Lukas Radovich, who plays Ryder Jackson on Home and Away, has had his character go through a lot recently. He’s understandably anxious after nearly suffocating when he was buried in a coffin for an internet ‘competition’!
In addition to the stress of his near-death experience, he has to deal with the wrath of his grandfather Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher).
Alf has been furious with Ryder’s accomplice Theo Poulos (Matt Wilson), blaming him for all that has happened.
Worrying about his wife Martha Stewart’s (Belinda Giblin) kidney failing has made him more prone than normal to going off the deep end. However, after denouncing Theo to the cops for stealing the Polaris as a joke, Theo finds himself in court.
“Ryder isn’t thrilled with Alf’s treatment of Theo since he realises he wasn’t at blame for what happened,” Lukas told What To Watch.
“Alf guards his clan with his life. But it’s partly because of what’s going on with Martha that he’s shown his frustrations and lack of control towards Theo.
“Ryder doesn’t want to concern his family about what he’s been through since he understands they’ve been dealing with a lot of stress.”
“He’s having trouble coping because he can’t articulate or communicate about how he’s feeling.”
When Ryder gets stuck in a backroom after his shift at Salt, it throws him for a loop and causes him to have a panic attack!
“Being imprisoned in the store cupboard reminds him of being stuck in the coffin, so he’s not in a good mood,” Lukas explained, who previously admitted that filming the ‘buried alive’ scenes was terrifying!
“Doing the storeroom sequences was a lot more fun!” Lukas cracked a joke.
“Because the door doesn’t lock, one of the art department members was crouching outside holding the door open.” At the very least, there was another person in the room with me!”
Ryder realises it’s time to seek help after his latest anxiety attack. He moved into one of the vans to escape the turmoil at home, where he is still at conflict with his family. He agrees to seek therapy after hearing from his frightened aunt Roo Stewart (Georgie Parker).
“He starts talking to someone at Lifeline,” Lukas said of Ryder’s decision to contact the well-known Australian crisis assistance organisation.
“When things become too much for him to handle, he notices a flyer with the phone number and dials it. It is unquestionably beneficial.
Fortunately for Lukas, someone in the know gave him some pointers on how to call the crisis assistance line…
He said that “Courtney Miller, who plays Bella Nixon, volunteers at Lifeline.”
“Courtney studied psychology in college, so she comes in once a week to work a shift and take calls.
“There’s a scene in which Ryder dials Lifeline, and I handed her the screenplay and asked if it looked normal for me to speak in this manner.”
“‘Oh you wouldn’t say this, you wouldn’t say this,’ she said. When it came to the conversation, she was quite helpful.”
The Stewart family is generally so strong, so it’s been heartbreaking to see them fall apart in recent months due to Martha and Roo’s feud over the kidney transplant and Ryder’s move out.
Lukas, on the other hand, is eager to reassure followers that things WILL improve!
“Because the Stewart family is one of the Bay’s strongest, they’ll always come back to being united with one another!” You might expect some pleasant surprises.”
