As fans of Home & Away see her get jailed tonight, Lynne McGranger has reassured them that her long-running character Irene Roberts has stared down much worse.
After Irene consented to assist in hiding Dana Matheson, an innocent fugitive played by Ally Harris, a recent actress from Perth, her day took an unusual turn.
Roberts believed she got away with it even though she had been told she may be in hot trouble.
McGranger now claims that in her thirty-two years in Summer Bay on the popular Channel 7 soap opera, Irene has had to deal with far worse.
“I’ve faced challenges for 32 years,” the 70-year-old celebrity said to PerthNow.
This most likely falls in the middle. She has battled cancer, had a plane disaster, had her best friend argue with her over a grandchild, and her past resurfaced after she was assaulted when she was 14 years old.
But McGranger now has a new task to tackle in the form of the most recent catastrophe.
She remarked, “It was interesting to see where it went,” following her five-month filming of tonight’s triple episode special.
Admitting, “Irene is very rattled.” She was assured there was nothing to be concerned about, so she is understandably shaken by being arrested in front of her clients. There is yet hope, and maybe she can resolve the issue.
McGranger claims to be leading a second life, explaining why, despite spending 32 years on set, she still enjoys putting herself through the turmoil.
“I believe that’s because she’s leading a life. About playing Irene, she remarked, “It’s not like a play where you have to do the same thing every day and every evening.”
She’s not just existing, she’s living. One of the great things about a show like Home & Away is that the characters mature and go through life just like the actors do. It maintains viewer interest.
“I believe that characters such as Irene, Alf, and Marilyn are going about their lives in front of the audience.”
McGranger claims that she corrects admirers who think they know her during her days off from the set.
“I experience it frequently. The TV icon remarked, “People assume they know me because they know Irene.”
Irene is the name that most people call me. I have to tell them that Lynne is my true name. Although I am Irene on the show, I am a genuine person.
