Coming to you from Down Under. The great southern land. The sunburnt country.
The—actually, that’s plenty of that. Jess Anastasi here and today I’m talking
about what Australia has done for the world of heroes.
Like many authors, I love nothing more than “researching” for inspiration when
working on my latest book and deciding what my hero is going to be like. Now, we
all know the Hemsworth brothers have a made a big impact on Hollywood, but I’m a
TV show addict, and today I’m listing my top five favorite Aussie heroes of the
small screen.
Bob Morely aka Bellamy Blake
Like many Aussie actors, Bob Morley got his start on the long running Australian
soap, Home and Away. I’ve personally never watched the show, even though it’s
been on TV as long as I can remember. Morely has certainly cemented his
abilities as an actor in playing Bellamy Blake on The 100, which started out as
a teen drama on the CW (though in its 4th season, I think it’s grown
beyond that now). Bellamy has faced a lot, has had to make hard choices and
tried to protect a sister who didn’t want protecting. Morely gives the character
really great depth and sincerity, bringing the feels every time. Plus,
#Bellarke.
David Lyons aka Sebastian Monroe
The first time I saw David Lyons in anything, it was on a really great Aussie
drama called Sea Patrol. He was playing a naval officer stationed on a small
Australia navy warship that patrolled the northern end of Australia, dealing
with issues of immigrating boat people arriving, illegal fisherman and other
kinds of maritime drama. I loved the show, watched every episode even after
(spoiler alert) his character got killed off. Lyons is an excellent actor, so I
was stoaked to see him in the role of Sebastian Monroe on Revolution. While
Lyons played a very dark character, one who was almost unhinged, it was clear
many of these issues were borne out of a deeply buried pain. I wanted, more than
anything, to see Monroe get a redemption story line (and I was unashamedly on
board the taboo #Charloe ship) but unfortunately, the show was cancelled during
season 2.
Daniel Gillies aka Elijah Mikaelson
Okay, okay. Daniel Gillies is actually from New Zealand. But us Aussies are a
brazen bunch, so we’ll quite often claim New Zealanders as Australians. When the
character of Elijah was introduced in The Vampire Diaries as one of the Original
vampires, it seemed Elijah was the more level headed of the Mikaelson brothers,
and spent most of his time trying to manage Klaus’ reckless temper. However,
once The Originals spin-off started, it became clear that deep down, Elijah was
the more ruthless of the two, and has since gone to lengths even Klaus may have
thought twice about. Gillies has done a great job of coming across as calm and
collected on the surface, but then exploding with this utter icy rage when need
be. I swear there’s been scenes that have given me chills!
Ryan Kwanten aka Jason Stackhouse
Like Bob Morley, Ryan Kwantan also did a decent stint on Home and Away here in
Australia before taking his acting career abroad. In fact, every time I watched
an episode of True Blood, my husband would say “It’s Vinnie!” which was
apparently the name of his character on the soap. But, what can you say about
Jason Stackhouse? This is definitely one case of brawn over brains, as often
there didn’t seem to be much in Jason’s head beyond those chiselled good looks.
And he definitely made some questionable decisions of the course of the series.
However, I think in the last few seasons of True Blood, especially once he
started working for the sheriff, Kwanten gave a depth to Jason that hadn’t
presented in earlier episode. Plus, guilty pleasure? Jason’s vampire blood
induced sex dream about Eric had to be one of the best scenes in the entire
series. I was totally shipping #Jaric after that!
Jesse Spencer aka Matthew Casey aka Dr. Robert Chase
If you were a teenage girl in Australia in the late 90s, then chances were you
had a poster of Jesse Spencer on your wall. I had more than a few. I definitely
had a teenage girl TV crush on Billy Kennedy from Neighbours. Unlike Home and
Away, I did spend most of my teenage years on the couch watching this soap on a
weekday evening. Jesse Spencer is certainly a TV success story. I never watched
House, but every so often I’d see an ad for it and think maybe I should, just to
see Jesse Spencer and relive my teenage crushing. However, his role as Matthew
Casey in Chicago Fire brought him back onto my screen. And he’s still got that
same guy-next-door charm, which, added to his excellent acting abilities, means
his success is not all that surprising.
He'll protect her with his life...but who will protect his heart?
If the assignment is crazy, dangerous, or a little of both, Sub-Lieutenant
Sebastian Rayne can’t help but take on the challenge. So when Command
Intelligence tags him to fly one of their agents behind enemy lines, it seems
like just another routine death-defying mission. Crash landing on the planet was
a piece of cake, but the gorgeous agent he delivered safely to her meeting is
now believed dead and he must return to retrieve her body.
After Agent Jenna Branson realizes her own people attempted to have her
killed, she enlists the hot stick jockey’s help. His new mission? Sneak her back
onto his ship to ferret out who wanted to get rid of her and why. But she fears
her growing feelings for Seb have blinded her to his reckless insistence on
helping her stay alive, and his rash behavior will cause them both to lose their
lives.
Romance Science
Fiction [Entangled Select, On Sale: June 19,
2017, e-Book, ISBN: 9781640631021 / eISBN: 9781640631021]
Jess has been making up stories ever since she can remember. Though her messy
handwriting made it hard for anyone else to read them, she wasn’t deterred and
now she gets to make up stories for a living. She loves loud music, a good book
on a rainy day, and probably spends too much time watching too many TV shows.
Jess lives in regional Victoria, Australia, with her very supportive husband,
three daughters, two border collie dogs, and one cat who thinks he’s one of the
kids.
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