Terese Willis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Rebekah Elmaloglou | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 2013–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | 14 May 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Richard Jasek | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spin-off appearances |
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Terese Willis is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Rebekah Elmaloglou. The actress was cast in the role after attending an audition in late 2012. Before she began filming her first scenes in early February 2013, Elmaloglou had to ask the producers to change the pronunciation of her character's name. Elmaloglou's character and her family were created around the character of Brad Willis (Kip Gamblin), who was reintroduced after twenty years as part of an ongoing overhaul of the show's cast and renewed focus on family units. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 14 May 2013.
Terese is portrayed as being ambitious, organised, hard-working and a good mother. Elmaloglou said she admired Terese and that while they shared some similarities, they did not have much in common. Terese was introduced as the manager of Lassiter's Hotel, owned by Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis). Terese and Paul share a love/hate relationship, but despite the tension between them, they work well together. They eventually start a relationship and get married. Terese's other storylines have revolved around the breakup of her marriage to Brad, her alcoholism, an attempted assault by Ezra Hanley (Steve Nation), a breast cancer diagnosis and relationships with Paul's son Leo Tanaka (Tim Kano) and Paul's half-brother Glen Donnelly (Richard Huggett). Terese's turbulent marriage to Paul was rekindled in the serial's finale episode; she returned in a regular capacity for the series' revival in 2023, which focused on the character's wedding to Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney).