Lynne McGranger, who plays Irene Roberts in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, has written a new autobiography about her career.
The book, Acting Up: Me, Myself, and Irene, explores her life from childhood to her 28 years on Home and Away.
She is the longest-serving cast member of an Australian soap drama, having appeared alongside Chris Hemsworth, Isla Fisher, Samara Weaving, Melissa George, and others.
While the book is an honest account of her life and work, the soap star stated she deleted or changed the identities of some of the persons she mentions.
“To be honest, if I had any risk of hurting someone’s feelings – or worse, getting sued – I would have altered their name,” McGranger said.
“I’ve changed names with some old connections, acquaintances, and individuals who may have came into my life and not left the best impression,” she continued. “If I was intending to insult somebody, I wouldn’t have used their true name.”
She also insists that the book isn’t a “recount” of her stay in Summer Bay.
“I didn’t simply want to make it about Home and Away since my life had been quite busy up until then, with many of life lessons,” she continued.
“The novel isn’t squeaky clean, but it’s also not a confessional. It’s a real eye-opener.”
When a publisher approached her, McGranger decided to write her book, and the epidemic gave her more free time than she typically had when filming the soap.
She previously stated that she had no intention of authoring a book. “In the past, if anything ridiculous or noteworthy or awful happened, I would always jest and say, ‘Well, that’ll go in the memoirs,’ never expecting there would be one,” she added.
She previously discussed a portion in the book in which she remembers almost getting fired from the programme in 2002.
Producers reportedly planned to “write Irene out” once her children left home since the character “didn’t have someplace to go,” according to reports. But, thankfully, a new script producer joined the team who was opposed to the notion and stated that she had “great ideas” for Irene.
