Home and Away star Sarah Roberts played popular character Willow Harris from 2017-2021, and fans have been desperate for her to return. The actress is married to James Stewart who plays Justin Morgan on the soap, so she still has a strong link to Summer Bay.
She spoke candidly to Yahoo Lifestyle about her future plans, her favourite aspects of the programme, and the cast members she is still close to.
Sarah is unafraid to admit that she would play Willow again if “the storyline was perfect.”
I loved my time there, and I’d want to go back to Home and Away,” she says. “I grew incredibly close to everyone, and they treated me like family.
Because you get to spend every day at work hanging out with all your favourite people, working on that programme seems like a vacation as well.
‘I was a bad girl’
The Melbourne actress has Sri Lankan heritage and found herself being put in a box before she landed her role as Willow Harris.
Many auditions that came her way type-casted her as an ‘Indian doctor’, with the character’s personality revolving around her ethnicity.
She claims, nonetheless, that her portrayal on the serial opera disproved these prejudices.
The fact that I played a terrible girl was something I truly enjoyed about working on Home and Away. And even if it wasn’t forced down anyone’s throat, I was still Sri Lankan, she continues.
Even if her work and personality “had nothing to do” with her race, she was nonetheless able to introduce Australian admirers to her culture.
When she was on her deathbed, “my father [on the show] sung a Sri Lankan lullaby to me,” she recalls.
“It’s beautiful to integrate culture like that onto screens in Australia because you look around on Australian streets, and people come from all over the world, that’s what’s so beautiful about Australia.”
‘Really close’
Aside from the obvious relationship that she has with husband and former costar James, Sarah lights up when she talks about all the ‘beautiful friendships’ she has kept since the show.
She frequently visits Patrick O’Connor (Dean Thompson) and Sophie Dillman (Ziggy Astoni), and she even looked after their puppy while they were on vacation in the UK.
The actress makes an effort to meet Sam Frost (Jasmine Delaney) frequently and regards her as one of her “best pals.” Sam recently flaunted her growing baby bulge at the Wog Boys Forever world premiere in Melbourne.
Sarah’s on-screen love interest Alex Neilson, played by Zoe Ventura, and the actress remain good friends. Fans admired the same-sex couple despite the on-screen romance being brief and have long wished for another reunion.
‘Quite outrageous’
The bay was first introduced to Sarah’s persona, who was riding a motorcycle and wearing leather. It stands to reason that she would put herself in some awkward circumstances.
The actress remembers one particularly “difficult” sequence that was shot when she hadn’t been on the programme for very long.
She says, “I recall being imprisoned in a boot of a car with Jimmy [James Stewart]. “I’m claustrophobic, and we actually shot it in a genuine car boot.
The two were still not dating at this point.
She chuckles, “I hadn’t informed anyone yet so it was quite tough for me.
She calls it “pleasant” despite the fact that it was frightening and feels the plot was “very absurd.”
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