Gold Logie winner Georgie Parker has opened up about the surprise clause in her Home and Away contract.
The 59-year-old has played the role of Roo Stewart on the hit Channel Seven soap for 13 years.
But next month the actress will take a break from the show to lead the cast of a new David Williamson play, The Great Divide, at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney.
Georgie disclosed that the one clause she had written in her contract allowed her to work on other projects in addition to the show.
The actress told The Daily Telegraph, “I had a clause in my contract that said they would release me if I could do a play.”
Gold Logie winner Georgie Parker, 59, (pictured) has opened up about the surprise clause built into her Home and Away contract
Going away to experience a new setting and then returning makes you appreciate your current surroundings and the people there even more.
Georgie will co-star with Kate Raison in the ensemble theater production of The Great Divide, which will debut on March 8 in Kirribilli.
The performance is expected to continue until April 27.
It comes a year after the actress announced plans to leave the show for an extended break to pursue her theatre dreams.
The actress insisted the departures was only temporary and she had no plans to quit the soap.
She said she will stay as long as her co-star, Ray Meagher, who plays Alf Stewart, remains on the series.
Georgie is one of Australia’s most beloved stars having appeared on A Country Practice and All Saints, winning two Gold Logies for the latter.
She first joined the soap in 2010 replacing Justine Clarke as Ruth ‘Roo’ Stewart.
‘I had it written into my contract that if I was able to do a play, they would release me’ the actress told the Daily Telegraph
Holly, the star’s daughter, was born in 2000 after the actress wed Steve Worland in 1999.
The actress admitted to feeling the strain of balancing her career and being a new mother to TV Week in April of last year.
“After winning the first Gold Logie, I got married and had a baby,” she remarked. It was a very difficult moment, and I was divided between a lot of things.
“I struggled because I had never pursued that level of success, so when it came along, I was pushing myself harder because I wanted the show to be successful.”
