How ‘Colin’ has changed the life for another of its breakout stars

A Colin From Accounts actor has opened up on the challenges faced – and how she overcame them.

When she was growing up, Emma Harvie didn’t see anyone who looked like her on television.

Of proud Sri Lankan heritage, the 34-year-old who calls Sydney home says appearing in the Binge hit Colin From Accounts changed things for her.

“In terms of my career, I was definitely able to start getting more auditions,” she tells Insider.

“It was a show that people were watching and would recognise me from, but when I first auditioned for it and read the scripts, they were really funny – and we signed on because of that.

“And because if you’re in the industry, you know who Harriet and Patrick are, but we did not anticipate how much audiences would love and relate to these characters … and I think it’s the ‘Australian-ism’ of it all as well.

“We didn’t realise that would translate to overseas audiences, which is really cool.”

Emma Harvie started getting more auditions after her role in Colin from Accounts.

The anticipated second series of the four-time Logie winning show, created, written and starred in by husband and wife comedy duo Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, premiered last week.

This week the Easy Tiger series won two Gotham Awards in New York, further propelling hopes for a successful Emmys campaign.

Season 2 has already left its mark on fans – and it’s quite a season for Harvie’s character “Meggles”, she laughs.

“I think when I first read the scripts for Meggles, I was like, ‘oh, she’s much cooler than me’ – like, I’m gonna have to find a way to be a cooler person,” she jokes.

“I mean, we’re similar in that we’re both a bit cynical, I’m very dry – and she is because I am, I think.

“But in Season 2, it’s a real dating show for Meggles – she is being pulled in a few different directions, heart-wise, and has to balance her relationship with Ash in that as well, because Ash can be a little bit judgey.”

The stars of Colin From Accounts, (from left) Tai Hara, Helen Thomson, Emma Harvie, Harriet Dyer, Patrick Brammall, Genevieve Hegney and Michael Logo. Picture: Lisa Tomasetti

Colin From Accounts isn’t Harvie’s first gig, but it is her breakout role in an industry she wasn’t sure would ever accept her.

“My mum was really great in helping me work out if that was even something I could do when I was graduating school,” she explains.

“I didn’t really think I could be an actor and make money from it – especially in Australia.

“There was no one on TV that looked like me.

“I didn’t think that was a place I would fit into. But it kind of worked out.”

Harvie doesn’t feel a responsibility to represent her heritage in screen, but is certain it makes an impact. It still does for her, in fact.

“There is a British series called One Day, based on the book, but Ambika Mod, the female lead in that – I can’t think of a series or show or film where I’ve seen a South Asian actress as a romantic lead, where her ethnicity is irrelevant to the story,” she says.

“And watching that – and that was only this year – had a huge effect.

“It meant something to me to see someone that looks like me doing that. And I’m already doing it, I’m already practising it. So what it means to kids who might have a thought that they want to be actors, or that might be working in the industry, it’s so vital that you can actually physically see someone that looks like you doing that – otherwise, you just don’t know that it’s an option. I think Australia’s getting better at it, but it’s not at the place where, say, the UK or even the US markets are.”

After graduating from the Actor’s Centre Australia 10 years ago, Harvie has become a regular on the Sydney Theatre Company stage, recently starring in comedy No Pay, No Way at the Opera House.

Emma Harvie with Stephen Peacocke in RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service).

She will shoot a second season of the Royal Flying Doctor Service as well as TV series In Limbo last year and popular series The Letdown in 2017. Last year the Casting Guild of Australia named her a Rising Star.

“I was definitely making up dances with my sister and my cousin, and making everyone watch that when we were younger,” she says.

“I did at a young age go, ‘oh, this is fun, I can make people laugh and I can be silly, and it makes people smile’ – and so when I knew I had that power, I never really had any interest in doing anything else.

“My sister always wanted to be a lawyer, from a young age, and I always think that’s so wild for a child to go ‘I want to be a lawyer’.

“So I thought, well if she’s a lawyer, maybe I’ll be a judge – but most of that came from the idea of wearing the wig and the cloak and having the gavel. I was like, ‘what a fun costume’.

“Even in high school – I went to an all girls school, so I always played male characters.

“And this is so bizarre to me, but until I went to drama school, I had never played a character that was my gender and my age. I was always playing, like, old men or, I don’t know, anything. I guess you could be anything when those parameters didn’t matter.”

She’s not sure where the desire to entertain come from. Her mum is a scientist, her dad an accountant, and her sister a lawyer.

Emma Harvie attends the 2024 AACTA Awards.

“My family is definitely not creative by profession,” she laughs.

“But they’re good storytellers.

“Humour is definitely something that exists in my household, and is a way of communicating but, other than that, this industry was very new to me.

“They are so proud,” she continues.

“Anything I do, they love, and I love them for it. They’re the best.

“They’ve always gone ‘just do whatever you love’ – even if they could probably say that I wasn’t going to make any money from it for a long time.

“But they made sacrifices for us when we were on this or that. We had that choice, which I’m forever grateful for.”

Harvie’s spent most of her adult life in the inner west of Sydney, but “by some magic turn of events” she’s back where she started, in Eastwood.

“Well, actually, now it’s called Dennistone East, but I still call it Eastwood – it got rezoned at some point, which we all thought was weird,” she laughs.

She shot Colin at the start of this year, and is currently doing a play with the Sydney Theatre Company at the Opera House – No Pay, No Way, which was a big comedy, fast and a lot of fun to do – and very tiring.

“I started doing plays and theatre, and I love being on stage, but doing more and more TV work, I feel like you have even more space to play, and TV happens in the moment,” Harvie says.

“Theatre, you spend five weeks rehearsing the play, and you can get familiar with it, and you can make your choices and then you solidify them, and then that’s (it). You do the same show to the audience every night.

“Whereas TV, it’s kind of not that calculated.

“You have the script, but you bring yourself to it.

Emma Harvie loves being on stage, but “I feel like you have even more space to play” on TV.

“And no one else sees that unless you do extensive rehearsals, which in my experience in Australian TV, you don’t really have the time or budget for – so the magic happens on the day when everyone’s together and we’re rolling.

“And the pressure is higher – if you don’t bring it in that moment, you don’t get a reshoot. You don’t get to do it the next night to another audience.

“But it’s really exciting, and I’ve really enjoyed the projects I’ve worked on.

“I’ve been really lucky. I’ve had some really fun TV projects that I’ve done which, as an actor, that’s not always experienced.

“A lot of people do some that they love, and then some that they don’t love. But I’ve really loved everything I’ve worked on, which is seems to be a rare occurrence.”

Harvie’s getting better at handling rejection when it presents itself – that may have a little something to do with the success of Colin.

“It is hard, but it’s something I’ve gotten better at dealing with,” she says.

“It’s become easier, I guess, as I’ve been given more opportunities. I have more confidence in my work and the idea that something else will come along.

“It’s very hard when you’re starting out and you don’t know if you will ever really have a career.

“But you know that’s what you love and what you’ve trained in.

Emma Harvie at the Colin From Accounts Season 2 world premiere in Sydney.

Harriet Dyer, Patrick Brammall and Colin the dog.

“I like to think I have a somewhat healthy relationship with it, where if I don’t get another job, for however many months, I’m OK with that and I plan my life as if that will not happen, as if I won’t get another job.

“I’ll plan holidays – although it is hard to plan holidays in this industry. They say as soon as you plan a holiday, you’ll book a job,” she says.

“But you do have to have some kind of acceptance of the lack of control in this industry.

“And you have to go in knowing that it’s really out of your hands, and it’s not your fault if it doesn’t become what you envisioned for yourself, and to just do what you can.

“A lot of that positive thinking, I’m sure, is helpful. I’ve never been very good at that kind of philosophising. I’m a bit more of a realist and I should probably start learning another skill, just in case,” she laughs.

Harvie and her sister have started writing a show that is in its early stages, so finishing that is high on her list of things to do.

“It’s a little bit based on our family, but also with a bit of artistic license in there to make it funny and relatable,” she says.

“We’ll see if we can get that rolling.

“Other than that, I plan to go to London for a bit and see what how the UK industry treats us Aussie actors, if there’s space for us over there and if people are interested.

“And then shooting another season of The Royal Flying Doctor Service at the end of this year, which is another lovely project to be part of.”

Colin from Accounts is now showing on Binge, available on Hubbl and Showcase and available on demand.