The Melissa George Issue

[jldraw]

George fed up with Australian media:

Perth-raised actress Melissa George has lashed out at the Australian media for continually referring to her role on soap Home and Away.

George, who is currently in Australia for the filming of Felony with Joel Edgerton, has told Fairfax she is sick of people referring to her Home and Away character Angel because she had that role 20 years ago.

It has become such an issue for the actress that she is now reluctant to return to Australia again.

"I want to come home a lot but the stress that this has created in me is not worthy of my health," she told the Sun-Herald.

"I think it will be the last time (I visit and work here) for a while, to be honest, because I just get too upset coming home.

"I don't need credibility from my country anymore, I just need them all to be quiet.

"If they have nothing intelligent to say, please don't speak to me anymore. I'd rather be having a croissant and a little espresso in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City.

"I've got to be honest. I'm not going to be a good Aussie anymore. I'm going to speak out. I've just had it."

George's outburst reportedly came after a television interview on the Seven Network's The Morning Show on Friday, where the actress saw old footage of herself as Angel.

"Right behind my head was pictures of Angel and on the montage they called me Home and Away actress Melissa George.

"Now it's because it's Channel Seven, so my next call will be to Home and Away to ask them to pay me because nobody does more promotion for that f…king show than me."

The 36-year-old actress has had much success on US and British television since her Home and Away role.

Recently she received critical acclaim for her roles in The Slap and new series Hunted.

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Melissa George has meltdown on The Morning Show after hosts mentioned Home and Away

CHANNEL 7 spoke out yesterday about a tirade unleashed by former Home And Away castmember Melissa George, who threw a hissy fit on Friday's The Morning Show because the segment referenced her days at Summer Bay.

The brekkie newsroom was still reeling from the outburst yesterday, which witnesses described as "erratic" and "unbelievable", as the Aussie actress threatened to walk off the set if hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies made mention of the character that made her a star, Angel Parrish.

"She kept saying she's had so many bigger roles since Home And Away that it was offensive to talk about it - she even said she'd send Seven an invoice because she inadvertently promotes it through the media," an insider said.

The program's executive producer Sarah Stinson, said she originally thought the meltdown was a prank.

"At first I thought I was being Punk'd because it seemed so surreal," she told Confidential. "We're genuinely proud of Melissa's achievements, she's done a lot of great work, and I didn't realise she had such an issue with her roots. Most of our guests are usually proud to embrace where they've come from and we never would have done anything to purposely upset her."

George, who has appeared in The Amityville Horror remake, Grey's Anatomy and Alias, said the Australian press were "disgusting" for constantly aligning her with the soap.

"I don't need credibility from my country any more, I just need them all to be quiet," she said. "If they have nothing intelligent to say, please don't speak to me any more. I'd rather be having a croissant and an espresso in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City.

"I've never spoken out about it because I have to be the loyal good Aussie, who goes away and comes home.

"But I'm a really hard-working woman and people have to respect me for what I've done ... my next call will be to Home And Away to ask them to pay me because nobody does more promotion for that f ... ing show than me."

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My thoughts:

This might be a new revelation for the Aussie media but it's something that I believe that most H&A fans have been aware of for years that one of the most popular stars in the history of the show isn't exactly a fan of the show. For years personally although I wished circumstances were different I've tried to defend Melissa's POV from the standpoint of that she certainly isn't the only actress who is not a fan of her early work, in fact it's a trait shared by a lot of actors who had roles at the start of their resumes that somewhat paled in comparison to their featured roles later on. I also consider myself to be a Melissa George fan and enjoy a great deal of her work from H&A to Alias to Amityville Horror and several other projects as well.

But I'll be honest with you all, these latest comments from her are pretty hard to swallow. I think on one hand you could argue some of the points she brought up as being somewhat factual as she was one of the first actresses to feature on H&A and then spin off a successful Hollywood career from that. This was during an era where it wasn't necessarily a guarantee that being featured on H&A or Neighbours would result more often than not in a career overseas so in that regard maybe she and Isla Fisher and others opened some doors for other soapies which is something that certainly if true cannot be understated enough.

But to me at least that doesn't justify some of her comments here. I understand wanting to be recognized for some of her more modern works, her current projects. However, speaking from the standpoint of someone who isn't Australian I can only imagine how bad this is going to go over in Australia where like most other countries outside of the United States native celebrities are tended to be celebrated instead of torn down and that is all that the Australian media was trying to do here. In my opinion, it's beyond a fair assumption that most people in Australia know by now that Melissa George has found success far and beyond H&A, so why is it such an issue for her to give a little bit back to the fans who still remain loyal to the soap and her role in it's success to this day?

In the spirit of giving equal time Melissa posted some tweets on the issue which I'll reproduce below along with the sources for the original articles:

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Melissa George ‏@TheMGeorge

It's 20 years ago. I always embrace the past, am used to being mis quoted, and love my fans, but the tall poppy syndrome is pushing us away.

Melissa George ‏@TheMGeorge

Again, it's not about mentioning the past, it's about ONLY mentioning the past. Like we failed and did SO badly for the past 20 years.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/15...stralian-media/

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/...g-1226514684954

[izzyhoyland]

Wow. Awkward. I agree I have been a fan of her work for a long time but she needs to get over herself and remember where she came from in my opinion. Seriously. Of course they're going to mention her past work, it's a part of what made her who she is and got her where she is today, she needs to deal with it and embrace it not constantly slam something that she should be grateful for.

[Freakie42]

Drama queen much.

[beau_t]

That is quite shocking. I have defended her in the past as well because it must be hard when you are trying to promote a new movie or whatever and people devote a segment of that airtime to something that you were over and done with 20 years ago. But other actors manage to do it with dignity and pride, including plenty of ex-H&A actors. She clearly has a problem with it because thinks she is "above" H&A now and that is snobbery, not an attractive feature.

[Mishyy]

I saw her in the city (Melbourne)a few years back (can't remember if it was myer or david jones). She was here promoting something for the store and back then she came across as such a "diva"

My husband kept saying go say hello because i'm such a fan of the show and of her but i said no way, the way she's acting in real life, she's not worth meeting.

[beau_t]

I have just read through her twitter feeds and can see that (justified or not) she does seem genuinely unhappy about the issue. I still think she could have handled things a lot better and don't agree with her remarks/behaviour but I don't think she was just being a drama queen/diva. I think she genuinely feels hard-done-by that she gets questioned about H&A all the time when she is trying to promote other things. Whether she is right or wrong to feel that way is a matter of opinion but I do stand by my earlier post that her snobbery towards the past doesn't do her any favours, especially when other ex-soap stars manage to handle it with much more dignity*

*in her defense, I have seen/read many Melissa George interviews where she does handle the H&A subject with dignity.

[alexx]

Wow I'm quite shocked by that. Though it may be the media hyping it all up out of proportion. But only last week I was saying how well she handles Aussie interviews whenever H&A is brought up - but now she is saying she was just putting on an act in the past and isnt afraid to speak out about it now.

I also understand where she is coming from, but I think it's quite sad that she feels so stressed out about it - it isn't harming her career in any way possible. She has a point about doing promotion for the show, but Melissa is the one making a huge deal out of it and therefore it makes her look insecure. To me it's starting to look like her issue is that she is disappointed that the roles she's had after her H&A stint haven't created as much publicity or given her a fan base as solid as the one she had on H&A. She's trying to create a new fans base that look at her as Melissa George the international actor, but she doesn't feel she is getting that recognition? Which in untrue, like jldraw mentioned, the Australian media are always praising her for her success as an international 'star'. If anything, it's being proud.

I do think it's a real shame though and I don't like it that she is feeling so stressed out about it, she is right, it's unhealthy to feel like that and I can understand her dread about it if she's trying to focus on the 'here and now' - but I don't think she's done herself any favours by creating such an issue out of it. Guy Pearce is questioned about Neighbours regularly and he is a worldwide movie star, yet he doesn't seem to have any problem with it at all. Like I said, because of what she's doing, it's making her look like she is slightly insecure about herself as an actor - and I hadn't ever had that impression before.

Edit: I just watched The Morning Show interview, I'm presuming it was a pre-recorded interview and they cut out 'the outburst' . She did seem quite reserved and deflated in the interview. But all they did show was two clips of Angel with the lines 'From Summer Bay - All the way to The Big Apple' - and that was it. No other mention of H&A.

[beau_t]

Edit: I just watched The Morning Show interview, I'm presuming it was a pre-recorded interview and they cut out 'the outburst' . She did seem quite reserved and deflated in the interview. But all they did show was two clips of Angel with the lines 'From Summer Bay - All the way to The Big Apple' - and that was it. No other mention of H&A.

where can you watch it?

[alexx]

On The Morning Show website : http://au.tv.yahoo.com/the-morning-show/vi...melissa-george/

In Melissa's defense, she is very honest and easy going in this TV interview from a few years ago, she talks fondly of H&A and seems absolutely fine about talking Angel:

Edit: It's actually become quite a prominent piece of 'news' - I've read about this now in every news website I regularly visit. Another interview with mX I was reading, and she hangs up the phone when asked about H&A. I just found it reported here: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/melis...9-1226515183975

[dublinfan]

Ungrateful...

Chris Hemsworth started on the show and this is what he has to say about it:

How do you feel about it, looking back?

People want to undermine it, but the truth is, if you can make that work, you can make anything work. It’s much easier to come across well if you have 30 takes and you have the best lighting, brilliant editing and music there to support you. On Home And Away, a lot of the time, one of those heightened soap opera moments will come and there’s no rehearsal, and you have two takes. In that environment, you either sink or swim. I learned a lot, and I’ll always count it as a huge advantage having done it. Some of the performances I gave, it’s a miracle I’m still working…

I think we all know who the nicer one is