Actor biographies
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Sophie Katinis plays Gabby West
Sophie Katinis graduated from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2002 with
a BA in Music Theatre.
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Since graduating, Sophie's singing and acting highlights have varied. She has fronted the popular Sydney bands The Family Vonn Trap and Baby Loves To Cha Cha and, in December 2005, she performed live at the Carols In The Domain. In 2007, Sophie played the role of Ellen in Cameron Mackintosh's production of Miss Saigon.
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Sophie has enjoyed considerable success across film and television. She has worked on various feature films and has appeared in many television commercials. Sophie's television credits include Hi-5 (as a puppeteer and understudy), which also involved tours to Singapore, Malaysia and the UK, and she was part of the main cast in the television series Headland.
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Sophie's most recent acting adventure is playing the role of Tina in the new Australian comedy Stupid Stupid Man.
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Renai Caruso plays Bec Quilter
Renai Caruso graduated with a BA in Fine Arts Acting from the Queensland University of Technology in 2006, but her career commenced in the late Nineties with roles in Neighbours, State Coroner, Inside Out, Guinevere Jones, Ocean Girl III, Flat Agenda and, most recently, Monarch Cove.
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Renai has appeared in the feature films What I Have Written, Soul Trade, Unfinished Sky and Daybreakers, alongside Ethan Hawke, William Dafoe and Sam Neill. She also starred in the short films Cassolette, The Shed and The Weight Of Sunken Treasure.
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While at the Queensland University of Technology, Renai appeared in a number of theatre productions including We Will Rock You, Terrain, Terrain, Terrain, Camille, Lion In The Streets, Our Country's Good and Once In A Lifetime. Since graduating, she has worked with the Tap Gallery in the production Crestfall.
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Clayton Watson plays Jarrod O'Donnell
Clayton Watson is best known for playing the role of Kid in The Matrix Reloaded and
The Matrix Revolutions, alongside Keanu Reaves.
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Clayton started his career in 1996 with a lead guest role in the television series Flipper and followed this with the feature film Casino Reef, a lead role in the children's series High Flyers and a lead guest role in the police drama series Blue Heelers.
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In 2001, Clayton was cast in the role of Mickey Steele in the award-winning television series Always Greener – a role that saw Clayton win the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actor.
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Clayton has also starred in the feature films In the Middle, Bonnie And Clydo, the modern supernatural thriller Credo, Three Blind Mice, Under The Radar and, most recently, Stephanie V.
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Katherine Hicks plays Poppy Hammond
Katherine Hicks graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2004 with a BA in Dramatic Arts (Acting). Prior to attending college, Katherine starred as Tess Mason in the television drama series Heartbreak High.
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Katherine has a number of feature film credits, including Sugar Mountain, and has appeared in $quid The Movie as well as the short films Unholy Devotion, Polish Pursuit and Showcase.
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Theatre is also a big love of Katherine's and she has starred in Something She Had To Tell (Pilot Productions), Actors At Work (Bell Shakespeare), Dirt Girlz (Short and Sweet Festival), After The End (New Theatre) and Art As A Weapon (New Theatre).
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Charlotte Gregg plays Tracy McDonnell
Charlotte Gregg started her career in the US telemovie Seconds To Spare, alongside Antonio Sabato Jr, and quickly moved on to appear in Fat Cow Motel, CNNNN, All Saints and the true-life crime drama Underbelly.
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Charlotte also played the recurring role of Charity Fernbrook in the long-running soap Home And Away.
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Charlotte has appeared in short films Chucky and The Statue, and the feature film All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane and, most recently, Punishment.
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Theatre has also played a major part in Charlotte's career, and she has starred in productions such as Clark In Sarajevo (La Boite Theatre), Citizen Jane (Queensland Arts Council), Nerd Formal (Bunker Productions/Griffin Stablemates), Balm In Gilead (The Group Theatre) and Sleeping Around (Night Parrot/Downstairs Belvoir).
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Ryan Johnson plays Ian 'Stavva' Jones
Ryan Johnson graduated from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Academy of the Arts in 1999. Television soon beckoned with roles in the popular ABC series Head Start, Dossa And Joe, alongside Michael Caton and Joel Edgerton, and the Channel Nine series Young Lions.
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In 2004, Ryan joined the cast of the successful Australian drama series Secret Life Of Us and, most recently, the gritty drama Underbelly – based on the Melbourne Gangland warfare.
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His other television credits include White Collar Blue, All Saints and the US series The Junction Boys.
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Ryan has had a successful feature film career, appearing in a number of Australian films including the two independents: Monkey Puzzle and All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane. His credits also include the comedy The Wannabes, directed by Nick Giannopoulos; the ACDC tribute Thunderstruck, directed by Darren Ashton; and the US blockbusters Son Of The Mask and Ghostrider, starring Nicholas Cage.
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His stage performances include Sydney Theatre Company's The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, directed by Marion Potts, and the critically acclaimed Belvoir Co. B production, Jesus Hopped The A Train, directed by Wayne Blair.
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Ryan is also a talented director - his directorial debut, Ninja, had a successful season at the Old Fitzroy in Sydney.
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Dylan Landre plays Philip "Philby" McManus
Dylan Landre commenced his career in the children's television series Bush Patrol in
1996, and went on to feature in the telemovie The Shark Net. He also had guest
roles in the drama series The Surgeon and All Saints.
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Along with various television commercials, Dylan has also featured in the short films
The Big Secret and Drive.
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Olivia Bonnici plays Tess McManus
Olivia Bonnici was born in England and lived in Edmonton, London, until her family moved to Australia when she was 10.
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She completed a diploma of Arts in Performing Arts at Swinburne University Melbourne before graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in 2001.
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Upon graduating, Olivia moved back to London where she studied at the Actors Centre in London.
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Settling back in Australia, Out Of The Blue is Olivia's television debut in a drama series, but she has presented both PJ's Bedtime (which was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2004) and Art Play for Playhouse Disney UK.
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Olivia starred in the UK feature film Those Without Shadows and the short film State Of Grace for the London Film Academy.
While at NIDA, Olivia starred in various theatrical productions including The Golden Age, The Post Office, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Variety Vaudeville And Burlesque, Undiscovered Country, Bodyline, The Sea, Kiss Me Kate and Much Ado About Nothing.
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She has also worked with the Actor's Company in Language Of The Gods and the Newtown Theatre in A Time For Everything as well as a national tour for Playhouse Disney.
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Olivia represented NIDA at the UNESCO Theatre Institute Conference in Romania, and directed Stark Raving Dad at the 2007 Melbourne Fringe Festival.
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While living in London, alongside her acting work, Olivia also set up a small business,
Sunshine The Party Fairy, specialising in children's entertainment.
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Daniel Henshall plays Addo O'Donnell
Daniel Henshall graduated from the Actors Centre Australia in 2006 with an Advanced Diploma in Performing Arts - The Journey.
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In 2007, Daniel starred in the short film The Making Of The Darlings and had a guest role on the long-running drama series All Saints.
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On stage, he performed in The Golden Ass for BSharp/Belvoir Downstairs and The Popular Mechanicals in the Big Comedy Festival at the Riverside Theatre.
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Journey productions included leading roles in Children Of The Sun, A Midsummer
Night's Dream and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.
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Daisy Betts plays Peta Lee
Daisy Betts undertook a Screen Actors Course at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in 2006/7.
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Daisy's first television role was in Small Claims 3, in 2005. She went on to a regular guest role in the drama series Sea Patrol in 2006 and 2007, with Ian Stenlake and Lisa McCune. Daisy also secured a lead guest role in the award-winning series All Saints in 2007.
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Also in 2007, Daisy also won the role of Natasha in the psychological thriller Shutter, starring alongside Rachael Taylor and Joshua Jackson.
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Noel Hodda plays Ron O'Donnell
Noel Hodda is an actor, writer, director and teacher.
A graduate of The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Noel has starred in many well-known Australian television programmes including Five Mile Creek, Cyclone Tracy, Cop Shop, Bodyline, Sons And Daughters, Neighbours, E Street, Big Sky, Heartbreak High, G.P., Water Rats, Murder Call, All Saints, Blue Water High and the US sci-fi series Farscape.
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Noel has also starred in the feature films Silver City, Emoh Ruo, Southern Cross (aka The Highest Honour/Heroes of The Krait) and The Bet.
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Noel has worked with the Sydney Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, The Ensemble Theatre, The Q Theatre, Marian Street Theatre, amongst others, as well as performing in major national and international tours. Some of these productions include The Removalists, Are You Lonesome Tonight, The Club, The Life Of Galileo, Chasing The Dragon, Diving For Pearls and Dinner.
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Nathaniel Buzolic plays Paul O'Donnell
Nathaniel Buzolic studied acting with the Australian Theatre For Young People from 1998 to 2001 and at Screenwise from 2001 to 2004. He also starred in a number of school productions as well as dancing in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
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His first television role was in 2001 when he landed a guest role on Water Rats. Other roles followed in the long-running series Home and Away and All Saints.
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Nathaniel is an experienced host, presenting Studio Disney, Weather Ed and gameshow The Mint. Nathaniel has also appeared in the feature films Dirty Deeds alongside John Goodman and Bryan Brown, S.M.S. and Road Rage.
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Charlie-Rose MacLennan plays Zoe O'Donnell
Charlie-Rose MacLennan makes her drama series acting debut in Out Of The Blue.
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At the age of five, Charlie-Rose commenced her training at the prestigious Keane Kids Studio. In 2007, she came third in the Australian Children's Music Foundation song writing competition.
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Charlie-Rose has a vibrant and outgoing personality and is proving to be a very talented and charming young performer.
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Zoe Carides plays Pia Jones
Zoe Carides has starred in an exceptional line-up of Australian television series and
telemovies including Strawberry Girl, Sisters In The Bathroom, E Street, G.P., Flying Doctors, Heartland, Good Guys Bad Guys, Wildside, Murder Call, Dogs Head Bay, Grass Roots, All Saints, My Husband My Killer, White Collar Blue, Redhead, Fireflies and Monarch Cove.
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Most recently she appeared in the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks-produced television series, The Pacific.
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Zoe has also appeared in numerous feature films such as Brilliant Lies, Death In Brunswick, With Inertia, Kadaicha, Seeing Red, Shotgun Wedding, Gino, Police Rescue The Movie, Beware of Greeks Bearing Guns and The Black Balloon.
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No stranger to theatre, Zoe has starred in the theatrical productions of Influence (Sydney Theatre Company), Biloxi Blues (Gary Penny Productions – Opera House), Hating Alison Ashley (Toy Truck Theatre Company), The Vagina Monologues (Adrian Bohm Productions), Love Letters (Les Curie Presentations) and, most recently, Anna In The Tropics (Bsharp/Belvoir Street Theatre).
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Kim Knuckey plays Brian Jones
Kim Knuckey has a well-established television career, having appeared in many well-known
television series and telemovies including A Country Practice, Home And Away, Rafferty's Rules, Come In Spinner, Families, Sky Trackers, G.P., Echo Point, Over The Hill, Big Sky, Murder Call, Wildside, All Saints, Water Rats, Outriders, The Junction Boys, Fireflies, Two Twisted and Rain Shadow.
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Kim has also appeared in a number of feature films including Irrestistible Force, Tanker Incident, Risk and The Full Shebang.
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Kim has also performed in the theatrical productions Every Prospect of Success (Q Theatre), The Shifting Heart and Whose Life Is It Anyway? (Phillip St. Theatre); Equus (Glenn Street Theatre), Beyond Reasonable Doubt (National Tour), Bedtime For Bastards – Capital (Under The Table Productions), The Titanic Orchestra (New Theatre) and The Prince Of Brunswick East (The Old Fitz).
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Basia A'Hern plays Lucia Jones
Basia A'Hern is fast establishing herself as one of Australia's most talented and versatile young actors.
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Basia was only eight years old when she joined the prestigious Keane Kids Studio and Management and she began her career appearing in the comedy series Flat Chat.
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A guest role in the US sci-fi series Farscape was followed by roles in Don't Blame The Koalas, The Sleepover Club, Comedy Inc, McLeod's Daughter and Double Trouble.
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Basia has starred in the feature films The Pact and Bitter and Twisted. She has also completed the short films The Great Dark, Super Glue and Angel's Wings and Sanctuary.
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A talented singer and dancer, Basia has appeared in the theatrical productions of Fiddler On The Roof (Hills Centre Performing Arts), Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Season (Royal Theatre) and La Dispute (Sydney Theatre Company).
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Diane Craig plays Deborah McManus
Diane Craig was born in Northern Ireland and moved to Australia in 1960.
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She attended the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) but left after a year to star in the feature film Ned Kelly alongside Mick Jagger.
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Since then, Diane has enjoyed an outstanding career across television, film and theatre.
Diane's many television credits include Homicide, Snake Gully With Dad And Dave, Certain Women, Boney, Matlock Police, Division 4, The Sullivans, Cop Shop, The Restless years, Chopper Squad, Prisoner, Young Ramsay, The Flying Doctors, Mission Impossible, Chances, Acropolis Now, A Country Practice, E Street, Home And Away, Heartbreak High, Murder Call, Never Tell Me Never, Wildside and All Saints.
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As well as Ned Kelly, Diane has starred in numerous feature films including The Mango Tree, Double Deal, Travelling North, Southern Cross, Scorpio, One Of The Lucky Ones and most recently How To Change In Nine Weeks alongside Guy Pearce and Sam Neill.
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Diane's theatrical credits include Two Brothers (Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company – tour); Wicked Sisters, A Conversation, Face To Face, Money And Friends, Three Hotels (Ensemble Theatre); Scam (Belvoir St Theatre); Arms And The Man, Wallflowering (Railway Street Theatre); Double Act, Heidi Chronicles (Perth Theatre Company); Emerald City (Sydney Theatre Company); The Marginal Farm (Melbourne Theatre Company) and Hobson's Choice (Old Tote Theatre).
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Aidan Gillett plays Daniel McManus
Born and raised in the Blue Mountains, Aidan Gillet was brought up on a steady diet of music and sport. He learnt to play drums from the age of three and studied piano from the age of five, eventually focusing on jazz by age 10.
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He also learnt guitar from the age of seven and, from there, continued to pick up new instruments whenever they came into his path.
He also studied dance from the age of six, performing in the Schools Spectacular as part of the NSW Boys Dance Group.
He elected not to study drama in high school, despite heavy criticism from teachers and his parents, instead focusing on his music, soccer and, towards the end, snowboarding.
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It was the encouragement of his concierge mentor that saw Aidan try acting in 2004, when he was struggling to decide whether to continue with his Bachelor of Music or stick with being a concierge. A few months and two plays later, Aidan was accepted into NIDA and into the career he should have been in all along. Since Graduating NIDA, Aidan has appeared in Spielberg's Australian production Pacific.
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John Atkinson plays Stephen Mulroney
John graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1990. Before entering the Academy, John was a founding member of the WA Youth Theatre Company and also performed and studied at Murdoch University.
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John has appeared in a number of high-profile Australian television programmes including Chances, Blue Heelers, Halifax, Janus, Corelli, State Coroner, Breakers, TwentyFourSeven, McLeod's Daughters, the US Movies Of The Week Chameleon III and Hearts Of Men (alongside James Caan) and had a role in Dynasty – Behind The Scenes.
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Most recently, John appeared in the US series Starter Wife alongside Debra Messing.
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John has also performed in the following theatrical productions: Night Story (Manifest Productions), An Indian Summer (Melbourne Collective Players), Desire (The Athenaeum Theatre), Romeo And Juliet and The Wind In The Willows (Elston and Hocking).
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Louis Hunter plays Kyle Mulroney
Out Of The Blue is Louis Hunter's debut in a television drama series.
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Louis has appeared in the comedy series Comedy Inc. as well as various television commercials.
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He has undertaken various training courses, including an intensive acting for film course at the prestigious New York Film Academy in Los Angeles.
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Sam Weaving plays Kirsten Mulroney
Sam Weaving was born in Adelaide but grew up in Fiji, Singapore and Indonesia, travelling extensively as a child.
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She returned to Sydney in 2004 and then moved to Canberra in 2005 where she now lives.
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Sam has always had a passionate interest in acting and dance and has appeared in a number of short films, dance and stage productions, performing with Singapore Dance Company, Canberra Youth Theatre and in a number of school productions.
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In 2007, she played the lead role in a short film The Cabbie, a finalist in the Lights, Canberra, Action short film festival.
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Out Of The Blue is Sam's acting debut in a television drama series.
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Maggie Dence plays Olive Hammond
Maggie Dence has been a famous face in Australia since the Sixties and the iconic
The Mavis Brampston Show.
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She has brought to life a number of very memorable television characters including
Auntie Rose in The Sullivans, Bev Barker in Prisoner and Dorothy Burke in Neighbours.
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Maggie's other television credits include Boney, Division 4, Homicide, Doctor Downunder, Kingswood Country, A Town Like Alice, The Flying Doctors, A Country Practice, Correlli, Blue Heelers, Water Rats, Grass Roots, Stingers, Always Greener, All Saints and Small Claims – The Reunion.
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Maggie's feature film credits include Wake In Fright, Play Faces, Best Of Friends, Captain Invincible, Stanley, Luigi's Ladies, Home Brew, The Big Wish, Danny Deckchair, Peter Pan and Look Both Ways.
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Maggie has performed in more than 60 productions both around Australia and the UK.
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