PLAY TELEVISION SHARP LEARNING CURVE

girls are dead, the police have no clue who the murderer is and the rural community is simmering with gossip, secrets and family dysfunction.

Eliza Scanlen is not in Summer Bay any more. The Australian actor has swapped the Australian beachside sets she started her career on as Tabitha Ford in Home and Away for the fictional town of Wind Gap, Missouri, in Sharp Objects.

The dark drama, based on the Gillian Flynn ( Gone Girl) novel of the same name, tells the story of reporter Camille Preaker ( Amy Adams), fresh from a stint in a psychiatric hospital, who is sent back to her hometown to cover the murders of two pre- teen girls. It’s also a story of three complex women — Camille, her mother Adora ( Patricia Clarkson) and half- sister Amma ( Scanlen) — and their tumultuous relationship.

“Amy and Patricia in particular were my mentors, they were my rock throughout my time on the show,” she says. “They really taught me the basics of the industry and led a great example for me and gave me a lot of great advice that I will take on for the rest of my career.”

Despite the show’s dark content, the cast helped keep the mood lighthearted on set during the five months of filming.

“There were definitely some scenes that I left feeling a bit shaken and I think most of the scenes I came out of feeling just totally exhausted, emotionally and physically. For me that was a sign that I’d done the right thing and I’d done my job.”