Jack Scully

Fictional character

Jack Scully is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Jay Bunyan. He made his first on screen appearance on 17 April 2001. The character was initially played by Paul Pantano in a guest role. When he returned in 2002, Bunyan had taken over the role. Jack is the first son of Joe and Lyn Scully. He departed on 8 December 2004, with a further appearance on 11 January 2005.

Following the introduction of the Scully family in 1999, Jack was often mentioned by his parents and siblings. In 2001, Paul Pantano was cast in the role of Jack and introduced to the show. Pantano and Jack left that same year. When the character was reintroduced in 2002, Jay Bunyan took over the role. Bunyan was auditioned for the role in New Zealand by Jan Russ. He relocated to Melbourne for filming and signed a two year contract. Bunyan's departure was confirmed the following year, as he wanted to pursue new acting roles in the United States and tour with his one man play The Packer. He told James Elliott of the BBC that the producers had wanted him to sign a contract for another few years to keep the Scully family alive on the show. However, he admitted that he wanted to finish as he had had enough. Bunyan filmed his final scenes on 30 July 2004, alongside Ang, who returned from New Zealand for two days.|sign=The BBC on Jack
Jack is the eldest son of Joe (Shane Connor) and Lyn Scully (Janet Andrewartha). He is the brother of Stephanie (Carla Bonner), Felicity (Holly Valance), Michelle (Kate Keltie) and Oscar (Ingo Dammer Smith). Before his introduction, Jack was said to be a champion footballer playing for Barnsford FC in England. The character returned to Neighbours in 2002, now played by Bunyan. Jack's girlfriend, Lori Lee (Ang), was introduced a week later and it was revealed that Jack had been dropped by Barnsford and he had spent his time in New Zealand with Lori and her family. Jack and Nina are cast in Harold Bishop's (Ian Smith) play Mission Erinsborough, and they began an affair. Peter Mattessi of The Age said Jack and Nina's love "bubbled until it almost erupted." When Nina told Jack she was not ready to have sex with him, he cheated on her with Edwina Valdez (Lucia Smyrk). Nina later broke up with him and Jack became depressed. Jack encountered Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte), who had just been rejected by a younger guy, in the pub and she invited him back to her hotel room. Her character became confused about her love life and struggled with her feelings for Jack. She decided to leave Erinsborough to go visit her father in India. Goodrem returned to Neighbours in September 2004 to tie up Nina's storylines. Goodrem told Jackie Brygel of TV Week that Nina returned to Erinsborough because she was missing Jack, the love of her life.

In June 2004, Jack became the centre of a storyline which saw him partying and taking drugs. When he finds himself being mocked by his co workers on the building site, his frustration leads him to start partying in nightclubs to forget his problems. Police constable Olivia McPherson (Silvia de Crespigny) was introduced to the storyline shortly after. She and Jack meet in a nightclub and he realises she likes partying as much as he does. Bunyan told a writer for TV Week: "This is the first time Jack's met a girl who is into what he's into. He latches onto her and, once again, he thinks he's found the love of his life." Bunyan explained "Jack's very tired and weary eyed and he gets up a ladder without a harness, and goes to do a roof job and has a terrible slip." Olivia persuades Jack to frame Darren Stark (Todd MacDonald) for the theft. Bunyan said Jack would have taken the blame for the theft himself if Olivia had not been pressuring him. Becoming worried about Jack, Max tells Steph about the incident and she confronts Jack about his partying and her suspicions that he is taking drugs. Bunyan said Jack would have "a lot of brushes with death" before his departure from the series. The BBC said Jack's most notable moments were "Playing football for Barnsford in England" and "Cheating on Lori with Nina." Linda Barnier of the Newcastle Herald said Jack was a womaniser who could not keep out of trouble. Ahead of Jack's departure, critics for the Herald Sun noted "it won't be an easy last few weeks. He's been causing a stir with his drug use and partying."