ALONG FOR A WILD RIDE

Jessica McNamee leapt at the chance to return to Australia for Upright, writes Siobhan Duck

THE sunburnt scenery, laidback humour and emotional truth in the first season of comedy-drama Upright made Jessica McNamee homesick for Australia. So when the LA-based actor heard that Tim Minchin – its star, producer and writer – had penned a follow-up to the hit 2019 road-trip series, she was on the first plane home.

“I just thought it was such an interesting comedy,” McNamee says. “I loved the landscape. I loved the chemistry between Tim and Milly [Alcock]. I loved the wacky and weird characters that came along on the journey. And when the opportunity arose to be involved in the second season, I jumped at it.”

Although McNamee has carved out a successful career in films such as Battle of the Sexes, The Meg and Mortal Kombat, she says she was drawn to the role of Avery, the soap-star girlfriend of Lucky (Minchin) in Upright, given that she understands the glare of the spotlight. That’s because she – along with Jessica Marais, Zoe Ventoura and Hugh Sheridan – became an overnight celebrity when Packed to the Rafters debuted in 2008.

“I certainly tried to distance myself from [that level of fame] when I left Packed to the Rafters because I did find it quite overwhelming,” she explains.

“Also, just being so young on television at the time – I think I was 21 when the show started – I didn’t even know who I was. I didn’t really have a good sense of my own identity. I was growing up at the same time as trying to manage the public perception of me. I struggled with it. So, I really found comfort in running away to the States after that because I had some anonymity back.”

While it was Upright that prompted her return home, other recent Aussie TV hits already had McNamee glued to the small screen, including Bump (Stan), Heartbreak High (Netflix) and Aftertaste (ABC), which stars her old Rafters castmate Erik Thomson.

“I’m so impressed by the content that’s being made and the stuff I’ve been seeing,” she says on the phone from the US.

“I’m so impressed by the amount of females involved in the industry [in Australia] on the creative side.”

Australia is leading the charge for creating challenging and complex roles for women of all ages, McNamee continues, “not just teenagers and ingénues”.

“There seems to be content for Australian women through their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, and I think that’s amazing.”

UPRIGHT

7.30PM, TUESDAY, FOXTEL AND ALL EPISODES STREAMING, FOXTEL ON DEMAND