Hailey Pinto: Actress opens up about her first Home and Away Logies nomination

Almost a year to the day since her first scenes aired on Home and Away, Hailey Pinto will walk the red carpet at this year’s TV Week Logie awards

The 24-year-old, who plays Abigail Fowler on the popular soap, is in contention for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent.

“I’m so excited,” she said.

“My first episode aired on August 8 (last year), so it’s been a real wild ride.

“But it was also kind of nice to be able to sit with the news for a little bit, because it’s quite overwhelming, as exciting as it is.

Pinto, who attended Sydney’s Screenwise Film & TV School, graduating in 2001, said she initially struggled to get representation after graduating.

“I went through during COVID, so it was all kind of a great, big mess,” she said.

“After I graduated it was really hard to break in and get an agent, but, eventually I was able to get one a year-and-a-half after I graduated, and three months later I booked Home and Away … it was the first acting job I have ever been paid for.”

In the year since, Pinto has been front and centre in some major storylines, including one which saw her character Abby struggle with substance abuse.

“It was a really important story for me — I really took (the story) under my wing, and I really wanted to protect it and do it justice as much as possible,” she said.

“Addiction is such a heavy topic that affects so many people, and I know people around me (who have suffered), so it was important to me.”

Pinto is not the only Home and Away star up for a gong, with Lynne McGranger, who famously left the show earlier this year after playing her character Irene for 33 years, also noimnated.

McGranger is competing for the coveted Gold Logie.

“She is no longer working on set anymore, but I was able to speak with her a little bit,” Pinto said of their duel nominations.

Home and Away’s Lynne McGranger and Hailey Pinto are nominees for the 65th TV Week Logie Awards, airing exclusively on Seven, Sunday August 3.