SAMARA WEAVING Scene

WITH A NEW ACTIONPACKED CRIME COMEDY, THE AUSSIE STAR IS IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT

- Jennie Noonan

The four years Samara Weaving spent in Summer Bay set her up to slay.

"Home and Away is such a machine and you're just pumping out so many scenes," the actress, who starred in more than 300 episodes of the series between 2009 and 2013, told The Courier-Mail in 2022. "You need to learn your lines and know what your mark is, and where the cameras are, and need to find your light - you need to learn that so quickly, otherwise they will just replace you."

The 33-year-old then found that the training she received helped her hit the ground running when she took a stab at success in Hollywood. "A lot of Aussie actors have come through that show, and American agents recognise that, so even though they hadn't watched me in it, which I think might be a good thing because - questionable acting - I was able to set up a lot of meetings with really great managers and agents because of that show," she said in a March interview with Collider. "They were all lined up already and ready to go."

In 2017, a small role in Oscar-nominated drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri got Weaving noticed, while she also landed her first Stateside lead in black comedy horror film The Babysitter, which served as a stepping stone to a streak of scream queen parts, including a memorable performance in 2019's Ready or Not.

"She's just one of those people that we'll be friends with forever. She's one of our favourites," Ready or Not co-director Tyler Gillett told IndieWire after casting Weaving again in Scream VI. "She has the best scream in the world!"

Casting his new heist thriller,