The Actor Who Played Sammy On ‘Dance Academy’ Has Apologised For Ruining Our Childhood
If you grew up watching Dance Academy, there’s one moment from the show you’ve probably never recovered from.
It was the reason you sobbed into your pillow, the reason you developed serious trust issues, and even the mention of it to this day can cause your eyes to start welling up.
Yes, I am talking about Sammy’s untimely death.
Refresher: The day of the Prix De Fonteyn, Sammy goes for a jog to ease his nerves before the big dance competition. Everything happens off-screen, but through a series of events, we learn Sammy has been in an accident and was hit by a car.
He dies on the way to the hospital. BEFORE HE GETS A CHANCE TO DANCE!
Ugh, it’s so grossly unfair.
Seeing as it’s been six years since that horrific moment in our lives, Punkee caught up with Thom Green, who played Sammy, to demand an apology see how he’s been travellin’.
Here’s what we learned.
Thom is very aware of the heartache Sammy has caused and is sorry about it:
“People write to me almost daily on Twitter or Instagram saying they can’t believe the producers ‘killed me off’ and/or that they bawled their eyes out.
“Sometimes they even seem surprised I’m still posting on my Instagram – as if Thom Green died!”
He takes time to apologise for the tidal wave of tears:
“When I have time I usually write back to people to say I’m sorry, explain that I left the show to explore other avenues, and assure them I’m still alive and well.”
sammy on dance academy died i'm not okay pic.twitter.com/HNYFA7P7R4
— love, lany / 11 ???? (@L0VENlCK) August 2, 2017
Thom thinks if Sammy were alive today he would’ve gone overseas to dance:
“He would’ve fallen in love with a nice young man and would be Skyping his friends back in Sydney whenever he had a spare minute.”
Moving on from Sammy’s death, some of the best fan encounters Thom has experienced have been about Sammy’s sexuality:
“At the time we shot that storyline I remember thinking that we were doing something different in young adult television. Before us, I remember Neighbours doing a lesbian storyline and that was it. It just wasn’t seen on Aussie television.
“When Season 2 had just finished I had a couple of young men approach me and tell me that Sammy’s ‘coming out’ actually helped them accept their sexuality or helped them come out to their family/friends. I’m really proud to be a part of a show that has had that kind of influence.”
Though he thinks Aussie TV still has some way to go when it comes to representation of same-sex couples:
“In recent years we’re starting to see it a little more with shows like Barracuda and ABC’s Riot but there could definitely be more. You’ll notice that over the last 5-10 years American TV shows have just exploded with LGBTQ characters/storylines which I think is fantastic!
“Young audiences need that. They need to be exposed more to these characters – whether they’re struggling with their sexuality or not. So, I still think we have a ways to go in Aussie TV when it comes to tackling same-sex relationships.
“We’ve made some strides with shows that centre on different ethnicities/religions/cultures in recent years so why can’t we do the same thing with sexuality?”
Thom has been busy acting since Dance Academy and splits his time between Australia and LA:
He’s pretty chill on what the future holds. “I’ve been auditioning for Aussie and American projects, trying my hand at writing and working a normal job just to keep my sanity. I’m flying back over to the U.S in a couple months so I’m just going to see what happens.”
R.I.P Sammy. May you forever dance in our hearts.