The actress and mum of twins opens up about why she gets so emotional talking about H&A.
It only takes one question about Home And Away for Bonnie Sveen to start tearing up.
Bonnie is talking to TV WEEK via Zoom from her home in Tasmania about her new series, Thou Shalt Not Steal. When asked what she misses about her time in Summer Bay playing Ricky Sharpe, she gets so emotional that she momentarily can’t speak.
“Oh goodness!” she says, once she’s recovered. “Sorry! It was just so joyous. I guess I feel a little bit sad because you can’t go back. I cried to my agent about it last year too, when I went and met with the guys again. I’ll never stop loving everybody that I got to work with.”
In her three years in Summer Bay, surfer Ricky went through plenty of highs and lows, falling for Brax (Stephen Peacocke), suffering a miscarriage and eventually having Brax’s baby.
“I was just super lucky to work with Steve and be a River Girl,” Bonnie says. “Ricky wasn’t a damsel in distress – she was more of a mother role. In some ways I feel like I can play that stuff better now because I actually am a mother. There’s more layers to me.”
It’s been 10 years since Bonnie Sveen won the TV WEEK Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent for her role in Home and Away. Recently, she showed the video of her acceptance speech to her twin daughters, Myrtle and Emerald, who just turned six. Myrtle, however, was a bit embarrassed and covered her eyes.
“It’s really funny,” Bonnie recalls with a laugh. “The whole theatrical setup—everyone dressed to the nines, the big band playing, and me crying. Myrtie just looked at me like, ‘Mum, what are you doing?!’ She thought it was a bit over-the-top.”
Myrtle and Emerald are used to seeing a much more down-to-earth version of their mother. Bonnie, who grew up in rural Ranelagh, Tasmania, moved back to her home state with her partner (now husband) Nathan Gooley before the twins were born. In Tasmania, Bonnie is actively involved in wildlife work and has trained in animal rescue with the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.
“I’m often stopping to remove roadkill and checking pouches,” she explains. “That’s just a part of life here. It’s also part of my daughters’ reality. When we see a dead wallaby, they’ll ask, ‘Mum, are you going to stop?’ and then, ‘Was it a boy or a girl?’ We talk through the situation, even past the gruesome details, and it’s great that they’re so aware of the animals around us. I think that’s really important.”
Bonnie, 35, has had a number of acting roles since the twins were born, including a part in Rosehaven. Meanwhile, Nathan, who’s an assistant director, has been kept busy working on shows shot in Tasmania – most recently, Bay Of Fires. The twins have been able to see their dad in action on set, but they’re too young to watch Bay Of Fires themselves, and they don’t seem to appreciate any of their mum’s old shows.
“I’ve turned on a little bit of Home And Away and The Secret Daughter and they just haven’t quite gotten into it,” Bonnie says. “So no criticism of the shows, but it’s just not quite Bluey!”
As for Thou Shalt Not Steal, that’s another series that Myrtle and Emerald might appreciate when they’re a bit older. Set in the 1980s, it follows Robyn (Sherry-Lee Watson), an Indigenous juvenile delinquent, who teams up with preacher’s son Gidge (Will McDonald) on a road trip through the outback. Bonnie says her role in it came “out of the blue”, after she’d commented to Nathan about how great Sherry-Lee was in the first season of Heartbreak High.
“I think maybe I manifested it a little bit,” she laughs.
Bonnie takes on the role of Cheryl, a character she describes as a “rich b***h.”
“I haven’t really played a villain on TV before. It was actually a lot of fun not having to let down my guard and show vulnerability,” she says.
The project, Thou Shalt Not Steal, also features stars like Noah Taylor and Miranda Otto. However, Bonnie was most thrilled about reuniting on set with one of her closest friends, Shari Sebbens. The two went through NIDA together, graduating in 2009.
Reflecting on their student days, Bonnie recalls, “As a student, you’d be staring at your bank account, debating whether to see a show for your studies or save up for meals the next week. Getting into such a prestigious acting school was a real culture shock for me. Shari, being a bit older and more experienced, was a huge support. We were there for each other during some of the best and hardest times, both during those years and after.”
Bonnie has certainly had some hard times as a mum of twins.
“I think parenthood changes you in ways that you just don’t predict,” she says. “I feel like it has deepened me, and my God, if anyone’s had multiples, they know! You get smashed! I’m talking about it like I’m surfing again, but it is, it’s like getting double smashed by a giant wave.”
She says parenthood can be “very isolating”.
“Can you imagine the difference between going to set on Home And Away and meeting new people every day, getting to meet hundreds or thousands of people every year, versus spending a lot of time around your kitchen sink, just doing the mundane… the mundane, beautiful stuff?” she finishes with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to a little more variety and getting a bit more time on set, for sure.”
