrison on Australian television, the mixed-race marriage was notable not so much because it was happening, but because it hadn't happened before.

In a society which comprises 150 ethnic groups and more than 15 per cent of Australian households are of non-English speaking backgrounds, television drama stands in a minority.

Most of the actors in local shows represent white, Anglo-Saxon Australia - a situation the Australian Broadcasting Corporation decided wasn't representing the society it is supposed to serve.

So when Bruce Best, executive producer of the ABC's top-rating medical drama GP decided it was time for Steve, the show's eligible bachelor, to tie the knot, he saw a chance to broaden the ethnic mix of characters.

''It seemed to me that a Chinese-Australian would be the way to go,'' he said. ''I could see that as being something that touched a chord for most of us on the editing staff. We have a very large Asian population developing in this country.'' For Theresa Wong, the Singapore-born actress who plays Steve's bride, Su-Lin, that decision meant a welcome boost to her part-time acting career - she's also a graphic artist with her own business - and unimagined heat from the media spotlight.

Although all the attention was meant to be fun, 22-year-old Wong questioned the motives behind it.