WELCOME MIA MORRISSEY!
No-one could argue that Home and Away’s newest recruit Mia Morrissey doesn’t have showbiz in her blood. Not only is the 24-year-old the daughter of agent and producer parents, but her younger sister, Piper, who in 2013 appeared in Home and
Away as Pippa, is also an actor. “I definitely come from an artistic family,” says Mia, who this week joins the cast as flirtatious backpacker Jade. “But my parents were so wary of how hard the industry is that at first they said, ‘Oh, is there anything else you want to do?’. But they’re incredibly supportive.”
At just 16, Mia starred in the critically acclaimed short film Bat
Eyes, by Killing Ground director Damien Power, before landing a lead role in Seven’s children’s musical series In Your Dreams.
An accomplished singersongwriter, Mia will also be remembered by viewers as a contestant on Ricky Martin’s team in Season 3 of The Voice.
“That was an amazing experience,” she says. “I went on the show not really expecting anything, so everything I got felt like a gift, and I still have some of my best friends from the show.”
Having recently graduated from WAAPA, Mia was over the moon to land the pivotal part of Jade, which sees her working with the likes of fellow WAAPA graduate Lukas Radovich.
“Lukas was in a different year of WAAPA to me, but we were good friends there and went out for coffee and bonded over a mutual love of food,” she laughs. “When I got the call-back, I texted him and said ‘I got a call-back and you’ll be in the room with me!’”
What’s more, Mia grew up on Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches – “literally around the corner”, she smiles, “from the beach where Home and Away is filmed”.
“It’s such familiar territory for me,” she says. “I used to walk down to the set with my dad and we would watch filming when I was really little, so it’s so surreal to be filming on that beach. It really is like coming home.”
But as Mia hints, what you see may not be what you get with Jade.
“Jade’s a really complicated one and is not predictable at all,” says Mia. “She is definitely going to ruffle some feathers.”