Long-running drama Home and Away says its farewell to star character Irene Roberts this week but for the woman who\u2019s portrayed her for almost 33 years, it\u2019s a bittersweet time.<\/p>\n
McGranger joined the cast in 1993 \u2014 making her the longest-serving female actor in a series in Australia \u2014 and announced she was leaving in February this year.<\/p>\n
Irene has been coming to terms with an Alzheimer\u2019s disease diagnosis and McGranger said she had been driven by the story \u201cthat needs to be told\u201d \u2014 one she had a role in formulating.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first time it is being dealt with at length, out in the open and talked about,\u201d she said of the condition\u2019s portrayal in a local TV drama.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people now have it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very, very, very proud of it and I think it\u2019s an important story, and it needs to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after such a long stint in the role, and with many fans admitting they\u2019re not sure how they\u2019ll handle their favourite drama without such a beloved character, McGranger has a cryptic message.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, wait until you see … just wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
She paid tribute to singer Jessica Mauboy whose melody is heard over Irene\u2019s final moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as you love sticky date pudding, it\u2019s only when you pour the butterscotch sauce on it that it lifts it to another level, and that is what her song does with Irene\u2019s final scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fans aren\u2019t the only ones who\u2019ll have to adjust to life without Irene. McGranger confessed her family will also need to do the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter is 34, and I have been on the show for nearly 33 years,\u201d she said. \u201cSo she doesn\u2019t remember anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gold Logie-winner hopes fans or even those who\u2019ve not kept up with the serial for some time \u201cmight jump on board now and ride the wave home with her, so to speak\u201d.<\/p>\n
As for what\u2019s next, McGranger said though she\u2019ll miss Irene and may adopt some of her mannerisms every so often, she is excited for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am excited to have a rest,\u201d she said. \u201cI am excited not to have to learn lines every night and work those 14 hour days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I will miss the camaraderie. I will miss my great friends who are on the show \u2014 I have made many over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long-running drama Home and Away says its farewell to star character Irene Roberts this week but for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-76840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}