ELISABETH MOSS 2

She plays Det. Robin Griffin, who once again takes on a hideous crime in ‘Top of the Lake: China Girl.’ (Season 2 finale airs Sun., Sept. 24, 8.30 PM; BBC First)

When did you and creator Jane Campion start talking about doing a Season 2?

Near the end of our first season. When we got nominated for Emmys, it became more like, “Huh, people really like it.” I did tell her that I really wanted something that was even more challenging than Season 1.

Looking at the whole season, what ended up being more challenging?

In Season 1, she had that one big moment when she’s brought to her knees. This season, I feel like she starts on her knees and is dragged lower. Also, there’s an episode where I have to be drunk the whole time, and that is literally the hardest thing to do. When I got the script for that one, I was like, “Oh, there’s the challenge I asked for.” [ Laughs] How much did she have to drink to stay drunk for that long? I think Robin is a lightweight. She didn’t eat a lot of carbs. Gwendoline Christie’s character and yours have such an interesting arc. Gwen is possibly the biggest fan of Top of the Lake— she’s seen it many times more than I have. She reached out to Jane and told her how much she loved it. Jane was a fan of hers, too, and wrote the role for her. My question was “Can we even get her?” We did, and I got one of my closest friends out of the deal.

And Nicole Kidman, too! Jane and Nicole have a long history.

During [filming of] the first season, it was the 20th anniversary of The Piano, and we were with Holly Hunter. Then, during China Girl, it was the 20th anniversary of Portrait of a Lady [starring Kidman]. This just means that in 20 years, I have to do WHO_CANDY_CRUSH_WC3 2017-07-20T10:32:19+01:00something with Jane.