Charlie Clausen reflects on his favourite moments from Home And Away

IN HIS OWN WORDS

“Quite by chance, I found out I’d been cast as Zac in Home And Away on my birthday. Looking back, I could not have received a better gift. I’ll always have a soft spot for Zac. He was a flawed character who wanted to be a better man, but was the architect of his own failures. Here are some of my favourite Zac moments…”

TAKING ON THE BRAXTONS

“When I started on Home And Away, it would be fair to say the show was in the grip of Braxton-mania. It was hard for a new character 
to make an impression. But the writers gave me a chance by having Zac steal not one, but two Braxton women. It started when Zac took Natalie [Catherine Mack] away from Brax [Stephen Peacocke]. Later on, Zac went behind Heath’s [Dan Ewing] back and slept with Bianca [Lisa Gormley]. Zac may not have been the best bloke going around, 
but at least you could say
 he was consistent!”

INSTA-FAMILY

“Zac started to find his feet on the show when the twins, Oscar [Jake Speer] and Evelyn [Philippa Northeast], came into his life. Along with his sister-in-law, Hannah [Cassie Howarth], he was thrust into the world of surrogate parenting, which only made it more confusing when Zac and Hannah hooked up. At the start, 
I needed a whiteboard to keep track − ‘I’m in love with the sister of my dead brother’s wife and we’re raising his kids together.’ But we all became 
close. We dubbed the farmhouse ‘MacGuire Manor’ − it was our little gang.”

DRUNCLE ZAC

“My favourite storyline from the early years was Zac’s drinking problem. It was all Hannah’s fault − if she hadn’t chosen Andy Barrett [Tai Hara] over him, Zac wouldn’t have turned to the bottle. I loved playing drunk 
Zac, although I got no support from the producers when 
I suggested I take a Method approach to my drinking scenes.”

“ZEAH”

“The best thing to happen to me was the writers pairing up Zac and Leah [Ada Nicodemou]. Fun fact: before their first kiss, Zac walks Leah home. He goes to kiss her goodnight, but they butt heads. That actually happened, and the director decided to leave it in. It serves as a nice bit of foreshadowing of where their relationship would go.”

THE EXPLOSION

“If it felt like Zac had arrived when the twins and Hannah were introduced, losing two of them in the blast at 
the caravan park was probably the beginning of the end. It’s the work I’m most proud of – the entire cast and crew brought their A-game. The shoot was hard, but the adversity made the action more dramatic. Not much acting was required at Oscar and Hannah’s funeral, as we were all genuinely upset to say goodbye to two great cast members.”