Jury trauma leads to mystery for Michelle

Michelle Lim Davidson is yet to be called up for jury duty, but she’s hoping her time on Nine’s After The Verdict might see her being excused.

“We’re all dreading when the letter comes in the mail, because we’ve all got lives!” she tells TV Tonight.

“Even just doing the scenes, I just felt responsible. I would be one of those people who took it really seriously.”

For Nine’s 6 part drama as a juror, the Newsreader and Utopia actor researched the role via online and podcasts.

“I did lots of reading about ‘jury trauma’ -how people feel after jury duty. Can you imagine being on a case for six months, having to look at pieces of evidence and hearing those statements? There’s quite a lot of research and I know jurors are now offered counselling services afterwards.”

In the series she plays young mum Clara, one of four jurors who have second thoughts about delivering a non-guilty verdict and whether they’ve let a killer walk free. Taking matters into their own hands, they investigate the murder themselves, in a series that draws upon drama, mystery and comedy.

“It just kind of sparks something in her”

“When you meet Clara things are not good. She’s recently divorced, her husband’s had an affair, she’s trying to co-parent, her finances are wrapped up in her husband’s business. She’s kind of stagnant. Every element of her life is unsettled. Then she has to do her civic duty with jury duty, and suddenly this responsibility is placed on her. I think it just kind of sparks something in her,” she explains.

“Maybe subconsciously, she’s trying to fill a void. But she’s someone very motivated by just doing the right thing, dotting all the I’s, crossing all the T’s. She’s a very capable, hardworking person and when this case comes along, she has a sense of injustice. I think all of those combined propel a normal, everyday person into an absurd situation.”

For Davidson, who becomes the first Korean-Australian actor in an Australian TV lead, After the Verdict allows her to draw upon her comedy skills.

“Clara is someone that rather than back out, is all-in.”

“Clara is someone that rather than back out, is all-in. The only way is forward. One of the reasons I enjoyed playing her is because you get to be completely committed to every moment. Even if she knows it’s silly, she’s there.”

It took a Zoom audition during Covid lockdowns for her to win the part, after producers saw her work in ABC’s Newsreader drama. But it also marks a return to Nine for Davidson, who had a brief dalliance in the short-lived sketch comedy Ben Elton: Live from Planet Earth, which in turn led to her casting in Working Dog comedy Utopia.

“Rob Sitch watched me and said, ‘I will cast her in something when the right role comes up. I think she’s really good.’ I didn’t know until years later and even after I started filming Utopia, Rob didn’t tell me till much later on. But it just goes to show, you just never know what one thing is going to lead to,” she continues.

“Utopia was a wonderful experience, really rigorous. Sometimes I catch up with friends on the show, like Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola and we tal about just how intense it was, because we filmed every episode in two days.

“It was a surreal experience, but it taught me so much.”

Now she is performing alongside another comedy icon, Magda Szubanski, as part of an ensemble with Lincoln Younes, Sullivan Stapleton Tess Haubrich and Virginia Gay.

“I was a little bit starstruck.”

“I’d always wanted to meet Magda. When I found out I was working with her, I was a little bit starstruck. But she’s everything you want her to be. She’s funny, generous and kind, and sharply intelligent. We just had a great time together and now we’re friends,” says Davidson.

“It’s nice when you can go to work and have fun. That’s always my main aim. Sometimes I work with different people in the business and I’m thinking ‘Do you even like acting? Why are you here?’

“I want to work hard but have fun with my colleagues when we need to work. I definitely had that with Magda.

“Lincoln is playing such an outrageous character. He’s obviously the opposite in real life -quite lovely! The character is a bit of an arsehole, but that’s fun to watch. No-one’s backing away from who they are in this show.”

“It does feel like it’s not trying to be a genre piece.”

The Subtext Pictures drama explores what happens when four ordinary people bonded by an extraordinary circumstance. Four people who would never have met, help each other tackle their past mistakes…including trying to catch a charismatic killer.

“It does feel like it’s not trying to be a genre piece. It’s not trying to set a tone that’s super-serious, highly complex. In everyday life, there are moments that are really funny, and highly comic and then there’s other moments sad, serious and analytical. I liked that the series just leans into that,” she suggests.

“I think people will relate to that because it isn’t trying to be something it’s not.”

After the Verdict airs 8:45pm Wednesday on Nine.