After 33 years playing Home and Away's Irene, Lynne McGranger is just getting started
But the departure of Irene means welcoming a whole new and exciting chapter for McGranger, 72, who will be on tour with The Grandparents Club nation-wide until November.
The actor, who finished filming the soap in March, told The Senior that after first doing The Grandparents Club last year, it "triggered" her thoughts to return to the stage and she just knew it's where she wanted to be.
Read more on The Senior:
"I've still got my marbles, and I'm still physically fit. Thank goodness. Touch wood," she said.
McGranger joked that maybe she should "jump before I'm pushed", a notion which is highly unlikely given the reaction of staff when she told them she was leaving Summer Bay.
"I went and spoke to the producers and they cried, which was lovely," she said.
McGranger got her acting chops in theatre - but it's hard to believe that Australia's longest running actress in a soap didn't embrace acting until her late twenties.
Sydney born and raised, the actor first trained as a primary school teacher in the country NSW town of Wagga Wagga, before working in various teaching gigs.
McGranger decided to do some drama lessons on the side, but relief teaching proved to be the final straw.
"I just went, 'Oh boy, I'm really bad at this. I really don't like it, I'll have a crack at this acting thing'," she said.
"And my dad, God bless him, said 'don't come to me when you're in the gutter'.
"And then, of course, two days later, he's ringing me going 'are you alright for money?'."
Lynne said both her parents were very proud of her work in Home and Away and would be so excited she was nominated for Australian television's biggest award.
"They're watching down from heaven ... they would be enjoying every minute," she said.
The refreshingly down-to-earth McGranger is shocked by her nominations.
"I was absolutely blindsided," she said.
"It's very gratifying."
McGranger, who suspects she is nominated because it is her last season on the soap and joked she would have "left years ago" if she knew it meant she'd get the Gold nod, is wonderfully self-depreciating.
"I think the silver was probably, in a way, even more surprising," she said.
Explaining that the Silver Logie is now two previous categories combined - Best Outstanding Actress and Most Popular Actress - McGranger said she is in the same category as "wonderful actresses".
"Good grief," she said.
"If I win that, I really will probably fall head first into my soup."
The 72-year-old, who would consider working in television again, is open to working in the UK, New Zealand and even Norway (where Home and Away is wildly popular).
And to other late bloomers out there who want to pursue their passion, McGranger gives some solid advice.
"Go for it. Be brave," she said.
"Never be afraid to fail. Don't be mediocre."
McGranger said a past acting teacher told her she would be successful because she wasn't "afraid to look ugly" - as she always gave her everything - advice she also tells people.
The beloved actor's final episode on Home and Away, after starting in 1993, is rumoured to air in mid to late August.
Lynne for the Gold Logie win? Vote here: https://vote.tvweeklogies.com.au/
The TV Week Logie Awards are on Sunday August 3.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
You'd be forgiven in thinking that after 33 years of playing beloved Irene Roberts on Home and Away that accomplished actor Lynne McGranger planned on resting and slowing down.
But the departure of Irene means welcoming a whole new and exciting chapter for McGranger, 72, who will be on tour with The Grandparents Club nation-wide until November.
The actor, who finished filming the soap in March, told The Senior that after first doing The Grandparents Club last year, it "triggered" her thoughts to return to the stage and she just knew it's where she wanted to be.
Read more on The Senior:
"I've still got my marbles, and I'm still physically fit. Thank goodness. Touch wood," she said.
McGranger joked that maybe she should "jump before I'm pushed", a notion which is highly unlikely given the reaction of staff when she told them she was leaving Summer Bay.
"I went and spoke to the producers and they cried, which was lovely," she said.
McGranger got her acting chops in theatre - but it's hard to believe that Australia's longest running actress in a soap didn't embrace acting until her late twenties.
Sydney born and raised, the actor first trained as a primary school teacher in the country NSW town of Wagga Wagga, before working in various teaching gigs.
McGranger decided to do some drama lessons on the side, but relief teaching proved to be the final straw.
"I just went, 'Oh boy, I'm really bad at this. I really don't like it, I'll have a crack at this acting thing'," she said.
"And my dad, God bless him, said 'don't come to me when you're in the gutter'.
"And then, of course, two days later, he's ringing me going 'are you alright for money?'."
Lynne said both her parents were very proud of her work in Home and Away and would be so excited she was nominated for Australian television's biggest award.
"They're watching down from heaven ... they would be enjoying every minute," she said.
The refreshingly down-to-earth McGranger is shocked by her nominations.
"I was absolutely blindsided," she said.
"It's very gratifying."
McGranger, who suspects she is nominated because it is her last season on the soap and joked she would have "left years ago" if she knew it meant she'd get the Gold nod, is wonderfully self-depreciating.
"I think the silver was probably, in a way, even more surprising," she said.
Explaining that the Silver Logie is now two previous categories combined - Best Outstanding Actress and Most Popular Actress - McGranger said she is in the same category as "wonderful actresses".
"Good grief," she said.
"If I win that, I really will probably fall head first into my soup."
The 72-year-old, who would consider working in television again, is open to working in the UK, New Zealand and even Norway (where Home and Away is wildly popular).
And to other late bloomers out there who want to pursue their passion, McGranger gives some solid advice.
"Go for it. Be brave," she said.
"Never be afraid to fail. Don't be mediocre."
McGranger said a past acting teacher told her she would be successful because she wasn't "afraid to look ugly" - as she always gave her everything - advice she also tells people.
The beloved actor's final episode on Home and Away, after starting in 1993, is rumoured to air in mid to late August.
Lynne for the Gold Logie win? Vote here: https://vote.tvweeklogies.com.au/
The TV Week Logie Awards are on Sunday August 3.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
You'd be forgiven in thinking that after 33 years of playing beloved Irene Roberts on Home and Away that accomplished actor Lynne McGranger planned on resting and slowing down.
But the departure of Irene means welcoming a whole new and exciting chapter for McGranger, 72, who will be on tour with The Grandparents Club nation-wide until November.
The actor, who finished filming the soap in March, told The Senior that after first doing The Grandparents Club last year, it "triggered" her thoughts to return to the stage and she just knew it's where she wanted to be.
Read more on The Senior:
"I've still got my marbles, and I'm still physically fit. Thank goodness. Touch wood," she said.
McGranger joked that maybe she should "jump before I'm pushed", a notion which is highly unlikely given the reaction of staff when she told them she was leaving Summer Bay.
"I went and spoke to the producers and they cried, which was lovely," she said.
McGranger got her acting chops in theatre - but it's hard to believe that Australia's longest running actress in a soap didn't embrace acting until her late twenties.
Sydney born and raised, the actor first trained as a primary school teacher in the country NSW town of Wagga Wagga, before working in various teaching gigs.
McGranger decided to do some drama lessons on the side, but relief teaching proved to be the final straw.
"I just went, 'Oh boy, I'm really bad at this. I really don't like it, I'll have a crack at this acting thing'," she said.
"And my dad, God bless him, said 'don't come to me when you're in the gutter'.
"And then, of course, two days later, he's ringing me going 'are you alright for money?'."
Lynne said both her parents were very proud of her work in Home and Away and would be so excited she was nominated for Australian television's biggest award.
"They're watching down from heaven ... they would be enjoying every minute," she said.
The refreshingly down-to-earth McGranger is shocked by her nominations.
"I was absolutely blindsided," she said.
"It's very gratifying."
McGranger, who suspects she is nominated because it is her last season on the soap and joked she would have "left years ago" if she knew it meant she'd get the Gold nod, is wonderfully self-depreciating.
"I think the silver was probably, in a way, even more surprising," she said.
Explaining that the Silver Logie is now two previous categories combined - Best Outstanding Actress and Most Popular Actress - McGranger said she is in the same category as "wonderful actresses".
"Good grief," she said.
"If I win that, I really will probably fall head first into my soup."
The 72-year-old, who would consider working in television again, is open to working in the UK, New Zealand and even Norway (where Home and Away is wildly popular).
And to other late bloomers out there who want to pursue their passion, McGranger gives some solid advice.
"Go for it. Be brave," she said.
"Never be afraid to fail. Don't be mediocre."
McGranger said a past acting teacher told her she would be successful because she wasn't "afraid to look ugly" - as she always gave her everything - advice she also tells people.
The beloved actor's final episode on Home and Away, after starting in 1993, is rumoured to air in mid to late August.
Lynne for the Gold Logie win? Vote here: https://vote.tvweeklogies.com.au/
The TV Week Logie Awards are on Sunday August 3.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
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