Veteran Australian actress Rachael Carpani makes her Home and Away debut on Thursday night and her character is sure to cause a stir.
The 44-year-old McLeod’s Daughters star plays Claudia, a newcomer to Summer Bay who, upon her arrival, suffers minor injuries in a car crash and blames it on a permanent resident.
“She’s introduced in a negative way, comes in with a bit of attitude. Like you would if your brakes went out and you ended up with a broken arm,” Rachael revealed on Instagram.
‘She literally had a car accident, broke her arm and had to walk around in a sling for six weeks, which has had a huge impact on her professional and personal life – and she blames it on her [James Stewart’s character] ‘Justine.’
Rachael said viewers were in for a few surprises when they saw her on the Channel Seven show, as her character is a far cry from the sweet-natured Jodi she played in McLeod’s.
“This is a very interesting character on the surface. She’s a bit of a villain and very easy to condemn, but I think this will be a good exercise in playing a very flawed human being.”
A recently released trailer shows Rachel’s character threatening to sue James Stewart, played by Justin, over work his garage did on her car, claiming the brakes were faulty.
The drama that develops from this has consequences for Justin’s relationship with his partner Leah, played by his real-life girlfriend Ada Nicodemou.
Veteran Australian actress Rachael Carpani (pictured) makes her Home and Away debut on Thursday night, and her character is sure to cause a stir
This is not the first time Rachael has appeared in this soap opera. In 2001, she had a guest role as a waitress in two episodes of a restaurant.
The Sydney-born actress said she was delighted to be starring in an Australian production again after working in America for more than a decade.
The blonde beauty began her acting career in 2001 in Australia in the role of Jodi Fountain-McLeod in McLeod’s Daughters on Channel Nine, which she played until 2009.
The 44-year-old McLeod’s Daughters star plays Summer Bay newcomer Claudia, who suffers minor injuries in a car crash upon her arrival
In 2010, she moved to California to pursue her career and appeared in several American television shows including NCIS: Los Angles, The Glades and Stalker.
According to Yahoo!, Rachael’s role on Home and Away has also sparked rumours that Seven could be taking on a long-awaited reboot of McLeod’s Daughters.
The show originally aired on Channel Nine, but plans for a reboot fell through in 2017 due to “creative differences with a third party” and the project has yet to make it to screen.
Rachael said viewers were in for a surprise when they saw her in the Channel Seven show, as her character is a far cry from the sweet-natured Jodi she played in McLeod’s