Carmella Cammeniti (also Silvani and Sister Mary Catherine) is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Natalie Blair. She appeared on a recurring basis from 2003 to 2005, then became a main character from 2006 to 2008, before making a final guest appearance in 2011. Carmella was created as a replacement for Nina Tucker, portrayed by Delta Goodrem, who was written out of the series when Goodrem became ill. Her early storylines, including a romance with Connor O'Neill (Patrick Harvey), were originally intended for Nina. The daughter of a protective gangster father, Carmella was initially a "fun, feisty" character. She gradually became "tortured [and] depressive", with storylines which saw her attract the attention of a stalker, become a nun, suffer facial scarring, develop an addiction to prescription medication and lose her husband after a bushfire.
Carmella was the second member of the Cammeniti family to appear in Neighbours, after her father, Rocco (Robert Forza). She was later joined by her mother, sister, and two cousins. She had long-standing relationships with Marco Silvani (Jesse Rosenfeld) and Oliver Barnes (David Hoflin), the father of her daughter, Chloe (Sarah May). When Blair resigned from the serial in 2008 in order to pursue new projects, the producers arranged for a separated Carmella and Oliver to reunite. The two briefly returned three years later, to consolidate their family unit.
Blair won the "Most Popular New Female Talent" Logie Award for her portrayal of Carmella, and was additionally nominated for several Golden Logies and Inside Soap Awards. Critics have deemed Carmella as one of the series' most popular characters. Blair's versatility has attracted praise, though several publications have highlighted the implausibility of many of Carmella's storylines.
Storylines Carmella is introduced as a barmaid at the Erinsborough bar Lou's Place. She becomes romantically involved with her colleague, Connor O'Neill (Patrick Harvey), to the disapproval of her father Rocco (Robert Forza). A feud with Connor's ex-girlfriend, Michelle Scully (Kate Keltie), results in Carmella slapping her and leaving the area. She later returns the following year, reconciles with Connor and helps him to maintain access to his daughter Madeleine (Madison Lu). To prove that she is business-minded, Carmella becomes a magazine editor. She departs from Erinsborough suddenly after she becomes the victim of a stalker, Frank Romano (Lliam Amor). Before she leaves, she drives around with a shotgun in an attempt to kill Frank. Upon her return, Carmella loses Connor's affection to Serena Bishop (Lara Sacher). She attempts to ruin their relationship, which results in Serena's mother Liljana (Marcella Russo) slapping her to warn her off. Carmella then tries a different approach; she borrows money from her mother Lucia (Maria Mercedes) to pay for an operation Madeleine needs, then blackmails Connor into spending time with her. She claims to have borrowed the money from a crime mob who are harassing her for repayment, which prompts Connor to steal money to try to pay it back. When Carmella realises the trouble she has caused, she tells Connor the truth and leaves.
After a period of absence, Carmella's mother sends Connor on a secret mission to find her daughter. He discovers that Carmella has become a nun, and is living in a convent as Sister Mary Catherine. During her time as a nun, she grows close to Ned Parker (Daniel O'Connor), who encourages her to become a recording artist after hearing her sing. Carmella does it to make him happy, but admits that she does not really enjoy singing. She withdraws from their relationship as she feels that Ned is prying too much into her private affairs.
Carmella admits she arranged the sale of her cousin Teresa's (Hannah Greenwood) unwanted baby. A fellow nun suggests that she takes time off from the convent. She complies and leaves her role as a nun behind. Teresa has a breakdown and throws a saucepan of boiling water at Carmella, who is left with severe facial scarring and becomes increasingly secluded. She is convinced by Will Griggs (Christian Clark) to have plastic surgery to lessen the scarring. Ned tells Carmella that he loves her, but Carmella has fallen in love with Will. Soon thereafter, Will leaves the country without notice. His younger brother Oliver Barnes (David Hoflin) arrives, and explains that Will had a double identity. Carmella has short-lived relationships with Oliver and teenager Ringo Brown (Sam Clark). She becomes addicted to prescription drugs, and later discovers that she is pregnant with Oliver's baby, and may have harmed the baby through her addiction.
Carmella begins an online business with Marco Silvani (Jesse Rosenfeld), and develops an attraction to him. She initially resists as she is still in love with Oliver, but learns to her disappointment that he does not reciprocate her feelings. Carmella gives birth prematurely by Caesarean section; the condition of her daughter, Chloe (Sarah May), who is placed in the neonatal intensive-care unit, quickly improves. Mother and daughter move in with Marco, prompting a jealous Oliver to file for sole custody of Chloe, though he later rescinds this decision. Marco proposes to Carmella and she accepts, however later that day he is severely injured in a bushfire. Carmella marries him from his hospital bed, and Marco dies shortly afterwards. Following his death, Carmella believes she is haunted by Marco's spirit. Oliver moves to New York, but she declines his invitation to accompany him. He later moves to Portugal, and a few months later, Carmella and Chloe leave to be with him. They briefly return to Erinsborough three years later when Oliver's mother Rebecca (Jane Hall) breaks up with her husband Paul (Stefan Dennis), to convince her to come and live with them and she does so.
Development
Creation and characterisation
Carmella was created following Delta Goodrem's sudden departure from Neighbours due to illness. Three months' worth of scripts were rewritten, and Carmella was introduced to fill the void left by Goodrem's character, Nina Tucker. As a school graduate, Blair had unsuccessfully auditioned for another role in the serial, but impressed casting director Jan Russ. Six months later, Russ contacted Blair and asked her to audition for the role of Carmella. She was cast immediately, due to the urgent need to fill the void left by Goodrem. She played Carmella on an episodic basis in 2003, then returned for a longer period in 2004, and briefly in 2005. Blair returned to Neighbours in 2006, and in September 2007, signed a contract keeping her in the show for another year.
The serial's official website described Carmella as "the youngest daughter of local mafioso Rocco Cammeniti. She grew up spoilt and sheltered from the real world, which made her a force to be reckoned with as soon as she was old enough to break free of her father's influence." Carmella underwent many changes during her tenure. Blair initially described her as a "fun, feisty and foxy sort of character". However, Carmella became depressed through her life's travails, having been stalked by Frank Romano, sold her cousin Teresa's baby and subsequently become a nun. Before her official confirmation in the convent, Carmella goes clubbing with ex-boyfriend Connor. Describing Carmella's reasoning, Blair stated: "Carmella is thinking, 'Is what I'm about to go ahead with, - becoming a nun - the right choice?' She wants to be sure she's making the right decision about what she'll do for the rest of her life." Blair confirmed that after that night Carmella had "all the answers that she needed" to live the rest of her life. Blair enjoyed the opportunity to play a nun, but was glad when the storyline concluded as it meant Carmella got to have fun again.
Relationships Carmella's relationship with Connor was originally scripted for Nina Tucker, but was transferred to Carmella by the producers on Goodrem's departure. Upon Carmella's introduction, her only family member was her mobster father Rocco, who had been sent to prison. In 2006, Carmella was given a sister, when Natalie Saleeba was cast in the role of Rosetta Cammeniti. Blair opined that Rosie's inclusion brought out different sides to Carmella's character. Many viewers told Blair they felt the casting was good because they look alike. One of the significant changes to Carmella was that she started having fun again—Blair felt this meant they worked well together. Later, Erin McNaught was cast as her cousin Sienna Cammeniti. McNaught commented that there had been a rivalry between the cousins in their youth, so it would be interesting to see what unfolded between them.
Following the dissolution of Carmella's relationship with Oliver, Blair commented that Oliver would "always have a special place in Carmella's heart". Although Carmella began dating Marco, Blair felt that Chloe's premature birth strengthened the connection between Carmella and Oliver. She explained that Carmella "feels desolate and suddenly the connection Carmella's always had with Oliver is heightened. Together they name their baby Chloe and it's Marco who feels shut out." Following Chloe's birth, Carmella decided to put her love life to one side, and put her baby daughter first. She told Marco she did not want him in her life; he planned to leave town without a word to her, except a love note and a present to Chloe. Discussing the state of her relationship with Oliver and Marco at this point, Blair assessed: "I don't think it's so much of a love triangle anymore. Oliver made his feelings for Carmella very clear - he doesn't love her in that way. But he still doesn't want another man looking after his child. So there'll be more tension between the [three] of them. And things get even more complicated over the next few months."
Marco was later killed in a bush fire disaster. Describing the filming process, Blair stated: "Shooting the scenes for the bush fire and everything surrounding it - the wedding - the funeral - was so draining. It was full on." Blair had to film scenes involving Carmella singing at Marco's funeral, which she deemed "close to home" because she had done it at her grandmother's funeral. She found it distressing, as they filmed in a real graveyard. She had previously been reluctant to sing on-screen but felt it was justified for Marco's funeral. Blair commented on Carmella's repetitive bad luck, stating: "She's gone through so much already, just to get to this point. This should really be a happy time for her, but it's not." After all the hurdles she faced, Carmella became a stronger person. Blair said it saw her become well-equipped to look after her child.
Departure and return In 2008, Blair expressed frustration that Carmella had become a "very tortured, depressive character and there was no light at the end of the tunnel." She described the role, which went through enormous transformations, as being one that had pushed her acting abilities. Blair's pleas to the show producers to let the down-on-luck Carmella be up-beat again were rejected. In June 2008, the actress confirmed her plans to leave the series when her contract expired. Speaking of her decision to leave, Blair said: "I made the decision in December [...] I am eager to try new things and go to a place where people have no idea what I have done, I want to experiment with what works for me and what doesn't as a performer." Producers confirmed they did not intend to kill her character off, as they hoped for her to return again in the future. A spokesperson for the programme's broadcaster, Network Ten, stated: "Obviously, we've loved having Natalie on the show all these years and we're really sad to see her go [...] and hope to see her on Ramsay Street again one day in the future." Blair later admitted she was surprised at her rise popularity whilst playing Carmella.