Neighbours

Margot, who has just lit up our TV screen as the gorgeous free-spirited Donna Freedman, is loving life right now, and being picked to be on Neighbours was so good she gave up a five week holiday doing what she loves best, or second best now, snowboarding!  

“I went for an audition for Neighbours and then went to Canada for five weeks on a snowboarding holiday with my boyfriend,” Margot said.  “I had only been in Canada two days when I got the phone call to come back because I got the role on Neighbours.”

“I went straight from the aeroplane and straight to the studios.  I rocked up here with my snowboard bag and only winter gear to wear, it was right in the middle of summer here in Melbourne, so I was boiling.”   

“I had to leave my boyfriend there. I still managed to fit in a day of snowboarding though,” she said. 

Margot has only been acting professionally for one year and has already starred in two Australian feature films called ICU and Vigilante by Director Ash Aaron.  She’s also been doing commercials and has guest starred on TV drama City Homicide.  For Margot it was about being in the right place at the right time - without an agent she managed to land the lead role on Ash Aaron’s feature film ICU because she was good friends with someone who had a part in it.  She met Ash and impressed him so much she landed the lead role!  Since then, it’s just been one thing after another.

So how did she feel about landing the role as Donna on Neighbours? “I was so excited to get the part.  It’s been fantastic, I love it.  I’ve got some big storylines coming up.  Storylines with real emotion, there’s lots of getting angry and crying,” she said.

"Doing the highly emotional scenes are so much easier than doing casual acting, because when you are putting it all in to one emotion you can really get into it, whereas trying to make something look realistic when you are doing nothing is much harder. There is one storyline where every single scene ended with Donna crumbling and I was like, do I have to do this again, I don’t have any tears left?”

“It was really hard to keep crying because I was running out of tears. Then the makeup girl had this little tear-blower thing, they blow menthol in your eyes which makes them water.  Caitlin called me a menthol-whore because every five minutes I was like “Menthol please!” Then when I was in a bad mood they kept saying to leave me alone because I was just coming down from my menthol addiction,” she laughs.   

Donna Freedman is the Street’s newest Neighbour.  She’s all sparkles and bangles and is a little off centre, and only has eyes for Ty Harper.  Coming on to the scene as an obsessed groupie, Donna manages to wrangle her way in to the teen group by way of Ringo, after locking lips with him at the kissing booth competition. Donna comes across as super confident, but underneath there is a teenager screaming out for love and affection, just a little too loudly. 

Is Margot anything like Donna?  “Some of her characteristics I am, she’s fiery and outgoing and I’m a bit like that.  Sometimes I can be too loud and say things when I shouldn’t. But I don’t stalk people.  Other than that, we’re kind of similar,” she said. 

Donna hasn’t had much luck in love, with either guys or girls.  “She’s actually bisexual.  In one of the blocks she is talking to Bridget about their ‘first time’ and Donna asks Bridget if it was with a guy or girl?  I liked the way the writers conveyed that, it was just really subtle and they didn’t make a big coming out scene of it.  I think it’s a good message to send out because it’s not such a big deal to lots of people.  Not all of them have such drama surrounding it,” Margot said.   

Besides a bad run of luck in the love department, family life for Dona hasn’t been much fun either.  Donna’s parents are in the middle of a toxic divorce and are constantly at war with one another.  Donna lives with her cop father who works nights to support the family, however this means he is never there to support Donna emotionally.  She finds it difficult to make female friends because of her competitive nature inherited from her Mum, and boys run a mile from her combative behaviour.  So she has no one to turn to, which is why she has buried her love in to the music scene, and Ty Harper, who has become her focus for love and acceptance. 

However, there is hope for Donna as underneath the train-wreck-waiting-to-happen exterior, there is a warm, playful and loving girl just wanting someone to notice her for who she really is. 

“There is some love coming up for Donna,” Margot said.  She gets in to a long term relationship and really falls for someone.”

So what of Margot’s love outside of Neighbours? “I grew up on the Gold Coast and on my grandparent’s farm.  I love being on the farm as well as the beach.  I’m happiest when I’m surfing or out on the farm hunting wild pigs, building cubbies out in the paddocks or riding around on motorbikes.  I always have to be doing something.  If I’m not at home I have to be at the beach surfing,” Margot said.

“Yeah and I love surfing.  I first started surfing on my Dad’s surfboard which he had had since he was 20 years old.  My Dad was a really good surfer.  I bought my first board at a garage sale when I was about ten.  I also love jet skiing and snowboarding."

“And I’m a real rev-head.  I love V8 cars,” she added.   

Margot currently lives in Melbourne during the week and heads back home to the Gold Coast most weekends to spend her time with her family, friends and boyfriend. 

Happy 18th Birthday Margot.