When ABC's award-winning drama The Newsreader was commissioned for a second series, leading lady Anna Torv was thrilled. Not only is the role of spiky, vulnerable news anchor Helen Norville "a joy to play", her co-stars Sam Reid and William McInnes, director Emma Freeman and the whole team clicked right from the get go, which is rare. "Sometimes you do and sometimes you really don't; you never know when it's going to happen - but this was just a perfect little group," Anna says.
The new series begins in 1987, a year after season one left off, with Helen Norville and Dale Jennings now established as TV's "Golden Couple of News", perfectly matched on-screen and off. But behind the scenes cracks are starting to show with seismic changes about to hit the nation, the media industry and Helen's private life.
Helen is a wonderfully complex character, says Anna. There's the polished TV presenter complete with feisty alpha personality juxtaposed with the fragile human who can and does mess up all the time. "Helen's fun to play because you can fly off the handle and you don't have to hold any of the stuff in. It's like you can just shoot from the hip," she explains. "I don't think you have to like every character you play but I do like Helen. I don't know how I'd feel if she was my friend, but I'm sad for her, especially in this series."
The style of the Gold Coast house we have chosen for The Weekly's exclusive photo shoot with Anna deliberately reflects the look and feel of The Newsreader - shoulder pads and big hair excepted. Anna was a child in the '80s and says the show is a brilliantly observed period piece but it's not a pastiche.
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