A NEW WAVE
ELISABETH MOSS TELLS US WHY ROBIN IS AT BONDI BEACH FOR THE CRIME DRAMA’S SECOND SERIES… I WANTED IT TO BE MORE CHALLENGING AND MESSED-UP”
We were absolutely gripped by the first series of Top Of The Lake back in 2013, as detective Robin Griffin investigated the rape of a teenage girl in a small town in New Zealand.
Now that we’ve seen the first two episodes of series two, we’re excited all over again: this time, Robin is in Sydney investigating the discovery of a young woman’s body that was washed up on Bondi Beach inside a suitcase.
“We joked about a second series during the first one,” chuckles Elisabeth Moss, who plays Robin. “We were having a great time in Queenstown and we were nearing the end, and I was like, ‘I feel like I just got it, I just figured it out and now we have to finish!’. Then a year later I got together with Jane [Campion, the show’s co-creator] and she said, ‘Do you really want to do it?’ and I just said, ‘Yeah, I do’. I wanted it to be more challenging and messed-up – otherwise what’s the point of going back? – and they delivered in spades!”
While the remoteness of the community in series one led to Robin working alone most of the time, being in the city this time means that she has a new partner: Miranda, who is played by Game Of
Thrones star Gwendoline Christie. Robin initially has her doubts about her rather gauche new sidekick, but the two of them soon discover some common ground.
“I didn’t get a female relationship to explore in season one, so that was a really cool next step for me with Robin,” shares Elisabeth. “I don’t think Robin’s a girl’s girl. She’s such a loner, and I think everything Miranda represents just pushes all her buttons and reminds her of all the things that she doesn’t want to deal with. The relationship was so interesting to explore. It’s not a buddy comedy and it’s not like, ‘They’re enemies and now they’re friends!’ – it’s much more complicated than that.”
While this disturbing new case catches Robin’s interest, there’s something else on her mind – tracking down her daughter Mary, who she put up for adoption 17 years ago. When she finds her,
Robin has to figure out how she fits into this girl’s life – and how it affects Mary’s adoptive parents Pyke (Ewen Leslie) and Julia (Nicole Kidman).
“It’s interesting – Julia and Robin sort of orbit each other,” reveals Elisabeth. “Being the two mothers, there’s not a lot of space for us to exist in the same role. When you put these two characters in the same room, it’s sort of electric because they don’t know how to communicate with each other. How do you speak to the adopted mother of your child when she’s really angry at you because you weren’t ever supposed to pop back up? How does that work? And Robin doesn’t necessarily disagree with Julia, she doesn’t think she knows anything about being this person’s mother – so they’re all just figuring it out…”