Home and Away star reveals on-screen daredevil dreams

Burning cars, swimming with sharks— Home and Away star Jacqui Purvis has unveiled her daredevil streak, sharing her dreams of more ’Bond girl’-esque scenes in the year to come.

Jacqui Purvis dreams of being an “Australian Tom Cruise”, both on and off camera.

The actor has a taste (and flare) for the dramatic, telling The Daily Telegraph she hopes her fiery season return to long-running soap Home And Away is just the first of many big stunts.

Purvis’ character Felicity was embroiled in a flaming car crash en route to her wedding last week, in which the flames were very real.

Home and Away star Jacqui Purvis is back in the Bay after a solo break in Fiji. Picture: David Swift

“We’re going for Bond girl,” she said.

“We had fire bars all around the car. The gas went, and all of the flames came up around me. It was amazing because I didn’t really need to act. It was quite scary, I could feel the heat.”

Purvis is hoping for more action-fuelled scenes for her character in 2023. Picture: David Swift

On Purvis’ wishlist for 2023 is a car chase, an underwater drowning scare, or perhaps a big fall— all things she says she’s floated with the writers.

She’d also like to put her hand-to-hand combat training to use. Sorry, Felicity.

“I love action, and if I can ever do my own stunts, I’m always like: ‘Absolutely, bring it on’,” Purvis continued.

“How cool is it having a job where you can do all these things that you never do in everyday life? You get to do it and live it. And also just come home and be normal, sit on the couch and eat chocolate.”

On a holiday in Fiji, she recently swam with sharks. Picture: David Swift

Although she’s now back in Palm Beach, Purvis also spent her summer break chasing her daredevil ambitions.

On a solo trip to Fiji, she went diving with sharks off a remote island.

“You dive down 14-metres and they feed the sharks so they all swarm in and they’re swimming around you,” Purvis said.

“Bull sharks are a bit dangerous, so that was a bit of a surprise, but I wasn’t frightened. They’re like big fish. I thought ‘Hell yeah, give me bigger sharks please’.”

For the most part though, this season will be about mental trauma for her character.

Without giving away any spoilers, Purvis revealed Felicity will be trying to cope with the aftermath of the crash in “a way that’s not the best choice, and is quite detrimental to her.”