From showrunner Susannah Grant and inspired by real events, the eight-episode mini-series Unbelievable is a story of unspeakable trauma, and the strength and resilience that you can discover within yourself, as a result. When 18-year-old Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever, giving a reserved but remarkable performance) reports that she’s been sexually assaulted by an intruder in her home in 2008, everyone from her former foster parents to her friends to the investigating detectives doubt the truth of her story. Meanwhile, in 2011 and hundreds of miles away, Detectives Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) and Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) find themselves investigating a pair of intruder rapes that are eerily similar to Marie’s experience, and they partner to catch what is clearly a serial rapist.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Aussie actress Toni Collette talked about why she wanted to be a part of telling this story, how meaningful and timely this project is, why it was important to her to be as truthful as possible with the representation of the material, what she loved about playing and exploring this character, what it was like to have Merritt Wever to go through this experience with, and her hope that things will continue to change when it comes the difference between the male and female experience. She also talked about why she signed on for Guillermo del Toro’s next film Nightmare Alley, her experience on Knives Out and what most surprised her about Rian Johnson as a filmmaker, and learning that it’s necessary to find a healthy way to co-exist with the characters that she plays.

unbelievable-toni-collette
Image via Netflix

Collider: First, I have to say that everyone in this does truly terrific, remarkable work. It’s such a difficult story to watch, but it’s an important one, and I thought it was handled really beautifully and delicately.

TONI COLLETTE: Oh, that’s so nice of you to say. Thank you. Everyone felt a certain amount of responsibility, so that was definitely our intention.

When this came your way, how much did you know about what it would be, about what it would be exploring and who this character would become?

COLLETTE: I hadn’t heard of this woman and her experience. The idea of the project came to me, along with the ProPublica article, so I read that, and then I met with Susannah Grant, the creator, producer, writer, director and showrunner, and her producing partner, and we talked about it, at length. I immediately wanted to do it. It is so important and so meaningful and so timely. I also loved my character. At that point, I hadn’t read any scripts. As they came through, it was really exciting to see how things unfolded, having heard the initial skeleton of the story. I got as much information as possible, but I knew the general thrust of where things were going. It was just an incredible group of people, both on and off the screen, and very exciting to me. I just think there couldn’t be a better time. The conversation has changed. There’s a certain amount of openness to it now. I don’t know whether this would have been made in the past, and I don’t know whether she would’ve been treated in the same way, if she’d experienced what she experienced now. It’s very recent change, and thank god.

What was most important to you, when it came to telling this story and the representation of this material, with these characters?

COLLETTE: That it was as truthful as possible, and that none of it was gratuitous, none of it was sensationalized, none of it would be dramatized, and no one would be demonized, even the guys who got it wrong, at the beginning. There’s a scene at the end, where I meet up with him, and he just can’t believe that he fucked up so grandly. In that scene, there was part of me that just wanted to give him the stink-eye, and Susannah just kept telling me, “No, pull back, pull back, pull back.” As a detective, you don’t always get it right. It was a grave mistake, but mistakes do happen. It just is so horrible, though, that it just really ruined Marie’s life for a substantial period of time.

All of the women in this are so interesting, complex and layered, and it’s fascinating to watch it all peel back throughout the episodes. Even though this is very heavy subject matter, what did you enjoy about playing this woman and getting to explore her life?

COLLETTE: It’s funny, we’re on this press tour and I’ve been listening to Kaitlyn [Dever] talk about her experience and to Danielle Macdonald’s experience, and usually I’m the actress playing that part. I’m the one who’s feeling all of the emotions and reacting to things, emotionally, and there’s a certain amount of struggle. With my character in this, it was almost a relief to be able to play someone who was helping find the resolve. Not one character is cliched in this. I loved just how complicated both Grace and Karen are. I’m 46 years old, and I get to play this ballsy, forthright woman, who says what she thinks and doesn’t take any shit, and has a swagger and a muscle car. It was a complete thrill. What an amazing opportunity.

unbelievable-merritt-wever
Image via Netflix

It’s such a fun balance to watch you and Merritt Wever because the characters are so different. They don’t really know what to make of each other, but they still like each other.

COLLETTE: And my character is such a lone wolf. She’s really resistant to working with anybody. At times, she doesn’t even let her husband in, she’s so consumed by work. So, for this God-loving, softly spoken, woman full of empathy to come in and chase her around for awhile, finally she lets her defenses down and they start working together. I think it really is life-changing for my character.

What it like for you to have Merritt Wever to go through all of this with?

COLLETTE: It was everything. I love her. I have such respect for her. She’s brilliant. She’s a brilliant actress and a brilliant person. I really admire her. I think we had a sense of mutual respect, and I can’t imagine having done it with anybody else. She’s very special.

This is a really solid true crime drama, but at the same time, you really see what the gap between the male and female experience is like. When it came to that aspect of the story, what made you the most heartbroken, sad or angry, when you saw the obvious difference in treatment?

COLLETTE: There’s a line where it says, “If this was a murder, people would pay more attention.” It’s incredible that victims are treated like suspects. It’s incredible that it took a couple of female detectives to handle it. It shouldn’t be colored by gender. A man happened to make a mistake, and two females just happened to figure it out, but it isn’t really about that. It really doesn’t demonize that guy, but you can’t help but wonder. As a woman, it fucking pisses me off that I can’t travel the world and feel comfortable and safe walking the streets at night, exploring. We have to think about things like that. That imbalance infuriates me, on a general level. To be able to work on something like this, that explores it to the nth degree, was really important to me. The question of equality should be obvious, and it has been for me, in my life, but it’s bigger than my own experience. It feels like there is a particularly strong movement that’s existed now for a couple of years, and it can’t go back. It has to keep getting better. I think with these new kids growing up, it will because they won’t have lived with the generations that were before us. We all subscribe to society and what’s on offer, at any given time, and most people are sheep and don’t really think for themselves. There are those that do, but most people subscribe to the ideas of any given time on planet Earth. I feel like things are really changing, and it’s so necessary. If this show can help highlight some of those things, that would be amazing.

Was there a moment, on this shoot, that most stood out for you, either in the way that it defined the story or your character, or just in the way that it made an impression on you?

unbelievable-merritt-wever-danielle-macdonald
Image via Netflix

COLLETTE: Just in terms of my character’s arc, who didn’t want to let anybody in, there’s a moment where my character encourages and allows Merritt’s character to go and basically arrest the guy that we’ve been looking for. I literally give the glory away, in a way. That, in itself, was really incredible, but when she comes back, Merritt’s character, Karen, had never done that before, and she’s giddy on the experience. There’s a shot of Grace watching her walk in, and there’s a moment when you realize that she’s been affected by it all, on a personal level. It’s a selfish thing to talk about because there are so many bigger, more important aspects to Unbelievable. But in terms of my character and how she changes, I really love that moment because it’s a letting go and sharing and allowing somebody in. For a control freak, that’s a big deal.

It was also recently reported that you were joining Guillermo del Toro’s next film, Nightmare Alley. Is that officially something that you’re doing?

COLLETTE: I am doing it, and I’m very excited.

What was the appeal of that? Is it working with Guillermo del Toro, or is it the specific character?

COLLETTE: Guillermo is a true auteur. The project itself is very, very exciting, and it’s a particular world and a particular period. I love my character, but more than anything, I’m such a fan of Guillermo and I’m super excited to get to work with him. I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager, and I’m almost 50. I think my focus now is really on just trying to work with people whom I admire and who inspire me, and who aren’t afraid to go for it, and who are great collaborators and storytellers.

He’s definitely a cool one, and he’s a fellow theme park fan, so I’m always for anyone who loves theme parks as much as I do. Also, Knives Out got a huge reception at TIFF, and high profile movies typically have one or two big personalities, but that movie is full of them. What was it like to work with that ensemble? What most stands out for you about the experience of making that film?

COLLETTE: At the outset, listening to the list of incredible actors that were involved was a little intimidating, but the piece itself is inherently so much fun that we all knew it was a gift. We just got in there and wrestled around and laughed our asses off, and had the best possible time that we could. It was truly gleeful and positive and fun. That energy is felt, when you’re watching the movie. It is a truly fun film. Rian [Johnson] is just so smart and so clever. I hadn’t seen it. I just saw it, for the first time, at the premiere at TIFF, and I was completely blown away. I feel so lucky to be a part of it because it really is very special.

unbelievable-kaitlyn-dever-02
Image via Netflix

What most surprised you about Rian Johnson, as a filmmaker?

COLLETTE: Just how relaxed he is. He knows what he wants, but he’s just so relaxed on set. The script was brilliant, but he really allowed us to go for it, in terms of improvising and just having fun. There are lots of scenes where all of us are together, where the knives are out, and we’re arguing and talking over each other. He got off on us improvising. It was a true extension of what he’d written, and we had that freedom as an actor. Also, because we were having so much fun, I think you feel better doing that when you feel relaxed because you feel less vulnerable. Oh, man, it was the best way to end my year. I loved making that movie, in Boston in December.

Hereditary was a film and a performance that left such an impression on people and really stuck with them. Is that the character that really left an equally strong impression on you? Is it a character that will always stand out for you?

COLLETTE: I feel like I invest in all my characters. You have to live with them for a certain period of time. But it was a big experience to me, in terms of how wonderful and how challenging it was. You can never determine how a film’s gonna go down, so you really selfishly just have to do it for you. It was such a brilliant opportunity. I just thought Ari [Aster] was a bit of a genius. I read the script, and I had said that I didn’t want to be involved with telling dark stories for awhile. Over the years, people have asked, “Do you leave your character at work? Are you able to shake it off?” I always just thought that was ridiculous, but then, after I did Miss You Already, I found myself thinking about it a year later, and I thought, “Oh, I need to take care of myself here.” So, on Hereditary, I really used that as an opportunity to figure out a way for myself to co-exist with what I was doing. It was really the healthiest experience for me, as an actress. I really was, obviously, given the opportunity to go for it, but I also took care of myself, on a daily basis. I didn’t wait for it to build up, and then be overwhelmed at the end, by what I’d been carrying around. That, for me, was a real lesson, and I was quite proud of that.

Unbelievable is available to stream at Netflix on September 13th.

unbelievable-poster