Home and Away boss calls out stars who 'don't like talking about' the show
After 34 years on air and almost 8000 episodes, Home and Away has served as the launchpad for a number of Australia’s most well-known actors, including Chris Hemsworth, Naomi Watts, Guy Pearce and Heath Ledger.
However, not everyone loves talking about their time in Summer Bay once they make it big in Hollywood.
In an interview with TV Tonight, Channel Seven's Director of Content Scheduling, Brook Hall, spoke candidly about the legacy of the long-running soap opera and the unfair criticism it often receives.
“I'm very proud of Home and Away, and it's arguably our most important show, and our biggest cash outlay. We don't have to do it. We believe in it,” he said.
“Our most successful acting exports over the last 20 years have come from the show that people don't want to count as premium drama.”
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Brook also seemingly took a dig at stars who have tried to distance themselves from the series after they moved to the US.
“It’s a great thing on actors’ resumes for LA because it has such good training,” he continued, before adding, “Even though some of the actors don’t like talking about it when they get over there”.
Golden Globe-nominated actress Melissa George, who starred its Angel Parrish in 466 episodes of Home and Away from 1993 to 1996, famously made comments in 2012 about how she didn’t want to be asked about the soap opera in interviews.
“I don’t need credibility from my country anymore, I just need them all to be quiet. If they have nothing intelligent to say, please don’t speak to me anymore,' Melissa told the Sun Herald.
“I’d rather be having a croissant in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City.”
‘It would be fun’
The comments from Brook Hall come shortly after Home and Away alum Isla Fisher spoke openly with Yahoo Lifestyle about whether she has ever considered a potential return to Summer Bay.
“Of course I’ve thought about it!” she admitted. “I've thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be hilarious?’ But then the reality of it is, obviously, you have to give lots of notice and then it gets written in and then you have to commit.
“But obviously it would be fun just to sort of like, walk by with a surfboard or something at some point.”
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