Neighbours finale: Casting director Jan Russ recalls Kylie Minogue and Margot Robbbie’s ‘extraordinary’ talent

A Neighbours casting director has revealed how mega stars Margot Robbie and Kylie Minogue made an immediate impact on the legendary soap opera.

Kylie Minogue Margot Robbie were among the stars to launch their international careers on Neighbours.

After giving the likes of Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce, Peter O’Brien, Jason Donovan and Natalie Imbruglia a launching for their international careers, legendary Australian drama Neighbours will be celebrated at the Logie Awards.

Neighbours will sadly have ceased production after 37 years by the time of the Logies, with the film episode being filmed on June 10. The last episode will go to air on August 1 on 10 Peach.

The show, which has been filmed in Melbourne for its entire history, will be recognised for its contribution to the Australian TV industry at the awards ceremony – TV’s night of nights – on the Gold Coast on June 19.

It is understood that the tribute to Ramsay Street will be included in the presentation of this year’s Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent.

Margot Robbie (middle) with fellow Neighbours actors Ashleigh Brewer and Sam Clark.

The decision to land the tribute at this point of the broadcast seems fitting as the Neighbours gave so much TV talent from both sides of the camera their start in the industry.

Among the stars who got their big break in the fictional suburb of Erinsborough are Daniel Macpherson, Alan Dale, Jesse Spencer, Liam Hemsworth, Dichen Lachman, Ashleigh Brewer, Holly Valance, Olympia Valance and Delta Goodrem.

Legendary Neighbours’ casting director Jan Russ recalled in a Sunday Herald Sun interview in 2019 how some of the show’s biggest names ended up in Ramsay Street.

Of Minogue Russ said: “Kylie had only just finished school when she came in to audition and had recently done The Henderson Kids. I did not know she would become as big as she has, of course, but when I looked at her I knew she had something. Sometimes you see people in real life and then you look at them on the monitor and you go: “Oh my God, there is something extraordinary there”. It does not happen all the time, in fact very rarely it happened, but when it does, you know.”

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.

Of Robbie, Russ said: “I can remember sitting in my office and seeing Margot walking towards me and going: ‘Oh my goodness, who is this?’. Margot was not one of those who would go to the opening of an envelope. She was always very focused and always concentrating on her work. She was not concentrating on lots of other things like a lot of them do. You knew that she was very together and she knew what she was going to do and where she was going to go. She was passionate about her work and passionate about her craft and she wanted to learn. She listened and she observed and took everything on board, which is what Kylie was like. They were both very intelligent young women. They have beauty and brains and it is a wonderful combination if you can get it. But they worked very hard and they were passionate about their craft.”

Russ said Hugh Jackman was the “one that got away.”

“I auditioned him and I thought this guy is really interesting. I had a role that I was looking to cast and offered it to him. It was a two-year contract and he said yes. From memory it was a week before he was due to start and he rang me and said he had been offered a place at WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) and it was something he always wanted to do and could he be let out of the contract. I understood where he was coming from and we cast someone else. He was delightful. I guess he is the one that got away. I would have loved to have had him on the show.”