Catching a wave
Tidelands is the first Australian production for Netflix. Its star Charlotte Best tells DANIELLE MCGRANE what it was like to work on this supernatural thriller and gives some insight into working for the streaming behemoth.
Like most actors, Charlotte Best dreamt of landing a leading role in an international production. She just didn’t realise it was something she could achieve at home in Australia.
“For the last couple of years I’ve been a bit of a gypsy, living out of a suitcase and couch surfing in LA,” Best said. But the former Home and
Away star got to say goodbye to couch surfing when she landed a starring role in Netflix’s first Australian production, Tidelands.
“It’s such a dream job, to be able to make the next step in my career on an international scale but with crews and production company from home – I’m in my own environment and really supported in that first lead role,” she said.
Best loved the Tidelands script instantly, which centres around a fictional fishing village Orphelin Bay and reminded her so much of growing up on the NSW Central Coast.
“I grew up boating on the Central Coast so that was such a cool element of the show, being able to drive a tinny around the coast,” she said. “We had a tinny when my brothers and I were young. We used to hang around and get into trouble, run out of fuel and call our dad who had to come and get us. I used to meet up with half my friends from school on our boats and go exploring all the bays.”
So the Tidelands script really struck a chord.
“I couldn’t believe it because we don’t actually have anything like this on Australian TV, but it’s such a cool part of Australia, all our beaches and harbours and boating,” she said.
She had her sights set on the part of Calliope Mcteer, a young woman who returns to Orphelin Bay after a decade in prison, but initially producers were looking for someone older. However, months after she was passed over for the role, she found out they had decided to look for someone younger.
“We put in a request for another audition when they were looking for younger people and had forgotten about me, so I was lucky someone put me forward for it again,” she said.
“A lot of the time it’s just sheer luck, being in the right place at the right time.”
Having finally got the part, Best’s lucky streak continued as she bonded with her
Tidelands cast and crew over their stunning natural environs.
“It was filmed all around Brisbane and Queensland. Stradbroke Island was amazing. You’re standing around on a beach and a pod of 20 dolphins will just swim by or come and try and get food from your hand,” she said.
The fight scenes are gritty and realistic, and Best’s character gets involved in some no-holds-barred action from the first moment she’s seen on screen. For that reason, she needed to get her fight skills up to scratch before she started.
“That was really important for me, to feel confident in that training,” she said. The other aspect to Tide
lands is its mystical side. In Orphelin Bay there are a group of people called Tidelanders who are half-human, half-siren – supernatural creatures who lure men to their deaths at sea.
But that doesn’t take away from the plot.
“The show is so grounded in realism and it’s about family, it’s not mostly about the supernatural element, so you’re able to not get carried away with the fantastical element because the storyline is so real,” she said. “I always say it’s a family crime drama with a supernatural element, it’s got everything.”
Spanish actress, and Byron Bay resident, Elsa Pataky plays the Tidelanders’ leader, Adrielle, and became a mentor to Best.
“Elsa was just fantastic. She’s been working for a long time and it was my first lead role, so she was so kind and encouraging and offering so much wisdom all the time,” Best said.