Shannon Reed
| Shannon Reed | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home and Away character | |||||||
 | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Isla Fisher Ashley Murray (flashback) | ||||||
| Duration | 1994−97 | ||||||
| First appearance | 16 September 1994 | ||||||
| Last appearance | 6 August 1997 | ||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||
| Introduced by | Andrew Howie | ||||||
| |||||||
Shannon Reed is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Isla Fisher. She made her first on screen appearance on 16 September 1994. She departed on 6 August 1997. Ashley Murray played a young Shannon in flashbacks.
Casting
Fisher joined the cast of Home and Away in 1994, shortly after completing her role on Paradise Beach, along with co-star Shane Ammann to play the respective roles of Shannon and Curtis Reed.[1]
In an interview with Rachel Browne of The Sun-Herald, Fisher spoke of her success and experiences on the show. "I would be stupid to let it go to my head because it could all end tomorrow and I would just fade back into obscurity." She added: "I like working on Home And Away but it's a heavy workload so I get stressed out a lot, We work about 15 hours a day, including the time it takes to learn lines. "I know a lot of people work those sort of hours but I think we really feel it because most of us are young and fairly inexperienced. I don't have a life, really. What you see on the screen is what I do. But I am very grateful because it is good experience. It's like an apprenticeship but we do it in front of 20 million people so all our mistakes are up for the world to see."[2]
In 1997, Fisher announced she had left the show.[3]
Character development
Shannon was bisexual. In her final storyline it was implied that she had moved away with a lesbian lover, but never directly stated.[4]
Storylines
Shannon and Curtis arrive in Summer Bay to be fostered by Michael (Dennis Coard) and Pippa Ross (Debra Lawrence). The Rosses have room for only one of the pair, so Alf (Ray Meagher) and Ailsa Stewart (Judy Nunn) foster Curtis. When Shannon and Curtis are caught kissing by Alf, it causes controversy but the fuss dies down when they reveal they are foster siblings. Shannon clashes with Selina Cook (Tempany Deckert) who takes an interest in Curtis but they soon become best friends. Shannon and Curtis split up and she dates Eric Phillips (Daniel Goddard), who is revealed to be a drug dealer. Damian Roberts (Matt Doran) and Jack Wilson (Daniel Amalm) warn Shannon but she will not listen and tells them to keep out of her business. Shannon later breaks up with Eric after he gets heavy with her. She then experiences recurring nightmares of sexual abuse at the hands of her Uncle Tim and confides in teacher and counsellor Donna Bishop (Nicola Quilter).
Shannon begins babysitting Angel Parrish's (Melissa George) son, Dylan (Corey Glaister) and forms an attraction to Angel's husband Shane (Dieter Brummer). She tries to seduce Shane but he rejects her. When Angel confronts Shannon, she lies and tells Angel she and Shane have been sleeping together, which Angel believes and promptly leaves Shane, taking Dylan with her. Angel and Dylan are involved in seaplane crash which leaves them stranded in the bush for several days but they are found and reunited with Shane. Angel refuses to forgive Shannon and her guilt spirals into anorexia, causing her to nearly drown when she passes out during a swim one day. Angel dives in to save her but is still frosty towards her. At Pippa and Michael's insistence, Shannon seeks help for her condition. After recovering, Shannon takes an interest in writing but things are still no better with Angel, who accuses her of stalking her. The culprit is revealed to be Angel's ex-boyfriend, Paul Harris (Ramsay Everingham), Dylan's biological father. Shannon saves Angel and Dylan when Paul attacks and Angel finally forgives her.
Shannon invites author Mandy Thomas (Rachael Blake) to stay in Summer Bay. Shannon admires Mandy and they begin spending a lot of time together. Shannon's crush on Mandy becomes apparent and when Mandy's editor and former lover Toni Jarvis (Bridie Carter) arrives she is extremely put out and begins avoiding Mandy altogether. However, Shannon and Mandy reconcile at a Benefit cruise to raise money for victims of the recent bush fire. Pippa and Selina become concerned when Shannon and Mandy openly dance with each other and Selina's comments do little to impress Shannon. Mandy leaves after reading a love story Shannon wrote with the characters based on her and Shannon.
Shannon is devastated by Mandy's sudden departure but enters a relationship with local artist Alex Bennett (Nick Freedman) who saves her, Selina and Damian from a gang of youths. Their relationship is met with disapproval from Michael once he learns Shannon plans to pose nude for one of Alex's paintings. When Alex rescues Selina from his father, Saul Bennett's (David Ritchie) commune, Shannon becomes momentarily worried Selina may have a crush on Alex. Mandy returns telling her that she wants to dedicate her next book to her and Alex is jealous of their closeness, however he develops a friendship with Mandy. After Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn) discovers that Shannon and Mandy have unconsciously plagiarised each other, Shannon forfeits an award in order to save Mandy's career.
Shannon discovers that her real mother, Katherine Walker (Linden Wilkinson) is a ruthless politician and their relationship is very antagonistic. Alex soon leaves for Paris and Shannon begins dating Mandy's brother, Geoff (Martin Henderson), a sailor on shore leave. She and Geoff know they only have a short time so they put on a play showing how they would live their life in a day. After completing her HSC, Shannon enrolls at University and decides on an image change by dyeing her hair black and dating Kye Lyons (Ian Bliss) and moves in with him. She soon realises Kye is violent and dumps him. Kye then follows her to Summer Bay house and gets violent and he hits Pippa, leaving her comatose. Shannon then blames herself, Pippa recovers but is left with temporary memory loss.
Lachlan Fraser (Richard Grieve), the new local doctor takes an interest in Shannon and they become a couple. He takes her to have lunch with his dysfunctional family, most of whom are doctors and they witness his parents Peter (Helmut Bakaitis) and Diana (Kerry McGuire) arguing. After a brief spell of living together, Shannon and Lachie cool things down but Lachie soon proposes. Mandy returns once more and asks Shannon to join her in Paris. After much soul searching, Shannon decides her future is with Mandy and shares emotional goodbyes with Pippa, Lachie and Selina.
Reception
For her portrayal of Shannon, Fisher received a nomination for "Most Popular New Talent" at the 1995 Logie Awards.[5] In 1997, she earned a nomination for "Most Popular Actress".[6]
References
- ^ Browne, Rachel (20 August 1994). "Seven Beats Ten to the Scene". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 134. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ Browne, Rachel (15 April 1996). "The Money and the Box". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 126. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ Browne, Rachel (2 March 1997). "Isla be going". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 101. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ Mercado, Andrew (2004). Super Aussie soaps: behind the scenes of Australia's best loved TV shows. Pluto Press Australia. p. 261. ISBN 1-86403-191-3.
- ^ Warneke, Ross (26 April 1995). "And now...the envelopes please". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Browne, Rachel (17 May 1997). "A bolt from the Blue". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 32. Retrieved 18 July 2011.