Tug O'Neale
| Tug O'Neale | |||||||
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| Home and Away character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Tristan Bancks | ||||||
| Duration | 1992–1994 | ||||||
| First appearance | 20 May 1992 | ||||||
| Last appearance | 7 September 1994 | ||||||
| Introduced by | Des Monaghan | ||||||
| Classification | Former, regular | ||||||
| Profile | |||||||
| Occupation | Student (1992–94) Shop Assistant (1994) |
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| Father | Roy O'Neale |
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| Wife | Sarah Thompson |
| Aunts | Mavis Brown |
Peter "Tug" O'Neale is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Tristan Bancks. The actor was selected from 200 people who had auditioned for the role and was contracted to appear for one month. Bancks soon joined the regular cast and Tug became a prominent character. Tug fills the role of the villain and is characterised by his "hardened, streetwise tough kid" image. The serial created a backstory consisting of a mother who abandoned him and an alcoholic father. Bancks has credited Tug's troubled childhood as the reason viewers were able to relate to him.
Tug's storylines include bullying Damian Roberts (Matt Doran), behavioural issues, a feud with Shane Parrish (Dieter Brummer), relationships with Sarah Thompson (Laura Vasquez) and his school teacher Beth Armstrong (Toni Pearen). The character has also been used to portray a suicide attempt. After a series of misdemeanours Tug instigates a car crash to end his life. Bancks researched the issue to help him play the scenes and subsequently felt depressed. In 1994, Bancks left Home and Away to pursue other projects. He believed that Tug no longer had material to play because he had used up "so many complicated storylines". Tug left the series in September that year.
The character has been positively received by critics and viewers alike. Josephine Monroe writing for the TVTimes opined that Tug was "generally humiliated" throughout his tenure. Lisa Anthony from BIG! stated that Tug changed from "horrible" to "sloppy" through his romance with Sarah. Melissa Field said that Tug is always grumpy. Woman's Own reporter Mary Fletcher named him one of the show's "most interesting residents".
Bancks joined the cast of Home and Away in 1992 and he had previously undertaken a drama class which Bancks felt had well prepared him for the role. He was selected from 200 actors that auditioned for the role. Bancks felt that the "biggest thrill" of his career was when his agent informed him that he had secured the role. Bancks missed "muck-up day" at school because he was learning his scripts for his first episode and he began filming in March immediately after leaving school. Tug was originally only meant to be a guest character. Bancks signed a one-month contract with the serial when he was sixteen and was later promoted to the regular cast.
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