Sam Holden (Home and Away)
Encyclopedia
Samantha "Sam" Holden is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven
soap opera Home and Away
, played by Jessica Chapnik
. She made her first on-screen appearance on 17 October 2006.
.
Chapnik said Sam was an interesting character to play because she was "full of self-loathing and was so misunderstood". Sam was "doomed to fail from the beginning" and her "decline made sense" because she was always "quite tragic". Sam's "heaviness" made it hard for Chapnik to defend her actions, Chapnik also felt she had never experienced this with any other character.
Sam is involved in a love trinagle storyline through her relationship with Jack Holden (Paul O'Brien
) and his ex-wife Martha McKenzie (Jodi Gordon
). Martha feels low after an abortion and kisses Jack, while Sam watches. O'Brien stated in an interview with Yahoo, "I think Jack felt like "Oh this is nice, but I've moved on, I've finally moved on and found someone, but deep down he still wants Martha." O'Brien added that he believes Jack was always in love with Martha, even whilst with he was in a relationship with Sam. Martha later tries on Sam's wedding dress, causing more trouble. Gordon said that viewers would have rather seen Jack with Martha.
In one storyline Sam becomes involved in a fued with Johnny Cooper
(Callan Mulvey
). He later beats her up and threatens her to help him kill Sally Fletcher
(Kate Ritchie
). Chapnik said that "he scares Sam, she knows that she has no choice but to help him." Sam later murders Johnny to protect herself. Sam's exit storyline was played out in secret. Viewers were kept in suspense when a unidentified body washes up on the beach. It is eventually revealed to be Sam's. However, Sam had killed herself and attempted to frame Jack and Martha for her "murder".
. Sam and Jack organized a swimming session to help Jack regain the use of his legs. Jack asked Sam if she was married and had children. Sam didn't like talking about her husband and told Jack it wasn't the right time to be discussing personal matters. Later that evening while in the hospital room, Sam opened up to Jack about why she was sensitive about discussing her husband. Sam had a daughter called Jessica who suffered from a rare disease. Sam and her husband Shane travelled all over the world to find a cure, but nothing could save Jessica. The travelling cost a lot of money, so Shane turned to drug dealing to pay for it. During one of the drug deals Sam witnessed Shane shooting someone and turned him in to the police, sending him to jail.
Jack was very supportive of Sam when he found out about what she had been through. Jack than asked Sam if she could bring her son Rory in to meet him. She agreed, and the two bonded quickly. Sam and Jack organized a picnic so Jack could get to know Rory better. After mentioning his and Sam's old house, Rory suddenly clammed up and later apologised to Sam for saying too much. Jack realized Sam was hiding something and asked her what was wrong, but Sam simply said she and Rory were leaving the Bay and didn't give any more explanation. Jack was confused until Sam tearfully showed up on his doorstep to confess the whole truth about her problems with Shane. Sam explained that her real name was Kylie Deeks, which she'd changed to hide from Shane's henchmen who pursued her constantly. Jack was supportive and promised he'd always be there for Sam and Rory.
Sam organized another picnic with Jack, Rachel, Kim Hyde
(Chris Hemsworth
), Kit Hunter
(Amy Mizzi
), and James. When she wondered off alone to fill a water bottle, she was confronted and chased by one of Shane's henchmen. Jack managed to find her after spotting her necklace on the ground, and Shane's henchman was arrested. Later on that day, Jack came home to find a note written by Sam. She explained that although she loved Jack, she and Rory had no choice but to leave Summer Bay now Shane knew where she was. Jack managed to track down Sam and Rory via police records and said a proper goodbye to them. Sam promised she'd return to Summer Bay if she was ever free of Shane. A few months later Sam fell down some stairs after fleeing from another one of Shane's henchmen. Rory phoned Jack to ask for help, and Jack arrived to offer Sam a place to stay while she recovered from her injuries. Jack and Sam's relationship soon restarted and Sam decided to stay in the Bay permanently.
Shane tracked Sam to Summer Bay again and kidnapped Rory. Jack pursued Shane's van in an illegal car chase, during which Rory was rescued but Shane was killed after his car rolled off the road. Sam and Jack soon got engaged despite Sam feeling insecure about Martha's presence in their lives, with Jack and Martha having problems making their divorce official and Jack often confiding in Martha instead of Sam. After Jack was shot and left in a coma, Sam channelled all her energy into helping him recover. Unfortunately Jack woke up when Martha was by his bedside and his romantic feelings for her were rekindled. Martha's presence in their lives caused many problems in the weeks leading up to Jack and Sam's wedding. Sam even caught Martha trying on her wedding dress. The night before the wedding Jack cheated on Sam with Martha, but Sam never found out about this and the wedding took place. Martha turned up at the church to stop the wedding but arrived after Jack and Sam had already been married. Sam was furious when she spotted Martha at the back of the church.
Johnny returned to the Bay, determined to murder Sally. Johnny had been in prison with Shane and knew the truth about the drug deals - it had actually been Sam who started the dealing. Knowing Sam would go to great lengths to stop Jack from finding out the truth about her past, Johnny blackmailed her into hiding him in Tony's house until he had a chance to kill Sally. During this time Johnny often threatened Sam, and on one occasion even beat and rape her. Although Sam was forced to play along with Johnny's plans to kill Sally, her conscience wouldn't let her stand by and do nothing when Johnny tried to stab Sally's foster son Ric Dalby (Mark Furze
), and she hit Johnny over the head with a cricket bat to subdue him. While Johnny was recovering in hospital he unsuccessfully tried to tell Rachel and Jack that Sam had been hiding him in Tony's house. Panicking, Sam switched Johnny's medication to give him a fatal overdose. Jack found out about the murder and her drug dealing past via a letter that Johnny Cooper had written and hidden and had every intention of arresting his wife for murder until Sam told him she was pregnant. Sam verbally attacked Martha, and threatened to turn Jack's life upside down if he handed her in to the police. During a scuffle with Jack, Sam was knocked to the ground and miscarried.
After her miscarriage Sam went to the city and asked Rory to run away with her, but Rory was scared of Sam and refused. Having lost her husband, her son, and her unborn baby as well as facing a murder charge, Sam had nothing left to live for and decided to commit suicide. Determined not to die in vain, Sam set up her death to make it look like Jack and Martha had murdered her, a final attempt to stop her husband and his ex-wife from reuniting. Sam bought heroin from a drug dealer and then attacked him so he'd be forced to bruise her in self-defence. She then returned to Summer Bay, broke into Roman's house and stole some of Martha's hair and a piece of paper. When Martha caught Sam in Roman's house, Sam scratched her face before leaving. She then asked Jazz to bring her some money, making it seem to Jazz like Sam wasn't in the frame of mind to end her life. Sam used the paper she'd stolen from Martha's house to write a suicide note that wasn't in her usual handwriting, took a dinghy out to sea and overdosed on heroin. Sam's body was discovered washed up on the beach the next morning. With the seemingly falsified suicide note, the scratch on Martha's face, the bruises on Sam's arms, and a strand of Martha's hair being discovered, the police had good reason to believe Jack and Martha had murdered Sam. Morag Bellingham
(Cornelia Frances
) theorised that Sam had killed herself, which was proven at the last minute when Jack tracked down the drug dealer who'd sold Sam the heroin and been forced to bruise her. Sam's funeral was held in the city. Rory, who blamed Jack for Sam's death, ordered Jack not to attend.
said Sam was like a "murderous psycho". Carolyn Stewart writing for TV Week
said that following Sam's "erractic behaviour" and murder of Johnny, that it "was only a matter of time before karma cxaught up with her" and she died. While Inside Soap
said that Sam's "cock-up" was not expecting that Morag would uncover the truth behind her death. They also opined that Sam should not have killed herself, because "revenge doesn't taste quite so sweet if you're not around to savour it."
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
soap opera Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
, played by Jessica Chapnik
Jessica Chapnik
Jessica Chapnik is an Argentinian-Australian actress and musician. She is probably best known for her role as Sam Tolhurst/Holden in the Australian television drama Home and Away...
. She made her first on-screen appearance on 17 October 2006.
Character development
In 2006, Chapnik secured the role of Sam by chance. In 2008, it was announced that Chapnik was leaving Home and Away to persue a career in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Chapnik said Sam was an interesting character to play because she was "full of self-loathing and was so misunderstood". Sam was "doomed to fail from the beginning" and her "decline made sense" because she was always "quite tragic". Sam's "heaviness" made it hard for Chapnik to defend her actions, Chapnik also felt she had never experienced this with any other character.
Sam is involved in a love trinagle storyline through her relationship with Jack Holden (Paul O'Brien
Paul O'Brien
Paul O'Brien is a South-African-born Australian actor.-Biography:Paul O'Brien was born on 14 April in South Africa, and grew up in Australia. He spent several years on the Gold Coast, with his family...
) and his ex-wife Martha McKenzie (Jodi Gordon
Jodi Gordon
Jodi Lee Gordon is an Australian actress and model.-Early life:Gordon was born in Mackay to Bronwyn and Ray. She has an older brother, Ben. Her father was born in New Zealand and is of Māori descent. From the age of 8, Gordon's family moved to various locations along the coast from Mackay,...
). Martha feels low after an abortion and kisses Jack, while Sam watches. O'Brien stated in an interview with Yahoo, "I think Jack felt like "Oh this is nice, but I've moved on, I've finally moved on and found someone, but deep down he still wants Martha." O'Brien added that he believes Jack was always in love with Martha, even whilst with he was in a relationship with Sam. Martha later tries on Sam's wedding dress, causing more trouble. Gordon said that viewers would have rather seen Jack with Martha.
In one storyline Sam becomes involved in a fued with Johnny Cooper
Johnny Cooper (Home and Away)
Johnathan "Johnny" Cooper is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Callan Mulvey. He made his first on-screen appearance on 19 October 2006.-Storylines:...
(Callan Mulvey
Callan Mulvey
Callan Francis Mulvey is an Australian actor.-Biography:Mulvey was born in New Zealand and is of Maori heritage. His family moved to Sydney, Australia when he was eight years old...
). He later beats her up and threatens her to help him kill Sally Fletcher
Sally Fletcher
Sally Louise Fletcher is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Kate Ritchie...
(Kate Ritchie
Kate Ritchie
Katherine "Kate" Ritchie is an Australian actress, best known for her long-running role as Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera Home and Away. She played the character for 20 years from 1988–2008...
). Chapnik said that "he scares Sam, she knows that she has no choice but to help him." Sam later murders Johnny to protect herself. Sam's exit storyline was played out in secret. Viewers were kept in suspense when a unidentified body washes up on the beach. It is eventually revealed to be Sam's. However, Sam had killed herself and attempted to frame Jack and Martha for her "murder".
Storylines
Sam was Jack's physiotherapist after he was attacked and lost the use of his legs. Jack and Sam formed a quick bond, with Sam boosting Jack's confidence during his recovery and helping him deal with the recent breakup from his wife Martha MackenzieMartha MacKenzie
Martha Jane MacKenzie is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Jodi Gordon. Martha made her first on-screen appearance on 8 September 1988. She was originally played by Burcin Kapkin until her departure in 1989...
. Sam and Jack organized a swimming session to help Jack regain the use of his legs. Jack asked Sam if she was married and had children. Sam didn't like talking about her husband and told Jack it wasn't the right time to be discussing personal matters. Later that evening while in the hospital room, Sam opened up to Jack about why she was sensitive about discussing her husband. Sam had a daughter called Jessica who suffered from a rare disease. Sam and her husband Shane travelled all over the world to find a cure, but nothing could save Jessica. The travelling cost a lot of money, so Shane turned to drug dealing to pay for it. During one of the drug deals Sam witnessed Shane shooting someone and turned him in to the police, sending him to jail.
Jack was very supportive of Sam when he found out about what she had been through. Jack than asked Sam if she could bring her son Rory in to meet him. She agreed, and the two bonded quickly. Sam and Jack organized a picnic so Jack could get to know Rory better. After mentioning his and Sam's old house, Rory suddenly clammed up and later apologised to Sam for saying too much. Jack realized Sam was hiding something and asked her what was wrong, but Sam simply said she and Rory were leaving the Bay and didn't give any more explanation. Jack was confused until Sam tearfully showed up on his doorstep to confess the whole truth about her problems with Shane. Sam explained that her real name was Kylie Deeks, which she'd changed to hide from Shane's henchmen who pursued her constantly. Jack was supportive and promised he'd always be there for Sam and Rory.
Sam organized another picnic with Jack, Rachel, Kim Hyde
Kim Hyde
Kimberly Jonathan "Kim" Hyde is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Chris Hemsworth. He made his first on screen appearance on 17 February 2004 and departed on 3 July 2007.-Casting:...
(Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth is an Australian actor most notable for portraying Thor in the Marvel Studios film Thor. Hemsworth is set to reprise his role as Thor in the upcoming films The Avengers in 2012 and Thor 2 in 2013. He also starred as Kim Hyde in the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
), Kit Hunter
Kit Hunter
Catherine Matilda "Kit" Hunter is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Amy Mizzi. Kit made her first on-screen appearance on 25 April 2003 and made her final appearence as a regular character in February 2004 but continued to reappear in a...
(Amy Mizzi
Amy Mizzi
Amy Mizzi is an Australian actress. She starred as Kit Hunter in the Australian soap opera Home and Away in 2003 and early 2004. Mizzi's departure from Home and Away was announced on 13 February 2004 but she continued to appear on a recurring basis throughout 2004 and returned in August 2005...
), and James. When she wondered off alone to fill a water bottle, she was confronted and chased by one of Shane's henchmen. Jack managed to find her after spotting her necklace on the ground, and Shane's henchman was arrested. Later on that day, Jack came home to find a note written by Sam. She explained that although she loved Jack, she and Rory had no choice but to leave Summer Bay now Shane knew where she was. Jack managed to track down Sam and Rory via police records and said a proper goodbye to them. Sam promised she'd return to Summer Bay if she was ever free of Shane. A few months later Sam fell down some stairs after fleeing from another one of Shane's henchmen. Rory phoned Jack to ask for help, and Jack arrived to offer Sam a place to stay while she recovered from her injuries. Jack and Sam's relationship soon restarted and Sam decided to stay in the Bay permanently.
Shane tracked Sam to Summer Bay again and kidnapped Rory. Jack pursued Shane's van in an illegal car chase, during which Rory was rescued but Shane was killed after his car rolled off the road. Sam and Jack soon got engaged despite Sam feeling insecure about Martha's presence in their lives, with Jack and Martha having problems making their divorce official and Jack often confiding in Martha instead of Sam. After Jack was shot and left in a coma, Sam channelled all her energy into helping him recover. Unfortunately Jack woke up when Martha was by his bedside and his romantic feelings for her were rekindled. Martha's presence in their lives caused many problems in the weeks leading up to Jack and Sam's wedding. Sam even caught Martha trying on her wedding dress. The night before the wedding Jack cheated on Sam with Martha, but Sam never found out about this and the wedding took place. Martha turned up at the church to stop the wedding but arrived after Jack and Sam had already been married. Sam was furious when she spotted Martha at the back of the church.
Johnny returned to the Bay, determined to murder Sally. Johnny had been in prison with Shane and knew the truth about the drug deals - it had actually been Sam who started the dealing. Knowing Sam would go to great lengths to stop Jack from finding out the truth about her past, Johnny blackmailed her into hiding him in Tony's house until he had a chance to kill Sally. During this time Johnny often threatened Sam, and on one occasion even beat and rape her. Although Sam was forced to play along with Johnny's plans to kill Sally, her conscience wouldn't let her stand by and do nothing when Johnny tried to stab Sally's foster son Ric Dalby (Mark Furze
Mark Furze
Mark Furze is an Australian actor and singer who is best known for his role as Eric "Ric" Dalby on the popular Australian soap opera Home and Away. Mark played the role of Ric from September 2004 to July 2008.-Career:...
), and she hit Johnny over the head with a cricket bat to subdue him. While Johnny was recovering in hospital he unsuccessfully tried to tell Rachel and Jack that Sam had been hiding him in Tony's house. Panicking, Sam switched Johnny's medication to give him a fatal overdose. Jack found out about the murder and her drug dealing past via a letter that Johnny Cooper had written and hidden and had every intention of arresting his wife for murder until Sam told him she was pregnant. Sam verbally attacked Martha, and threatened to turn Jack's life upside down if he handed her in to the police. During a scuffle with Jack, Sam was knocked to the ground and miscarried.
After her miscarriage Sam went to the city and asked Rory to run away with her, but Rory was scared of Sam and refused. Having lost her husband, her son, and her unborn baby as well as facing a murder charge, Sam had nothing left to live for and decided to commit suicide. Determined not to die in vain, Sam set up her death to make it look like Jack and Martha had murdered her, a final attempt to stop her husband and his ex-wife from reuniting. Sam bought heroin from a drug dealer and then attacked him so he'd be forced to bruise her in self-defence. She then returned to Summer Bay, broke into Roman's house and stole some of Martha's hair and a piece of paper. When Martha caught Sam in Roman's house, Sam scratched her face before leaving. She then asked Jazz to bring her some money, making it seem to Jazz like Sam wasn't in the frame of mind to end her life. Sam used the paper she'd stolen from Martha's house to write a suicide note that wasn't in her usual handwriting, took a dinghy out to sea and overdosed on heroin. Sam's body was discovered washed up on the beach the next morning. With the seemingly falsified suicide note, the scratch on Martha's face, the bruises on Sam's arms, and a strand of Martha's hair being discovered, the police had good reason to believe Jack and Martha had murdered Sam. Morag Bellingham
Morag Bellingham
Morag Bellingham is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Cornelia Frances. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 June 1988. She appeared until 1989 and briefly appeared in 1993. She returned yearly from 2001 until 2009 and...
(Cornelia Frances
Cornelia Frances
Cornelia Frances is a British-born actress based in Australia since the early 1970s. Frances is best known for her recurring role as judge Morag Bellingham on Home and Away.-Early life and personal life:...
) theorised that Sam had killed herself, which was proven at the last minute when Jack tracked down the drug dealer who'd sold Sam the heroin and been forced to bruise her. Sam's funeral was held in the city. Rory, who blamed Jack for Sam's death, ordered Jack not to attend.
Reception
Eleven Magazine opined that Sam caused "quite a bit of chaos in the sleepy town of Summer Bay". Scott Ellis of the Sun-HeraldSun-Herald
Sun-Herald could refer to:* The Sun-Herald, the Sunday edition of The Sydney Morning Herald, a newspaper based in Sydney, Australia* The Sun Herald, a newspaper based in Biloxi, Mississippi...
said Sam was like a "murderous psycho". Carolyn Stewart writing for TV Week
TV Week
TV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...
said that following Sam's "erractic behaviour" and murder of Johnny, that it "was only a matter of time before karma cxaught up with her" and she died. While Inside Soap
Inside Soap
Inside Soap is a weekly UK magazine, released every Tuesday. It covers current and future storylines in soap operas shown in the United Kingdom....
said that Sam's "cock-up" was not expecting that Morag would uncover the truth behind her death. They also opined that Sam should not have killed herself, because "revenge doesn't taste quite so sweet if you're not around to savour it."