For actor Bojana Novakovic, the filming of Love Me has replicated parts of theatre, greater than tv.
For starters, Season 1 was shot in Melbourne in the course of the harshest lockdowns, which means the ensemble had been compelled to stick with each other in a bubble, whether or not at work or socialising.
By the time Season 2 was underway in late 2022 restrictions had lifted significantly, and with it the manufacturing intimacy that was a shared expertise.
“Shooting season two out of COVID was nice. The solely factor that wasn’t so nice about it, I suppose, was we didn’t all keep the identical lodge and keep in our bubble. Other individuals received to hang around with Hugo (Weaving) on the weekends, or Heather (Mitchell)!” she tells TV Tonight.
“This sooner or later, I wished everyone to come back to my place. But everybody was like, ‘Can’t we simply exit to a bar?’ I by no means invited anyone to my place once more. I used to be so upset.
“So first season was most likely just a little bit extra like theatre.”
Novakovic, who had not too long ago filmed Instinct with Alan Cumming within the US, additionally welcomed the shift from procedural work to a extra introspective work.
“Most of our forged is theatre skilled. So now we have an excellent understanding of dramaturgy. I’m not saying meaning we should always form tales, however you do positively understand how to discuss your character in a dramaturgical means.
“It’s very collaborative., I had by no means labored like that, as a result of I’ve labored on procedural reveals the place you simply come to work and should you don’t like one thing… there’s no beating across the bush. (Alan Cumming and I) are fairly trustworthy individuals. So we’ll come to work and if one thing isn’t working it’s ‘lower this, lower this, change this.’
“Whereas on one thing like Love Me, you wish to have a dialog to discover. (You ask the writers) ‘What did you guys suppose whenever you wrote this scene, as a result of I’m not fairly understanding it, right here’s my perspective. ‘And then you definately up with what’s finest. It’s so refreshing.”
Novakovic is secretive about new forged becoming a member of this season, however returning forged embrace William Lodder, Bob Morley, Celia Pacquola, Shalom Brune-Franklin, and Mitzi Ruhlmann.
She’s additionally not giving a lot away concerning the storyline.
“I can solely let you know that Aaron (Lodder) has a child and Clara (Novakovic) needs to have a toddler. So she has to take a seat there and watch her child brother -who didn’t ever need this kid- have a toddler whereas she desperately needs a child, and is struggling to have one,” she reveals.
“Clara is certainly opening up extra on this season. We see who she is when she needs one thing and the way she goes about getting it. But she will be able to’t management how that makes her really feel when that’s a child.”
Love Me, which centre across the Mathieson household 9 months after S1, had fairly the affect on its viewers if random strangers are any indicator.
“Every day any person stopped me on the road on my means house to inform me how a lot they cherished season one asking, ‘Will there be one other season?’” she explains.
“There had been these deep conversations each frickin’ day. Sometimes I needed to run away from individuals as a result of I don’t have time! One girl was so intrigued by how we used Melbourne and he or she was obsessive about it.
“But it’s not my life. It’s the character’s life. So I didn’t have to speak about my very own experiences whereas the individuals who I met on the road actually appear to wish to share their very own experiences.
“For it to elicit these precise deep, profound conversations with full strangers was actually pleasant.”
Yet it additionally represents the sort of work Novakovic most needs in Television: a high quality drama with roles that require actual dedication.
“This sort of tv has a similarity to theatre as a result of it’s an ensemble forged,” Novakovic acknowledges.
“That’s all I would like. I would like one TV job a 12 months, that goes via a number of seasons, and I can come and see these individuals once more. Where it’s constant for six months and we’re creating themes collectively.
“We because the forged come from it from the within of it. So now we have communal discussions on weekends after we’re collectively, with character decisions and issues like that. That’s not that frequent. That’s why you do it. You do it for that kind of dedication and that depth of exploration.
“So the present may be very particular, is what I’m attempting to say.”
Love Me returns Thursday on Binge and 8:30pm Sunday on FOX Showcase.
