Home and Away star Dana Matheson reveals illness forced her to stop filming all projects, condolences to fans
Home and Away actress Ally Harris has been cast as Summer Bay nurse Dana, joining the Australian soap alongside her on-screen sister, Harper, who is played by Jessica Redmayne
Home and Away newbie Ally Harris has opened up on her Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis.
Ally, 26, who is one of two new Summer Bay residents in the form of nurse Dana Matheson alongside her on-screen sister, Harper, was unaware she had the condition until adulthood. Actress Ally previously starred in The Claremont Murders and Harrow, before landing a three-year on contract on the hit Australian soap.
Now she has discussed how she had no idea what career path she wanted to take until she was in high school, but thankfully the condition hasn’t hindered her achievements. Growing up unaware she had ADHD, Channel 5 star Ally said she felt inadequate in certain scenarios.
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She said: “I felt a lot of pressure and kept asking myself, ‘Why can’t you follow through? Why can’t you finish things?’ Now, I have more of a handle on it and have become obsessed with getting lots of things done. It can be overwhelming.
“I wasn’t among those young people who aspired to be actors. However, I used to play with my cutlery at the table when I was little – I had a whole series of stories for them,” much to her mum’s frustration.
Home and Away star Ally Harris has opened up on her ADHD diagnosis(Image: SEVEN)
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It wasn’t until her late teens that Ally realised she “truly enjoyed” acting, but the more she performed on the school stage, the more she felt like she could “pull it off”. She told Stuff: “I really just threw myself into things when I discovered what I was excellent at and interested in. I was certain that acting was what I wanted to pursue when I was about to graduate from high school. At the time, I was 16 or 17.”
Ally said around this time she threw herself into acting classes, working alongside New Zealand acting coach, Miranda Harcourt, who helped guide her into her previous roles. That experience led her to be cast as Dana at the beginning of 2023, with former 800 words star, Jessica Redmayne joining as older sibling, Harper.
Ally has initially signed up to Home and Away for three years(Image: CHANNEL 5)
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On landing the role, Ally added: “I never really thought I would be on the show, but sometimes auditions would come through and you’d think, ‘Oh, that looks fun’. To be honest, I didn’t start to wonder if I was going to be on the show until I was being flown to Sydney for the callbacks, and now here I am.”
Ally, who hails from Perth – some 2,400 miles from Sydney – said she’s grateful for Jessica’s support after moving across the country away from her home, family and boyfriend.
Dana made a dramatic entrance to Summer Bay(Image: CHANNEL 5)
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Ally said it’s been “really, really helpful” to have somebody like that with her, having been raised with three sisters. She went on to describe the soap as “one big family”, which has enabled her to settle in her new surroundings well despite her condition.
Ally’s character made a dramatic entrance to the show, finding herself wrongly charged with stealing drugs from the hsopital she works at, forcing her and Harper to go on the run. Arriving in Summer Bay, the couple are supported by Harper’s old friend, Constable Cash Newman.
