POPSUGAR: What drew you to your respective roles?
Bella Heathcote: I found the story incredibly gripping. I loved both Laura and Andy's arcs and their fundamental drive — Laura's was to protect her daughter, and Andy's was to uncover the truth — and the tension that arises because of the clash of those two motivations.
Toni Collette: I love this story as a whole, not just my role. I really love that my character is trying to break this inherited generational trauma by controlling her daughter's life. But actually, she's setting her daughter up for more of it. So I always find that stuff really interesting. And I think that the character of Andy is forced into a kind of situation where she has to step up and really be brave. Actually, she's the one who may potentially break the cycle of all these secrets and horrid behaviours.
PS: Did you read the Karin Slaughter book that inspired the show?
BH: I did. We were both told not to, and I disobeyed the order — only because the show, pretty early on, departs hugely from where the book leads to. So I read it when I was still in the audition process because I was desperate to know what happened and I only had access to one script, but I never referred to it after that point.
TC: I rarely look at source material because, ultimately, I'm married to the script, and that's what I've got to rely on.
PS: What was your favourite moment on set?
BH: Pranking Jacob Scipio. Jacob is a delight, and I really feel for him, because he'd have like one day on and 30 days off. He was there for the run of the show but probably shot the most sporadically throughout the whole period. . . . But he would refer to his legs or his lips as his "puppies," so we called them puppies. And one day — he's going to hate me — we swapped out his lip balm for a lip scrub and just watching him put this stuff on his lips. Watching his expression change and try and figure out what was wrong — that was probably my favourite moment.