Melissa George – Diva or just tired of being an Angel?

The media is awash with the news of Melissa George having a hissy fit on the set of sunrise on being asked about her time on Home & Away. It seems like all the articles are full of comments on people hating on her. Everyone thinks she’s too big for her boots. That she’s just some B grade actress who was on H&A and hasn’t done much since.

After coming back from my exchange program to Honduras, I did 3 episodes on Home & Away. I remember I was excited about meeting some of the cast, until some people from the crew told me that when the girls heard I was coming on the show they had made a pact to be a bitch to me. Then apparently someone from the cast stepped up and pointed out I had been a working actress since before any of them even had dreams of being on TV. To their credit, they played nice. I met some very lovely people and actually really enjoyed it. Kate Ritchie and I had known each other since we were tiny, so it was nice to work with her. Isla Fisher was very nice. I’d go see anything she was in to this day.

Then there was Melissa George. She wasn’t rude or mean. She just wasn’t really anything. It was obvious she didn’t like being there, and none of the cast liked her. One of them told me a story about how he was talking about his weekend out with his mates, and she told him “You’re an actor. You’re not supposed to hang out with civilians anymore. You’re supposed to hang out with other actors”. I remember thinking What a Bitch. Actors are no better than non actors. It’s just a job. You get paid to make believe for a living. That’s it.

Most people over here in the US have no idea who Melissa George is by name. Of course, one of my favourite things about the US is that nobody knows who the hell I am either. I can just be me, and nobody here asks me about Hey Dad. One of the things I disliked about going home was questions about Hey Dad. I could either pretend everything was fine, and I had simply become a has been, or I could say I didn’t enjoy working on the show, at which point everyone got all uppity because how dare I say I didn’t enjoy working on a show that had made me famous. At least now I no longer have to pretend that I enjoyed that show, or have people question me when I say I didn’t. Ask me to go on TV in Oz now, and I’ll be all too happy to talk about Hey Dad….

Of course, as an adult, I think back to Melissa then, and how focused she was on becoming a big star. While Matt & I owned our IT company, I went to all sorts of marketing events, training etc. I was the Marketing Manager, and it was my job to make the company successful. One of the main things they teach you is to be successful in life, you need to be focused on what you want. You should hang out with the kind of people you want to be. You have to know what you want, and work out how to get it. Most of us don’t work this out till we’re in our 30’s. Maybe Melissa was just gifted with having that knowledge when she was 17. She was ahead of her time and was just focused on being a big name actress, and if that meant surrounding herself with other successful artists, and doing whatever it took to get to that goal, like moving to the US, then so be it.

Maybe she just didn’t like being on Home and Away. Maybe she didn’t make friends. Maybe she doesn’t have fond memories of it. Maybe since she has 42 credits to her name on IMDB, and has actually made more money from those hemline tabs she invented than she’s ever made from acting, she’d just like people to ask her what she’s been up to now, instead of just focusing on who she was 16 years ago. Or, maybe she had jet lag. Or maybe like they said, she’s just a Diva.

Either way, her IMDB rating has skyrocketed! Everyone knew where she was going to be for McHappy Day. Everyone is talking about her and will probably be interested to see her new show. So maybe her meltdown is paying off.

I kinda feel bad for her though. Imagine if you had been steadily working to better yourself, getting work on all kinds of shows like Alias, Lie to Me, The Slap and now you’re starring in your own TV show, and nobody cares. They just want to reminisce about a character you played back in the early 90’s.

Or, in “civilian” terms, you are now a major corporate player, and all anyone wants to talk about is when you used to be king of the mailroom. Its fun to talk about it sometimes, but otherwise you want to look at the future, not into the past.

Of course, if I ever bump into Melissa, I’ll be sure not to ask her if she remembers our episodes together on Home and Away. I don’t want her to flip out on me……