Evelyn "Evie" MacGuire is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Philippa Northeast. The actress was cast in the role after a successful audition and a callback, in which she was paired with various actors to find the right one to play Evelyn's brother. Northeast had to relocate from her hometown of Melbourne to Sydney for filming. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 3 September 2013. Northeast left Home and Away in 2016, and her character made her departure on 24 May 2017.
Evelyn was introduced to the show along with her twin brother Oscar (Jake Speer) and their aunt Hannah Wilson (Cassie Howarth), creating a family for established character Zac MacGuire (Charlie Clausen). Evelyn is portrayed as being gentle, strong-willed, feisty, and down-to-earth. She and her brother entered the show as part of a cult storyline. The twins were forced to join the cult by their father, Ethan (Matt Minto) and they had differing opinions about living at the camp. The character's early storylines focused on her rescue from the cult and later return. A few months after settling into Summer Bay, producers developed Evie's first major relationship with Josh Barrett (Jackson Gallagher). The couple breaks up when Josh begins using drugs.
Evie was later paired with newcomer Tank Snelgrove (Reece Milne). Tank's influence on Evie caused her to rebel against her friends and family. The relationship also explored the topic of unprotected sex, a storyline that Northeast was glad to have the chance to take on. Evie and Josh are later reunited and become engaged. An issue-led storyline focusing on the BRCA1 gene saw the character go through a cancer scare. This was followed by the deaths of Hannah and Oscar, which led Northeast to worry that her character was also going to be killed off. After Josh went to prison for killing Charlotte King (Erika Heynatz), producers established a romantic relationship between Evie and Matt Page (Alec Snow), and they departed the serial together.
Casting On 25 August 2013, it was announced that Philippa Northeast had joined the cast of Home and Away, alongside Jake Speer. Northeast was cast as Evelyn MacGuire, one of three new characters introduced to the show as relations of Zac MacGuire (Charlie Clausen). On the way to her audition for the role, Northeast found a dollar coin on the steps to the casting agent, which she took to be a sign of luck. She was surprised to learn that she had won the role and had to ask her agent if she joking. Northeast relocated from her hometown of Melbourne to Sydney, where Home and Away is shot. She commented, "It was so exciting to have landed the opportunity. It opened so many new doors for me, not only in a career sense, but also because I relocated my life and moved to a new city." During a callback, Northeast was paired with various actors to find Evelyn's twin brother Oscar. She and Speer were the first pairing, and producers kept coming back to them as they realised that they had the right chemistry. Northeast made her first appearance as Evelyn on 3 September 2013.
Development Characterisation and family
Evelyn, or "Evie" was initially billed as being a "strong-willed character". Northeast described her as having a gentle side and "a sharp sense of humour". She often makes her feelings known, especially is she believes that her opinions are not being heard. The actress credited the writers for making Evie very real, and called her "complex", "down-to-earth" and "a little bit of a tomboy". Northeast later stated that Evie had "a strong personality", and that she was fun to play due to her stubborn and feisty sides. The actress also commented, "I really love the way she fights for what she believes in, which is something I associate with also – although at times Evie can be a bit irrational which is where I think we differ. We are similar in our kooky and inclusive sense of humour." In September 2015, Northeast reflected on Evie's personality, saying that she had an edge and was "very moral and black and white" but had never really done anything dangerous. She later told an Inside Soap columnist that she would be friends with Evie in real life, calling her loyal. But she thought that it would also be challenging due to Evie's irrational nature, adding, "She's a truth teller, which is hard to swallow, but she's a good mate in the end." Northeast said that she shared a similar wardrobe to Evie, saying they both liked the boho style. She also noted that Evie's style had come a long way since her days in the cult.
Evie is the niece of Zac MacGuire and Hannah Wilson, and the twin sister of Oscar (Jake Speer). Northeast stated that family is important to her character, explaining "Evelyn believes strongly in the value of family, having lost her mother at an early age and witnessing her father try to deal with the repercussions. This, in turn, has strengthened the sibling bond she shares with Oscar, in whom she finds comfort and entertainment." She is older than Oscar by two minutes and often reminds him when they argue. The official website stated that in their fictional backstory, Evie and Oscar created their own place to escape to when they were younger, before becoming "a formidable force" when they reached their teenage years. Northeast revealed that she did not get much time to work on forming a bond with Speer before filming began, but they later developed "a very sibling-like relationship". She also said that as Evie and Oscar are twins they had a different dynamic to a regular sibling relationship, including a sixth sense about one another.
Following their father's death, the twins met their half-sister Denny (Jessica Grace Smith) for the first time. Evie was instantly suspicious of Denny and was not interested in forming a relationship with her. She later upset Denny so much that Denny considered leaving the Bay. Oscar tried to bring them together, but it was not until Evie spoke with Leah Patterson-Baker (Ada Nicodemou) that she changed her mind.
Introduction Evie and Oscar were introduced to the show as part of a cult storyline. After Hannah informed Zac that the twins and their father Ethan (Matt Minto) had seemingly been brainwashed, he visited them at the retreat they had moved to. During the visit, Ethan tried to pass off the cult as a group enlightenment camp called Sanctuary Lodge. Evie was happy to be at the camp, and Northeast told Jessica Grubb of TV Week that she was prepared to do anything the cult asked her to do, as she wanted to keep her family together, while Oscar chose to rebel. Evie also believed that the camp offered her and Oscar a chance to establish a better relationship with their father. When Zac finally realised the truth about the cult, he asked the Braxton brothers to help rescue Oscar and Evelyn. Actor Nic Westaway, who plays Kyle Braxton, explained that Ethan was "holding them in a life they are not happy with", and as the Braxtons trusted Zac, they were ready to help out. Zac and the Braxtons fought their way out of the camp after managing to rescue the twins.
Evie was unhappy at being rescued and saw it more as a kidnapping. Zac and Ricky Sharpe (Bonnie Sveen) took Evie camping and tried to get through to her, but she chose to return to the cult to be with her father. Northeast commented, "Evelyn is unable to live with herself knowing she has left her father behind." A TV Week columnist noted that Evie's well-being was in danger as she was about to turn 16. Northeast explained that Evie had been told that her 16th birthday was a special occasion and would be marked in a "life-changing" event. Spencer Harrington (Andrew Morley) later joined Sanctuary Lodge in an attempt to gain control of his bipolar disorder and Evie befriended him. After the cult leader, Murray Granger (Christopher Stollery), announced that they would be taking part in a "discovery weekend", Evie and Spencer realised that they would be forced into getting married. When it came to their turn to marry, Spencer stood up to Murray and refused to go ahead. Murray had Spencer taken away, and Evie later found him badly beaten. She managed to convince Spencer to leave and return to Summer Bay with her.
A couple of months later, while Evie and Oscar were attending a music festival, Ethan turned up and had them kidnapped, along with Kyle. Ethan locked them all in a shipping container, and Speer said it was a "terrifying and confusing" time for them all, as they wondered how long it would take for them to be rescued. Due to the warm weather, conditions inside the container quickly turned into a sauna. Evie, Kyle, and Oscar suffered from dehydration and a lack of oxygen, which left them feeling groggy. Kyle tried to comfort the twins, and Speer believed they were lucky to have him there to keep them sane.
Relationships Josh Barrett In mid-2014, Evie was given her first love interest in Josh Barrett (Jackson Gallagher). When Spencer admitted to Evie that he had a crush on her, she was forced to tell him that she only liked him as a friend, as she had feelings for Josh. This shocked Spencer, as Josh was dating their friend Maddy Osborne (Kassandra Clementi) at the time. When Maddy discovered Evie's infatuation with Josh, she exposed it to all their friends, leading to a confrontation between Josh and Evie. When Josh had a fight with Maddy about her pushing him away, he met up with Evie on the beach, and they decided to spend the day together at the farmhouse. At the farm, they came across an escaped horse, and Josh suggested they ride it back to its owner. After the journey, Josh helped Evie to dismount and they ended up kissing. Gallagher commented that Josh realised in that moment that his feelings for Maddy were no longer there, and that he "sees something in Evie that excites him." Northeast enjoyed portraying Josh and Evie's first kiss on location with the horse, calling it an exciting and new experience. Josh and Evie agreed that the kiss was a mistake, but struggled to stop themselves from doing it again at the bus stop. Gallagher told an Inside Soap writer that there was a lot of support for a relationship between Evie and Josh from viewers who wanted to know what it would look like.
When Josh was attacked by drug dealers, he turned to Evie for help rather than Maddy, leaving her suspicious of the pair. A couple of weeks later, Maddy confronted them both, and Evie admitted that she and Josh had kissed. Maddy then ended her relationship with Josh. To get back at Evie, who began dating Josh, Maddy had a one-night stand with Oscar. Evie was infuriated when she discovered them together the following morning. When Maddy realised that Oscar thought it was the start of a proper relationship between them, she had to tell him that it just part of her plan to get back at Evie and Josh. In August 2014, Josh and Evie became involved in Andy Barrett's (Tai Hara) drug dealing storyline. The couple were kidnapped and taken to the farmhouse, where they were tied up together. Having been beaten by the dealers before, Josh really did not want Evie to get hurt. Before they could be harmed, Andy and Darryl Braxton (Steve Peacocke) arrived to pay off Andy's debt. Josh and Evie were left "shaken up" by the ordeal and Josh blamed Andy for putting Evie in danger. Evie was "livid" when Maddy learned that she and Josh had yet to consummate their relationship. She believed Maddy would think that they were not serious and attempt to win Josh back.