“When I look back at everything that’s happened, I really do love this place.”
When James Stewart arrived in Sydney’s Palm Beach, in 2016, to film his first scenes on Home and Away, he did so believing it was likely to be a short-term role.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
In the decade since, the long-running drama has given James more than he could have ever imagined. His personable nature led him to find friends and success quickly and, as a single father, he also found family, support and permanence for his daughter, Scout.
James Stewart recalls his early beginnings
“What an incredible decade it’s been,” James, 50, muses to TV WEEK. “My daughter and I often go back through photos on my phone – which have become sort of an archive of history for people now – and we arrived in Sydney when Scout was only four.”
At that time, Scout, his daughter with actress Jessica Marais, was at the forefront of his thoughts. It was a juggle.
“Being a single father was scary so, when I was offered this job, I thought, ‘Okay. Here’s something I can sink my teeth into and sign for three years’, which enabled some stability. I put my daughter through school and had a steady income. What started happening, unknowingly, to me was that I began to build a family.”
Stepping into Summer Bay as Justin Morgan, the protective big brother quickly caught fans’ attention in a confrontation with local bad boy Ash (played by George Mason). But, for Australian viewers, James’ traits had been admired since his time on Packed to the Rafters.
How nerves drove James Stewart to succeed
James played Jake Barton on the hit drama from 2009–2013, earning him a TV WEEK Logie Award nomination for Best New Talent in 2010. He had garnered a following before he even appeared on H&A, and it made him a little nervous.
“You’re always in an audition, even when you’re in a job, so you want the character to be attractive enough to the audience and producers that they keep you on,” he says. “I felt some pressure, but it just makes me study and work harder to get it right.”
Having watched Erik Thomson and Rebecca Gibney, (“people I admire greatly”) lead a cast, he felt ready to do the same with the actors who would play his H&A siblings: Penny McNamee, Jackson Heywood, Orpheus Pledger and Olivia Deeble.
“You can’t do it alone, though,” he says. “I came in with the Morgan family, so we all led the storyline at one time or another. It felt like teamwork.”
“Aside from the lighthouse or bikini bodies running out of the water, which are synonymous with the show, Home and Away has always been about relationships. People like seeing those things just as much as they enjoy watching Alf having a cuppa and a chat.”
James Stewart on finding love on and off screen
As the only Morgan remaining on the show, fans have witnessed a 2.0 version of Justin emerge. He’s had to find out who he is without his siblings. From near-death experiences to shock addictions and ill-advised romances, Justin has faced more obstacles than most.
Although he’s fallen in and out of love, no romance has suited Justin more than the one he has now with Leah – played by his real-life fiancée, Ada Nicodemou. It’s no surprise that James’ favourite scene is their on-screen wedding.
“The Justin and Leah wedding was a really personal moment for me,” he says. “We grew up in the shadow of Scott and Charlene getting married on Neighbours so that was our prototype. I called my brother who’s a musician and he got a friend’s song to play and sing.
“The cast and crew all went away together. It was a great time. And I loved watching Justin, Leah and Theo [Matt Evans] became a family.”
So could we see James in the Bay for another 10 years?
“When I look back at everything that’s happened, I really do love this place,” he says of the show. “I spend more time with these people than my actual family, and I’ve thought about that [staying on] for quite a while…I have to say, ‘Watch this space’… But if they offer me another contract, I think I’ll be staying.”
