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 pursue a career in the United States.
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 triangle 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 feud with Johnny Cooper (Callan Mulvey). He physically attacks Sam and threatens her son, Rory Tolhurst (Jack Rickard), to force her into helping with his plan to kill Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie). Chapnik told a reporter from The Sun that Johnny "scares Sam, she knows that she has no choice but to help him." Johnny begins blackmailing Sam and she decides to attack him with a cricket bat. Johnny survives and is taken to hospital where Sam murders him by administering a srynge of drugs. Despite her actions Jack reads a letter that Johnny wrote detailing the truth about Sam's past. 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".
Read more about this topic: Sam Holden (Home And Away)
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