Home And Away’s flirty and fierce Jade may be new to sunny Summer Bay, but her portrayer Mia Morrissey has been hanging around the Palm Beach set since she was a child.
Having grown up “around the corner” from where the series is shot on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Mia has wanted to join the cast of the iconic soap for as long as she can remember.
Mia with her co-star Lukas Radovich on Home and Away.
(Image: Channel Seven)“It’s a dream come true,” Mia, 23, tells TV WEEK. “I used to walk down to the set with my dad to watch the filming, so to be on it now is so surreal.”
Mia, the daughter of talent agents and managers Mark and Lizzy Morrissey, has had her sights set on acting since she was five years old. Mia jokes that it’s something her parents say they wished she’d outgrow.
Being in the industry, they know just how hard it is to get into, so initially they hoped I’d do something else,” Mia says with a laugh, adding, “They’re so supportive of everything I want to do.”
Having her father manage some of her future Home And Away co-stars also had its perks.
“When I told him I was joining the show, he sent a text to a few of his actors,” Mia recalls. “So then having Jake Ryan [who plays Robbo] be like, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her’, was great.”
Jade has been making waves in Summer Bay by flirting boldly with surfing instructor Dean (Patrick O’Connor) during a lesson.
Dean has caught Jade’s eye.
(Image: Channel Seven)Fans may recognise Mia from Team Ricky Martin during the 2014 season of The Voice Australia.
The talented musician, then still a teenager, turned Ricky’s chair during the blind auditions, but was knocked out in the first battle round against best friend Fely Irvine.
Despite not progressing, Mia calls the talent competition, “so much fun”, adding that she he never imagined she’d get anywhere.
“I auditioned almost as a joke – the initial video I sent in, I was in my pyjamas and my cat walked across the computer screen,” she says with a laugh.
“I put so little thought into it, I really didn’t think I’d get through to the next round.”
Mia says The Voice Australia gave her the courage and confidence to start experimenting with her music more. Unfortunately for Home And Away fans, however, it’s unlikely we’ll see her character Jade develop any of Mia’s talents on screen.
“I wish!” she says, before joking, “On my first day on set, I pitched a musical episode – crazier things have happened in Summer Bay.”
Mia battled her friend Fely for a spot on Team Ricky on The Voice Australia.
(Image: Channel Nine)However, what Mia is grateful to bring to her character, is body positivity.
“Growing up, I saw women on TV shows and Home And Away and thought, ‘I’m never going to be on there because I’m not blonde, or thin enough, or I’m too ethnic.'”
But the young actress quickly learnt to love herself and change her mindset. The change in thinking not only made her happier, but opened doors in her career.
“I realised I had to try to stop fitting into a mould I’m never going to fit,” she says. “So I decided to be as healthy as I could and love every aspect of myself.
“When I started doing that, all of sudden I started getting all these amazing opportunities.”
Home and Away airs Monday to Thursday, 7pm on Channel Seven.
