Teen lover has a lot to learn

[Andy]

Teen lover has a lot to learn

The Courier-Mail

23 January 2008

Kate has left some big shoes to fill but I can't imagine doing any job for 20 years

INDIANA Evans is one of Home and Away's younger players, but that doesn't mean that she is immune to gossip.

Although she's only 17 there's always speculation about who Evans is dating and, when it's rumoured to be someone from the Channel 7 soap opera, it's sure to make the internet.

But Evans says it didn't take long to figure out how to deal with the speculation surrounding her love life.

``It's really odd, it's bizarre when people you haven't met say things about you, but I don't go looking for it,'' she says.

``Being on Home and Away I have grown up a lot quicker than I would have if I wasn't on the show. But, then again, I don't have a life to compare it to because when I was starting out I was so much younger.''

Evans' character Matilda Hunter also had some big issues to deal with last year when she broke up with on-screen boyfriend Ric Dalby, played by Mark Furze, after he had an affair with a married woman.

``Ric and Matilda have just broken up and they have found out that Viv is pregnant,'' she says, recalling where the series ended last year.

``The storylines have been really interesting, and they have been very different to the other stuff I have done on the show.

``I also enjoy working with Mark because he is fantastic at what he does.''

Because she's too young to have gone through similar experiences for real, Evans says she's been relying on her acting training to help manufacture her character's emotions.

``It's difficult, but I can link things in the storylines to things that have happened in real life,'' she says. ``Like when my character is experiencing feeling of loss I can link it with feelings of loss in my own life, I can match it a little bit without having to be exact.

``It certainly hasn't been easy doing some of those scenes but it's a lot of fun and it's good to commit to a storyline like that.''

While Evans says she doesn't like to look too far into her character's future -- and tends to ``leave things in the writers' hands'' -- she does expect that 2008 will bring ``more Ric stuff''.

``There's a chance they could get back on track,'' she says of the romance between Matilda and Ric.

``In certain areas I would like Matilda to grow up a bit more, to be a bit more mature and get stronger with some things,'' she says.

Now that Kate Ritchie has filmed her last Home and Away scenes, there is talk about Evans becoming the soap's new sweetheart.

But following in Ritchie's footsteps and staying with the show for two decades isn't something that Evans can see herself doing. ``I know that Kate has left some big shoes to fill, and I am happy on the show at the moment, but I can't imagine doing any job for 20 years,'' she says.

``But Home and Away isn't like other job because every day there are different storylines, different hours, and I am working with different people. And my storylines will continue to change as my character grows up.

``Time has flown by and I can remember when I first started and that was a while ago, so time will keep flying by,'' Evans says.