Rebekah Sophie Elmaloglou (born 23 January 1974) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as teenage tearaway Sophie Simpson on Home and Away and Terese Willis on Neighbours. She also made guest appearances in E Street, A Country Practice and Pacific Drive. Her film appearances include Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Princess Kate (1988) and The Sum of Us (1994).
Early life
Elmaloglou was born at the Royal Women's Hospital, Paddington, New South Wales, to a Greek father, Gregory, who was principal cello in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and an English mother, Theresa, who was a kindergarten teacher. Her father was born in France.[1] Elmaloglou left school at the age of 15 and trained at the Keane Kids studios in Sydney,[2] where she studied acting, singing and dancing.
Career
Elmaloglou has appeared in numerous roles in various programmes and films such as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985),[3] Five Times Dizzy (1986) and Jocelyn Moorhouse' debut film The Siege of Barton's Bathroom (1986),[4] Relatives,[3] In Too Deep (also known as Mack the Knife) (1989) and Love in Limbo (1993)[3] plus the 1988 telemovie Princess Kate. In 1989, she had a two-week guest stint as asthmatic street-kid Simone in E Street and immediately followed this with a regular role in Home and Away as Sophie Simpson (1990–1993). She left the soap in late 1992 and travelled to the UK to appear in a production of Cinderella during the pantomime season.[5] She later appeared in a production of Aladdin.[3]
Following Home and Away, Elmaloglou appeared alongside Russell Crowe in the Australian film The Sum of Us (1994),[3] and guest starred in A Country Practice as Christine Agapitos, a love interest for Gavin Harrison's character Hugo Strzelecki.[6] She relished filming The Sum of Us, and compared filming it to Home and Away:
"You feel like you're really acting and really doing something when you do film, because in television you're grinding your way through it. The moment you finish one script you're on to another one, and it just goes on and on and on. (In film) you have more time to work with it – not at it – and you spend more time talking to the director about the role and, yes, your best work comes out of a film and you feel that you can really show your talents as an actress."[3]
In 1994, she appeared on the stage at the Sydney Opera House in Caravan.[7] In a 1995 interview, she stated that she did not receive the offers she had anticipated after leaving Home and Away and that finding work was a struggle. Elmaloglou appeared in Pacific Drive in 1996 as a victim of incest, who dices with death when she turns to drugs. She appeared in an episode of Life Support as a "publicity whore". The actress later posed naked in a Gothic-themed set of photographs for the Australian celebrity nude art magazine Black+White.
On 7 February 2013, it was announced that Elmaloglou had joined the cast of Neighbours as Terese Willis, a role she remained in until the show's then-final episode on 28 July 2022.[8][9] Elmaloglou continued in the part when Neighbours was picked up by Amazon Freevee in 2023.
Personal life
Dame Judi Dench is a cousin.[1] Two of Elmaloglou's brothers, Dominic and Sebastian Elmaloglou, have also appeared on Home and Away, plus she has a brother who is a crew member on the show'.[10]
When working on Home and Away (from 1990 to 1993), Elmaloglou frequently had panic attacks.[11] She was later diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder and has been open about her condition.[12]
Elmaloglou has been married to Kane Baker since 2009, and together they have a son born in 2008.[13][14]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Lorca and the Outlaws (aka 'Starship") | Little Girl | Feature film |
| 1985 | Relatives | Rebecca | Feature film |
| 1985 | Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome | Gatherer | Feature film |
| 1986 | The Siege of Barton's Bathroom | Short film | |
| 1988 | Touch The Sun: Princess Kate | May Mathieson | TV film |
| 1988 | Fragments of War: The Story of Damien Parer | Helena | TV film |
| 1990 | In Too Deep | Jojo | Feature film |
| 1993 | Love in Limbo | Feature film | |
| 1994 | The Sum of Us | Jenny Johnson | Feature film |
| 1995 | Back of Beyond | Susan MacGregor | Feature film |
| 2007 | U-Turn | Car Chick 1 | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin | Child | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1986 | Five Times Dizzy | Mareka Nikakis | TV series, 12 episodes |
| 1987; 1993 | A Country Practice | Belinda Perkins | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1988 | Emma: Queen of the South Seas | Young Emma | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1989 | E Street | Simone | TV series, 4 episodes |
| 1991 | Adventures on Kythera | Tik | TV series, 13 episodes |
| 1991–1993, 2005 | Home and Away | Sophie Simpson | Series regular |
| 1993 | A Country Practice | Christina Agapitos | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 1994 | G.P. | Leanne | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1994 | Paradise Beach | Karen Wolfe | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1996 | Pacific Drive | Eliza Garland | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1999 | Water Rats | Christina Mangano | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2000; 2001 | All Saints | Justine Addison | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Life Support | Penne's publicity partner | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2013–2025 | Neighbours | Terese Willis | Series regular |
| 2016 | Summer Stories | Terese Willis | Webseries |
| 2017 | Pipe Up | Terese Willis | Webseries |
| 2017 | Neighbours vs Time Travel | Terese Willis | Webseries |
| 2018 | Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and Away | Sophie Simpson | TV movie |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | The Sound of Music | Marta | Australian tour |
| 1992 | Cinderella | Cinderella | Sunderland Empire Theatre, United Kingdom |
| 1993 | Aladdin | Aladdin | De Montfort Hall Leicester, United Kingdom, Inverness, Scotland |
| 1994 | Theatresports | ||
| 1994 | Caravan | Sydney Opera House | |
| 1997–98 | Wogboys | Enmore Theatre, Sydney, IMB Theatre, Wollongong | |
| 2001 | The Vagina Monologues | Sydney |
References
- ^ a b Gilmore, Heath (7 May 1994). "Rebekah Plays The Waiting". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 143. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ "Home". keanekids.com.
- ^ a b c d e f Wingett, Fiona (13 November 1993). "She's Alright Jack!". TV Week. pp. 12–13.
- ^ Leerentveld, Erwin (6 July 2022). "Bartons on the Web". Bartons on the Web. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
- ^ Stanley, Di (17 April 1993). "Home or Away?". TV Week. pp. 12–13.
- ^ Williams, Glen (21 August 1993). "Rebekah's country comfort". TV Week. pp. 8–9.
- ^ "Theatre Directory". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 July 1994.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 February 2013). "'Neighbours' to introduce another new family". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ "Olympia Valance and Rebekah Elmaloglou farewell Neighbours". Greek Herald. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ "Neighbours star on Home and Away response to show axe". Digital Spy. 17 July 2022.
- ^ Browne, Rachel (1 July 1995). "The soapie scrapheap". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ Kent, Simon (8 March 1998). "The Diary". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 26. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ "Rebekah's joy: I'm having a baby". Woman's Day. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 April 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
- ^ "Rebekah's gorgeous garden wedding". Woman's Day. 29 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.