Throwing it back to the early 2000s, Home and Away had some iconic storylines, and the memorable introduction of the character Angie Russell – and it wasn’t the actress’s only H&A role
Home and Away has been one of Ireland’s favourite soaps over the years, with a host of memorable characters featured across its almost 40 year run.
Some of the best characters in soaps are the villains, whether you loved the drama of Phil Mitchell from EastEnders or Carrigstown’s Kerri-Ann.
Throwing it back to the early 2000s, Home and Away had some iconic storylines, and the memorable introduction of the character Angie Russell.
Played by actress Laurie Foell, Angie arrived in Summer Bay in 2002 as Deputy Principal of Summer Bay High and as the secret ex-lover of family man Rhys Sutherland, with her son Dylan in tow – played by Brett Hicks-Maitland.
Her character’s behavior escalated with a complex storyline involving her son, Rhys and Rhys’ daughter Kirsty, culminating in Angie and Dylan’s decision to leave the bay.
Just before their planned departure, a massive argument between mother and son led to Angie’s accidental death at Dylan’s hands.
It was the stuff of soap legend, but in a later twist, Laurie returned to Summer Bay playing Angie’s identical cousin, Josie.
Much of Josie’s storyline revolved around her profession as a sex worker, and forging a relationship with her cousin Angie’s long-lost daughter Tasha Andrews – played by Isobel Lucas. Josie left the soap in 2004.
At the time, Laurie told Back to the Bay that she could see a potential return for Josie, as she felt the writer “could have gone much further with what she is.”
“I love Josie with my whole heart, I think she’s great and I feel we could have gone a lot further with her. I think that, understandably, because it is the demographic of teenagers, they may have shied away from some of her character elements, which I think is a shame.”
“I think they could have gone much further with what she is, to do with her line of work etc. But then I was blessed with the storylines that I had in the space of 12 months, I mean I probably had more storylines than some characters have in 2 years!”
“Yeah I think we could have gone further, so it depends on that. The challenge obviously to play someone different, on the same show – I didn’t think I could do it. But I thought I would try because it’s always better to try to do things that are really difficult.”
The actress may have made waves in Summer Bay, but it was not her first time on the soap.
Back in 1999, Laurie played side character Kelly McCane, before returning as Angie.
Home and Away favourite Ada Nicodemou shared a throwback snap from the early 2000s with some of the cast, including Laurie.
““The ultimate #HomeandAway #ThrowbackThursday. Who remembers all their character names? ” she wrote.
The snapshot included Ada, Laurie, Jason Smith, Isabel Lucas and Chris Hemsworth. “When Home and Away was at its best” said one commenter.
