Reflecting on her beloved character, Jackie shared with Inside Soap, “She can be a bit bossy, I do try to keep my eye on the ‘Saint Susan’ thing. I try to keep her real, human, and flawed. She’s a different person now to when she first arrived on the Street, she’s older and wiser. But fundamentally she’s still a decent person, and she believes in the goodness in people.”
With her husband Karl and 3 children, Billy, Libby and Malcom, the Kennedy family has been a mainstay of Ramsay Street for 30 years. “All five of us gelled immediately,” Jackie recalls. “We reached a level of intimacy very quickly, which I think is why the family was so special.”
The Kennedys’ seemingly solid marriage was first rocked in 1998 when Susan discovered Karl’s affair with Sarah Beaumont – which led to one of the most iconic scenes in the history of Neighbours.
However, just 6 years later, another affair left Susan heartbroken again when Karl cheated with Izzy Hoyland, which led to the birth of his daughter, Holly.
“The whole Karl, Susan, Izzy love triangle was such a long story arc that went for a couple of years,” Jackie reminisces. “The story potential for that was huge, plus we got to go to London for two weeks to film, which was just brilliant. That whole period was pretty golden.”
Today, the Kennedys’ marriage is stronger than ever, a fact Jackie attributes to their adventurous spirit. “Karl and Susan do have their frisky moments, absolutely!” she chuckles. “We’ve had some fun coming up with ideas for stories — Fletch and I do require a bit of reining in sometimes because we have too much fun! We embrace those stories, the crazier the better! And we do have our own ideas of what’s inside the ‘blue box’ — but it’s probably best that remains a mystery!”
Neighbours airs Monday to Thursday at 7am on Amazon Freevee
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