Can you describe Helen in five words?

Vulnerable, strong, quirky, brave, insecure.

When you first read the script, what drew you to the project and your character?

I read the first ten pages of this script and knew instantly that I wanted to be involved. The writing is really incredible. They sent me the next four episodes before I met with Harry and Jack, and I just wanted to know what happened next!

I instantly related to Helen and loved how she seemed to be the moral compass in this show, and I was loving all the surprises, twists and turns that were coming around every corner

What can audiences expect from the series?

I think that audiences can expect to be surprised and shocked, I definitely was! When I read the last episode I had a bit of a meltdown, I couldn’t tell anyone what happened and I also didn’t want to – I want all of my friends and family to be able to watch this. I was like, ‘I need to talk to someone on the show because we need to discuss what on earth is happening,’ so it’s a lot! Audiences can expect to feel every spectrum of emotion – it’s what I experienced and what they will experience too if we do our jobs right!

Tell us about Helen, who she is and why she is unique?

Helen is a loveable character. She is someone that grew up in this town, has never really left and has faced a lot of issues that she has suppressed. She is stuck in a relationship because it might be a safe haven versus what is really right for her. The journey that she goes through in this show is interesting because it really is about her personal growth through the circumstances of what is going on around her. It’s beautiful to see her come to life as she is affected by what is going on. She goes through an amazing journey of self-discovery. It’s about finding confidence, finding connection in other people and allowing them to change your perspective on something.

Helen is just starting out as a police probationary officer - how does this naivety and willingness to please help when she is faced with this case?

Being a police officer is something that she’s always wanted to do, but has been too scared to. She’s finally got the courage to do it and I just thought, she’s brave. But her naivety in this field is what makes her amazing because she’s not jaded. She’s willing to look at someone and think I trust my gut, and I know that you are good and I’m going to help you through this. It makes her protective, it makes her look further than what is on the page and that is special.

What is it about The Man that makes Helen want to help him?

Instantly, there’s this beautiful connection, he trusts her straight away. When you wake up with no memory of who you are or about anything in your life, it’s going to be very difficult to trust someone and instantly they form a trust, and that carries throughout the show as they get to know each other for who they are and what they’ve been through. That trust just builds and grows and I really love their relationship, they go through every spectrum of everything, there is nothing that they don’t do in this.

Helen is in a turbulent relationship with her fiancé. How does this relationship develop and change throughout the course of the season?

They’ve been together for five years and they’re in a rut. The relationship is kind of stale, Ethan follows his own rules, he’s in his own world and Helen follows his rules. She doesn’t really know how to find confidence in herself because she’s just been in his world for so long and that is what she discovers from meeting The Man. It’s learning to trust your own instincts and find your own self confidence and not go back to what she knows in the safety of her relationship. I think there are times when we all feel stuck and there are times that we all don’t really believe in ourselves, and people can come into our lives and help us realise that we can!

How has it been filming in South Australia? Does this environment contribute to your performance and in what way?

Shooting in the outback is a huge part of this show. The look and style of the show is so cemented in the Australian outback. We’ve got the red dust on our boots every day, on our clothes, it is constantly a part of it and when we were shooting in the outback, there’s the flies, there’s the dust storms. We had a huge dust storm; Jamie and I were shooting in a big scene one day and it got so bad that we had to stop and come back to it. And that’s just part of being in the outback, you have to deal with the elements and figure it out, and we all did, it was great!

What were some of your favourite scenes to shoot?

There is one scene that involves stunt work, and we were all together, and that was a fun week. We were in a safe space, in a studio so it felt pretty relaxed – we were literally playing tag on set, probably driving people crazy. But it was fun because we all got to be together and do some fun stunt work together and that’s so much fun to shoot!

The dark humour is subtle but a key part of the show – how do you balance those lighter moments amongst such intense scenes?

Helen’s lightness is very much authentic to her, it’s the same as real life, nothing is all darkness or all light. The best shows and films that I like to watch have a mix of both, because that does represent life and I think that we can all relate to laughing when we feel sad, or crying when we’re really happy, and the show brings a nice level of that. It feels like life by bringing in all these mixed emotions and I think Helen is a big part of that.

What has it been like working alongside the rest of the cast?

It’s been amazing working with everyone. Working with Jamie is just a joy, its easy, he’s really fun. And working with Greg, who plays my fiancée, Ethan, he’s so funny! I had no idea who Ethan was as a character on a page, I was trying to work him out, and I met Greg and I was like, ‘Oh you’re so likeable and so funny, you play this in such an interesting way.’

I love Shalom, I’m obsessed with her, she’s great. We hang out every day, she’s amazing. And Darri, he’s so great, he is so terrifying in the one scene we have together, but he’s such a teddy bear in real life.