Matilda Hunter

Matilda Harriet Jane Hunter (often referred to as "Mattie") is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. She has been portrayed by actress Indiana Evans since January 2004.
Character

When Matilda’s father, Jack Hunter, decided there was no future on the farm, he sent his youngest daughter and her twin brother, Henry (Tobi Atkins), to boarding school. Matilda and Henry would visit their family during school holidays in Summer Bay.

This became more of a permanent arrangement when their father died and Matilda soon settled into Summer Bay. While at first Matilda was a selfish, snobby "drama queen", she mellowed.

She is passionate about music, movies and horse riding and is kind and caring toward animals. When Matilda met Lucas Holden (Rhys Wakefield), her new neighbour, they soon fell in love. When Matilda's mother Beth (Clarissa House) and Lucas' father Tony (Jon Sivewright) fell in love, they decided to share the same house.

When Matilda and Lucas broke up, Matilda was devastated. As a result of this stress, issues with self-esteem plus having family members Kit (Amy Mizzi) and Robbie (Jason Smith) lost in the bush, Matilda developed bulimia. Having overcome that, she is currently trying to focus on friends, school and a new relationship with Ric Dalby (Mark Furze), whom she lost her virginity to.

She had developed a rivalry with Belle Taylor due to Belle breaking up Cassie Turner, Matilda's best friend, and Ric. Ironically, Matilda, now dating Cassie's and Belle's ex-boyfriend Ric, and Belle, now dating Matilda's ex-boyfriend Lucas, were forced to meet together due to Ric and Lucas' close friendship. Although Belle and Matilda are not the closest of friends, they are no longer arch-rivals.

Then, Beth, her mother died in a car crash. This sent her into absolute shock and devastation which made her run away from home. Along the way she fell into the sea. Lily jumps in after her but a sudden ocean rip knocks her unconscious placing both their lives in danger. However Ric then rescues the both of them from further danger.

After finding out that Ric knew that Tony had slept with her English teacher, Naomi Preston, she began to shut him out and she and Lucas got drunk in the beach party when at Drew's 18th birthday. When Matilda sees Ric with another woman she thinks he is cheating on her. She soon finds out that this is untrue. In an attempt to make her see that he loves her, he gets the engagement ring that her mother left her in her will and gets it shaped and resized.

Then, a new teen named Reuben arrived. She took an instant liking to him and in the process got Ric concerned that she was cheating on him. His suspicions were confirmed when he caught the pair kissing at a party. Despite Ric's attempts to reassure her that they will always be together, Matilda didn't think so. Feeling alone she left Summer Bay with Reuben, determined never to return.

Reuben has tried to kiss her more than once but she resists saying she does not feel that way about him and also they always get interuppted by Ric, who had a punch up with Reuben as he thought they were having sex in his van. It was then confirmed that it wasn't Mattie and it was another girl. Although Ric wanted to try to reason with her, Matilda told him she never wanted to speak to or see him again.

After her best friend Cassie persuaded her to come home, Matilda tried to show Ric they still have a future together, by asking to live with him. Unfortunately, Sally decided it was too early in their relationship for this to happen. Matilda decided to move into the Diner Flat, sharing it with Martha. After sharing the flat with Martha for a bit, Matilda decided it was too much for her so she decided to move back in with Tony and Lucas.

More recently Ric found a pregnancy test in the bin which was Emma's but he thought it was Mattie's. When he said, "We can work this out, I promise," she told him it was none of his business, thinking it was about her cheating on a test. Then he said, "It's my baby," and she told him that she wasn't pregnant. Donald Fisher, the deputy principal, eventually found out that Matilda and her friend, Emma, had cheated on their first HSC exam. After talking to Sally Fletcher about her punishment, Sally and Don decided to take marks off her exam. However, Matilda had already scored below the pass mark, leading her to fail her best subject, Maths.

Lately Matilda and her boyfriend Ric have been going through tough times after Ric's attraction to a married woman called Viv Anderson. There were many problems but they managed to get over it. Recently, Noel Anderson, Viv's husband, suspects Viv of cheating with Ric. However, he was cheating himself with a blonde woman. At the year 12 formal, Ric and Matilda break up after Noel came and accused Ric in front of Matilda. Matilda said that she could not trust him anymore and breaks up. Ric then kisses Viv passionately. The next day Matilda and Ric talk things through and are back together. Or were they? Just a few days later, Viv revealed to Matilda about her and Ric sleeping together. Ric denied this instanly but when Matilda overheard Ric telling his best mate, Lucas, about Viv being pregnant, she knew that enough was enough! She had announced that their relationship was over; this time, it was for ever.

In the upcoming 2008 season, she is set to strike up a long-term relationship with new character, Roman. Although Ric desperately continues to try to win her back, she then says to him "go find some other woman to spend the rest of your life with". So are they really over? Only time will tell.

Family Tree

*Graham Walters (grandfather, deceased) married to Amanda Walters (step-grandmother)
**Elizabeth Walters (mother, deceased), married to Jack Hunter (father, deceased) and Rhys Sutherland (divorced)
***Scott Hunter (brother), engaged to Hayley Lawson
****Noah Lawson II (nephew)
***Kit Hunter (sister), in a relationship with Kim Hyde
****Archie Hunter (nephew)
***Robert Hunter (brother), married to Natasha Andrews
****Ella Hunter (niece)
***Henry Hunter (brother)

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu