Amy Mathews rules out returning to Home and Away

[JamesC10]

http://www.tvweeklogieawards.com.au/news/articles/2014/5/never-look-back/

I loved Rachel Armstrong but I understand why she doesn't ever want to return to the show. Home and Away used to create good characters in the past.

[beau_t]

Considering the deterioration of her character in her last couple of years I don't blame her.

When she first arrived she was an exciting, strong, dramatic character whom almost the entire audience immediately enjoyed. She stayed this way for a while but then in by around 2009 she became little more than a glorified extra and her final exit storyline with Tony was soul destroying to watch, I can't imagine how infuriating it must have been to play for someone who had originally created such an excellent character.

[j.laur5]

She is hardly a memorable character anyway!

[Dan F]

Her final exit storyline with Tony was soul destroying to watch, I can't imagine how infuriating it must have been to play for someone who had originally created such an excellent character.

Let's just say that I was actually warned that it would be incredibly frustrating to watch before it aired, which says a lot.

[John]

I liked Amy as Rachel. It was almost like "character assassination by writer" in the end.

[elikell]

I like Amy and I can understand her reasons for not wanting to come back to the show.
Enjoy watching her in A Place To Call Home.

[Jezz]

I'm inclined to agree with others here in regards to how Rachel's character deteriorated as her years on screen progressed. Between 2006 to 2008, Rachel was a well-defined and generally a likeable character with some flaws but she was given good storylines and they were enjoyable to watch, however as she got together with Tony her character was bogged down unfortunately.

I always preferred her over Kim despite the nine year age difference, whereas Tony was an extremely boring and monotonous character in general and I found their relationship hard to believe to a certain extent. I thought Amy portrayed the character well and she was always consistently good with the content she was given but I can understand her reluctance to return to the show sometime down the track as well.

Whatever she does good luck to her.

[gutterboy]

Lame........ she's one of the people I always enjoyed in the show.

[jodlebirger]

I liked Amy as Rachel. It was almost like "character assassination by writer" in the end.

Hm.... I don't know...

I don't feel that her character fell apart in her last storyline.

I still don't think she got a personal transplant during her stay which is more common with the characters of today (the "generation of characters" after Rachel and co). But in 2009 she got a bit too much misery thrown at her, she became to depressed and long before she was meant to be depressed. And it became a little too much for a little while. But she was not alone, Aden and Belle also got too much misery thrown at them. The show has always had some problems with the balance.

I still feel that we were allowed to get to know her, and the other characters at that time, and I really liked that. They were far more intense and interesting to follow. And I really miss those kind of characters. I could be angry at her and disagree with her actions, but still could see that it was in character for her. Even her departure.

Still I feel that Tony became too much in her shadow though, but that is an another topic.

But I don't think her departure or other storyline has anything to do with her not wanting to come back. I feel that once again people put to much into it, and once again forget that an actors experience of the character is very different from what we are watching on the screen. For them it is all about being creative, and most actors want to play a different character after a while.

And would you have got back to work where you worked years ago, when you can experience something different in other jobs and develop your skills?

I have even got the impression that some actors want their characters to develop, and playing the charachers in a different way is more important than being true to the character's personality.

[cadyctslover]

I'm not surprised to hear Amy has no plans to return, as the current writing team are even less capable than those responsible for her exit in 2010.

I actually thought Rachel was a consistently well-written character throughout her time on the show, and I loved her relationship with Tony which I found highly realistic and beneficial to both characters. But it was the right thing to do to write them both out together when they did. The writers had clearly run out of ideas for them, and who knows what terrible storylines Louise Bowes would have subjected them to!