Bonnie Sveen: Why I had to leave Home And Away
Before she scored the role of Ricky Sharpe on Home and Away, Bonnie Sveen was a relative unknown actor. She jokes that her first taste of acting as a five-year-old playing the “five-line Pepper” in the musical Annie. “I was never the star till Home and Away,” Sveen, 27, tells WHO. “It took me that long!”
Which is why it was so hard for her to walk away from the role that made her a household named and earned her the 2014 Logie for Best New Talent. “I was really conflicted about leaving,” she says, saying the writers offered her a chance to leave the show when writing out the character of Brax (played by Stephen Peacocke.) “But if I’d stayed I didn’t know what the story line was going to be because they’d brought in the new Morgan family and I didn’t want to stay beyond what had been a really awesome run.”
However plotline aside, Tasmanian-born Sveen says ultimately the decision came down to needing a new challenge. “It’s been lovely not having the surreal life of popping into a makeup chair every single day, dressing as the exact same character, wearing her clothes more than I wear my own, saying her words to a fake partner…”
Quitting the show turned out to be a blessing, because it freed her up for the “dream” role of Layla Chapple in The Secret Daughter and to star opposite Jessica Mauboy. “Jess is just this incredible person. You can’t deny her talent and she’s just so fun,” says Sveen, saying the two bonded over music and yoga on set. “She’s like a sister to me.”