Home And Away: James Stewart says there's more trouble ahead for his on-screen stalker daughter Ava
The Parata family are the first Māori whanau to join Australian soap opera Home And Away.
The arrival of his estranged daughter Ava is turning life upside down for Summer Bay’s Justin Morgan but, behind the scenes, actor James Stewart has nothing but praise for his screen offspring.
“Annabel Wolfe is her name and she is fantastic,” says the actor, of the 20 year old who is playing Justin’s now 16-year-old daughter Ava Gilbert.
“I can’t speak highly enough of her, because what I like a kid to do is listen. If you’re a good listener at that kind of age, that’s a really big tick in my book – because I wasn’t.
“Annabel (who also played a wayward teen in Doctor Doctor) comes on set fully prepared, all her lines ready and then, when it is time for the director to talk, she listens.
“It wasn’t about social media and this that and the other thing. It was about the scenes and it was about the other actors and about the story so it was a dream run for me.”
Ava, the child Justin had to leave behind when the Morgan family went into Witness Protection after the deaths of their parents, made her Home And Away debut in 2016 and resurfaced in 2020.
However, this year she is back again and the sweet little girl is now a rebellious teen with secrets she doesn’t plan on sharing with her doting dad.
Ava arrived in Summer Bay some weeks ago, telling Justin she had had a falling out with her mum, Nina (Zoe Naylor from McLeod’s Daughters), but in reality she had a much more personal reason for seeking a reunion with her father.
The 16 year old has just been unveiled as the super fan who has been stalking Lyrik lead singer Theo Poulos (Matt Evans) who, coincidentally, happens to be the nephew of Justin’s partner Leah (Ada Nicodemou).
“Justin doesn’t really get straight away that Ava’s here because she’s Theo’s stalker. You can see it but it takes Leah, Kirby (Angelina Thomson) and Theo to remind Justin, ‘These are the things that are happening. These are the things that she’s doing. She’s not here to see you, mate’,” Stewart says.
While Leah, who was visiting family in Cyprus when Ava arrived on her father’s doorstep, eventually agrees on how to handle Ava, Stewart warns there is still plenty of drama ahead.
However, the actor, who shares a daughter, Scout, 10, with his former partner and Packed To The Rafters co-star Jessica Marais, understands why Justin is reluctant to heed other people’s warnings about his daughter’s true motives for reconnecting with him.
“He doesn’t want them to be right,” he says, adding the storyline was a bit of an eye-opener for him.
“I’ve got a 10-year-old daughter and the teenage years are coming. It might be two or three years away, but it feels like it’s only a couple of minutes away.”
In fact, Scout, who is interested in acting, actually met her dad’s screen daughter a few times.
“Scout occasionally comes into the studio and they were in makeup together a couple of times,” he says.
However, unlike Justin, the 47 year old is more than happy to ask for help when it comes to parenting matters.
“I’m good. I’ve got a great kid. I’ve got an unbelievable wife (Sarah Roberts who played Summer Bay’s Willow Harris) and there is so much support around my daughter.”
Stewart says he has surrounded Scout with great women.
“I’ve got a sister (Annie) who ran a girls’ school for a long, long time. My mum, Beverly, was a single mother through the 80s. I know tough women,” he explains, adding they are both involved in his daughter’s life.
“I make my daughter call the women in her family. I’m not the only voice saying this thing, whatever the lesson is, whatever the advice is, whatever the possible options are.
“I think a support network is massively important and I think Leah and Justin get there eventually. I think it takes them a moment to butt heads and then they work out, ‘Hang on. We’ve got to be on the same page’.”
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