She’s the tough foster mum with a heart of gold.
Her front door has been open to a revolving cast of kids in need throughout the years - the townsfolk of Summer Bay know that if they need a shoulder to cry on or a word of advice, Irene Roberts will be there for them.She’s had her fair share of romances and heartaches, triumphs and tribulations, but she’s always come out the other side with her dignity and sense of self firmly intact.
Born January 29, 1953, former primary school teacher Lynne McGranger began her acting career in the heady world of amateur theatre, as a member of the infamous Murray River Performing Group in Albury. Leaving for the bright lights of Melbourne towards the end of the ’80s, Lynne found herself involved in the Melbourne Comedy Festival and decided to give the stand-up game a go. “Writing a tight twenty minutes is the hardest thing in the world,” Lynne confides. “I decided when I fell pregnant I’d give it a crack. There were nights when I was the funniest human on the planet, and there were other nights where, had I not been pregnant, people would have thrown things at me. Truly, it’s the hardest gig in the world but it’s kinda like jumping out of an aeroplane: once you’ve done it, you think, ‘That’s it, I can do anything’.”
This brazen devil-may-care attitude landed Lynne the role of Irene (taking over from Jacqui Phillips) as a guest part in 1992, before being made permanent the following year. Lynne stepped into Irene’s shoes when she had been off the grog for one month and was attempting to win her kids back: Finlay (Tina Thompson) had just survived a near-drowning at the Gold Coast.
“I can still remember standing next to the hospital trolley and glaring, looking daggers at Les Hill, and being terrified – my knees were knocking,” Lynne laughs. “I was absolutely terrified. I hadn’t done a lot of film and I certainly hadn’t done multi-cam. The pressure and the speed! All these people standing round with cameras pointing in your face and they’re telling you to be natural! It took me about six months for my knees to stop knocking! Now it’s just like second nature.”
With over a decade of experience on the show, ask Lynne about her favourite storylines and fellow actors and you’d best put on a cuppa: there’s a list as long as your arm! Lynne’s quick to name the more current storyline of the mercury poisoning as a stand-out, as well as the surrogacy storyline of roughly ten years ago, being able to relive the experience of giving birth to her own daughter Clancy some years previously. “I enjoyed doing - oddly enough - love scenes. It’s not something I’ve done a lot in my life and I find it really daunting. I guess I enjoyed working with people. Thoroughly enjoyed working with the likes of Kristy Wright [Chloe Richards], Tempany Deckert [Selina Cook/ Roberts], the amazing Anthony Phelan [Ken Smith] – a beautiful actor hugely underused and underrated. The amazing Ivar Kants [Barry Hyde]. Di Craig [Teresa Lynch], and now Jess Tovey [Belle Taylor], who’s an amazing little actress. The stuff with Rhett Giles [Paris Burnett] – the younger man – it was horrible thing to kiss such a handsome man,” she jokes.
After spending so long in Irene’s shoes in the hearts and homes of million of viewers both here and overseas, Lynne can easily name the worst thing about her job: not being able to go anywhere without being recognized. “I still struggle with that,” Lynne admits. “I figure the good Lord tests me every day - it’s a test of my character to be gracious. It drives me nuts but I realized I’ve been blessed with this job, and been given something most actors would kill for, and therefore I have to deal with it and I have to be gracious, and I find that very hard.”
But as Lynne starts to pack her winter woollies for a season playing Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother in a London pantomime at the end of the year, she’s quick to point out being on a TV show like Home and Away means she doesn’t need to worry about where her next job is coming from: rare indeed for the actor’s game. “In some ways the best thing is the worse thing, and the worse thing is the best thing,” she muses. “I love what it allows me to do, which is go to England and work - something I’ve always wanted to do. There’s so much to be thankful for.”
If there’s one quality that defines Irene Roberts, it’s the characteristic of compassion, a quality learnt after graduating with honors from the School of Hard Knocks. “People in the community really admire her for that, and if you like, learn from that themselves,” Lynne says. “And that’s hopefully what the show can do - teach people and reflect life.”
