Aussie series that brought Sara Wiseman back to Australia from filming Hollywood blockbuster

Sara Wiseman was filming a Hollywood blockbuster when she got a call that brought her back to Australia.

From being on a Hollywood set one day to filming in the Victorian High Country the next, Sara Wiseman has had a massive year.

The New Zealand-born actress was filming the upcoming blockbuster Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes when she got the call to test for the new BINGE original series High Country – and the 51-year-old could not have been more thrilled at the opportunity to star opposite Leah Purcell.

“I was in the middle of filming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes when I got a call from Nathan Lloyd Casting if I would do a chemistry test with Leah among a few others. So I did that and that’s my first time meeting Leah, but I’ve always been a huge fan of hers,” Wiseman tells news.com.au.

Sara Wiseman plays a former artist in High Country.

“So there was the director Kevin Carlin, myself and Leah, and Pino (Amenta), our producer, and we worked up a couple of the scenes and it was just an absolute joy. Then just you walk away from that and hope for the best – and I got the call.”

In High Country, which premieres on BINGE on March 19, Wiseman plays Helen Hartley, a former artist who moves from Melbourne to the small town to support her partner Sergeant Andie Whitford (played by Purcell), who is sent there to investigate a string of disappearances and deaths.

Wiseman with High Country co-stars Leah Purcell, Ian McElhinney and Pez Warner.

Helen, Andie and their teenage daughter Kirra (played by Pez Warner) are expecting to lead a quieter life in the rugged mountain region, but their lives begin to unravel as the investigation goes on.

“The storyline that gets revealed is that my character’s gone through some terrible hardship with one of her children, and we’ve taken a lot of guilt and blame and shame around that and she has been in recovery,” Wiseman says.

The actress teases that her character finds “the opportunity to a renaissance and a rebirthing and reawakening” but “with that comes a lot of other obstacles”.

“There’s some wonderful flavours in the characters that come with the township and being a bit of a Melburnian outsider, she’s slightly against the grain and in the most unexpected of places she finds herself,” she shares.

Aaron Pederson stars alongside Wiseman and Purcell in the crime drama. Picture: David Smith.

Filming was predominantly in the Victorian town of Jamieson, which doubles as the fictional Broken Ridge on the show. Moody, misty and mysterious, the town itself is a character in the eight-part crime drama.

“How they’re creating a world of Broken Ridge is just an abundant source of crazy locations. I don’t know how the scouts find them, I really don’t,” she says.

“But I think it’ll give a really interesting flavour for international audiences as well as Australian audiences. It’s just some really beautiful, juicy locations to be shown.”

However, for Wiseman, it’s the cast and crew who make filming worthwhile.

From the co-creators and key writers Marcia Gardner and John Ridley to the cast’s powerful performances, it’s a team effort.

Leah Purcell plays the lead in High Country.

“It’s just such a really wonderful cast and crew,” she says. “I know that isn’t always the case for some shows. But with this one, it’s very special and everyone’s working really hard – it just feels like a good family to vibe.”

Wiseman praises Gardner and Ridley for their “wonderful” writing and collaboration on set.

“Just right from the top down is just a real sense of connection and respect,” she adds. “There’s no hierarchy, so to speak, which just makes it feel very supportive and collective in that feeling. I just feel very grateful for such a wonderful, juicy character and great people to be working with.”

“And I’ve been very fortunate to work with some great women – Leah is our number one. She’s just the salt of the earth and she’s generous, and we’re having a great time together, for sure.”

High Country premieres Tuesday, March 19 on BINGE and on Showcase at 8.30pm and available On Demand