Let's be honest, Brax can return as many times as he likes to Summer Bay but he'll never be Martha.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Martha, played by Jodi Anasta, was the Bobby Fischer of our time on Home & Away. When Anasta departed the show in 2010, albeit under a cloud of controversy, fans and network executives were disappointed, however this week signalled her return to the small screen.
Sadly, she won't be reprising her role as Alf Stewart's feisty granddaughter; instead she is starring in a new short film about purses.
The actor and model has designed six new styles for Mon Purse and stars in Mon Purse by Jodi – a film project captured and directed by digital influencer Margaret Zhang.
"It's a fashion film about the different types of girls who buy the Mon Purse. There's the sporty girl and the girl who loves to get all dressed up and go out," Anasta said.
"It is a dream come true and working with Margaret has been amazing, she's a creative genius."
The three minute film - a combination of film noir tropes and '80s soap opera glamour - stars Anasta as a fashionable Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor, minus the comedy.
We open with The New York Times, with the screaming headline "What's next for Jodi Anasta?", being thrown into frame before Anasta, cast as a snippy publicist, briefs a reporter on what Anasta The Star "is working on right now".
Cut to Anasta The Star who enters and begins an interview.
"So, tell us, orange juice or apple juice?" probing reporter asks.
"I thought we were talking about my film?" Anasta The Star blinks.
"What about tea or coffee?" the aspiring Liz Hayes asks.
"What about my handbag collection? Anasta replies as microphones appear from nowhere in front of her face.
It all becomes too much and Anasta The Star runs out onto a running track, in thigh high lace up boots, before morphing into a brunette Sally Pearson running laps in activewear. Think Run Lola Run without the subtitles or violence.
Her performance as a gatekeeper determined to keep the probing journo on the topic of purses and off the topic of the elephant in the room - her divorce from former NRL star Braith Anasta perhaps? - is method acting at its finest.
Actual reporters offered recent interviews with Anasta have been told: "Jodi will not be discussing her personal life".
She also shines as Anasta The Star and Anasta The Brunette Sally Pearson - personas fans of her Instagram account would be familiar with.
So far the film has been viewed close to 200 times on YouTube.
Anasta was unsure of where the film will be released following its official premiere in Sydney on Tuesday, however the six purses she has collaborated on are now on sale online and in Myer's Sydney and Melbourne stores.
The Logie winner hosed down speculation that she will be relocating to the United States to pursue her acting career, instead she has been auditioning for local projects while taking additional acting lessons.
"Home & Away was my first acting job after my very first audition. I had a tutor on set to teach me the ropes as it was a foreign industry to me but I loved it. I'm doing a lot of classes now and hope to land more roles in the future. I'm the sort of person who just throws myself into things and just sees what happens."
