You’d think after 13 years of long days together on set and sharing countless scenes, Home And Away stalwarts Ray Meagher and Georgie Parker would have had a disagreement or two.
But the Aussie stars, who play Alf Stewart and his daughter Ruth “Roo” Stewart, laugh when Woman’s Day suggests there must have been a falling out over the last decade.
“We fight all the time, like cats and dogs, the crew have to tear us apart,” Ray, 78, jokes, before adding seriously, “We’re both very, very blessed to have the sort of working relationship that we do.”
They’ve been working together for 13 years!
(Image: Phillip Castleton)COFFEE DATES
“He might get sick of me but I don’t get sick of him,” says Georgie, who affectionately refers to Ray as her other father. In fact, rather than growing tired of each other, she reveals the close-knit pair find reasons to spend time together.
“If we’re both driving out to location [Sydney’s Palm Beach] and we’ve got half an hour, [Ray will] say, ‘Let’s pop in to that place and have a coffee.'”
In fact, so firm is the actors’ friendship that Georgie admits Ray’s a big reason she’s stayed on the soap for so long.
“Ray moves so fast I [struggle] to keep up with him.”
(Image: Phillip Castleton)“I’m more than happy to be anchored to such an iconic character [Alf]. But more importantly, it means I get to do most of my scenes with Ray and that’s a huge drawcard for me to want to stay with the show,” says the 58-year-old.
She doesn’t think Ray, who’s played Alf since the very first episode of the show in 1988, will be going anywhere for a while, either.
“We both like getting up and going to work,” adds Georgie, who joined the show in 2010.
While the pair are tight-lipped about what viewers can expect from Home And Away’s 2023 storylines, Ray says the show is such a well-oiled machine now he isn’t surprised at all at its ongoing success 35 years after it first hit our screens.
“Even if our production team changed and the writers all changed and they employed people who were hopeless, it would take the [new] people at least three years to bugger up the strength of what the show is now,” Ray laughs.
Both admit Home And Away’s enduring popularity has a lot do with the fans. “Without them, we haven’t got a job,” says Ray, who, as one of Aussie TV’s most recognisable stars, can’t go out without being spotted. “It goes with the territory,” he says.
Georgie jokes fans have to be quick if they want an autograph from the man himself! “Ray moves so fast I [struggle] to keep up with him,” she laughs. “So when people recognise him, he’s metres away by the time they realise.”
