Rebecca Napier (also Robinson) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Jane Hall. The show suffered a ratings decline in early 2007 and plans were put in place for storylines to focus more on relationships and family dynamics. During this period, the character of Rebecca was created and introduced. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 13 July 2007. Rebecca is the mother of Oliver Barnes and Declan Napier. Rebecca departed on 15 March 2011, after Hall chose to leave the serial. Hall reprised the role in February 2014 and again in September 2019.
Creation and casting
In 2007, Neighbours suffered a ratings decline and plans were put into place to take a "back to basics" approach where storylines would become less controversial and return to the focus on relationships and family dynamics. It was at this point that the character of Rebecca was created, and Jane Hall was cast in the role. The character was to create a family unit for existing character Oliver Barnes (David Hoflin). Of her casting Hall said "Neighbours is a legend of a show, and now, it's getting back to the heart-land, to relationships and family and the ins-and-outs of life." Hall later commented that her character had "shaken up" the series and made it more interesting, she also said that Rebecca has been on tumultuous journey since her inception.
Before the character had appeared on-screen there was speculation that Hall wanted to leave after only one day of filming as Rebecca. During an interview on Rove, Hall spoke about her melt down and what had caused her upset, saying "There is about fifteen to twenty minutes in the studio, per scene to shoot it. So I come in and it's my first day in studio and they have probably my most crucial scene, which is where I [Rebecca] met my son, I've never seen him before, I gave him up when I was 17. A pivotal scene and they say can we shoot it in five minutes, cut along story short I was crap, I went into the producers office and said you've made a terrible mistake, sack me now, we had to re-shoot it, and I wasn't much good the second time around either." She also said that in time she got to grips with her character and managed to portray her to an extent she was herself, happy with.
Development
Characterisation
In her fictional backstory, Rebecca became estranged from her family after she became pregnant at seventeen. Rebecca's father, Alan (Barry Friedlander), pressured her into giving her baby son to Clifford (Andrew Wemyss) and Pamela Barnes (Brooke Nicol) to raise as their own. This forced Rebecca to grow up quickly. Unable to watch her son grow up with another family, Rebecca moved away. She later gave birth to another son, Declan (James Sorensen), and raised him alone. She did not stop thinking about the son she gave up years earlier. Rebecca raised Declan on her own and refused to accept charity from anyone.
As a result of her troubled past, Rebecca can appear to be "hard and stubborn". However, a writer for the official Neighbours website said Rebecca was also "strong, positive and incredibly kind-hearted". A Holy Soap reporter called Rebecca "beautiful and poised", but noted that she was hiding a broken heart over Oliver's adoption. Hall said Rebecca was "a very dramatic, heartfelt, heart-warming, serious character", which was not like her. The actress also explained that she relished the light-hearted, comedic stuff, which she did not get to explore that often with Rebecca. Hall added that she loved the "heartfelt moments" between Rebecca and her sons.
Relationship with Michael Williams
In November 2010, Rebecca found herself drawn to Michael Williams (Sandy Winton) after she is blackmailed by Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis). As Rebecca and Michael spent more time together, they learned that they shared the same taste in music and they developed a friendship. However, there was also "a romantic spark" between them. When asked why Rebecca is drawn to Michael, Hall replied "Mike is really the antithesis of Paul and he just starts to look like a great option to Rebecca. He's this squeaky-clean, genuine guy, while all Rebecca can see in Paul is deceit and a web of lies with a shadowy history. She sees Mike as a breath of fresh air that she wants to have in her life. Rebecca and Mike are also the same age and were into the same stuff as kids." Hall stated that there was chemistry between Rebecca and Michael and thought they were well suited. She explained that she was fed up of Rebecca always going back to Paul, as she thought it sent out the wrong message to people. Hall also enjoyed working with Winton during the storyline.