| Justin Morgan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Home and Away character | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | James Stewart | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2016– | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 7 June 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Lucy Addario | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Justin Morgan is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away, played by James Stewart. The actor was contacted by his agent and the head of drama at Seven Network about the role. After hearing their pitch, Stewart auditioned and won the part. He began filming in December 2015, and made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 7 June 2016. Justin was introduced to the show along with his three siblings; Tori Morgan (Penny McNamee), Brody Morgan (Jackson Heywood) and Mason Morgan (Orpheus Pledger). The family received immediate comparisons to the show's popular Braxton brothers.
Justin is portrayed as an impulsive, aggressive, "all-round typical Aussie bloke". He takes his role as head of the family seriously and is very protective of his siblings. The character's early storylines saw him clash with Martin Ashford (George Mason) and help save the life of Summer Bay stalwart Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher). The Morgans are soon revealed to be in witness protection, following the murders of their parents by a drugs syndicate, who start targeting the siblings. The storyline saw the family held hostage, threatened, and involved in a plane crash. Justin is later shot at and stabbed by corrupt police officer Ranae Turner (Sacha Horler).
During the witness protection storyline, Justin is reunited with his daughter Ava Gilbert (Grace Thomas), and he develops a relationship with Phoebe Nicholson (Isabella Giovinazzo), to whom he later becomes engaged. Following Giovinazzo's decision to leave the show, the couple break up when Phoebe leaves to pursue her music career in the United States. The character is then involved in an on/off relationship with Scarlett Snow (Tania Nolan). Later storylines have seen Justin begin a relationship with Willow Harris (Sarah Roberts), endure Ava's kidnapping, and targeted in a revenge campaign by Ebony Harding (Cariba Heine). For his portrayal of Justin, Stewart has received nominations for Best Daytime Star at the Inside Soap Awards and Most Popular Actor at the Logie Awards. The character was branded "the Morgan trouble magnet" by a critic for Soaplife.