Rachael Taylor on the Netflix Jessica Jones experience

AUSSIE actor Rachael Taylor is about to hit your screen in a highly anticipated new show. And she’s got some thoughts on the best stuff about TV right now.

Hey girlfriend.

AUSSIE-made-good-in-Hollywood Rachael Taylor is set to be back on our TV screens. But not in the same way as she used to be.

Taylor has a supporting role in Netflix’s next big show, Jessica Jones. But you won’t find her on Channels 7, 9 and 10, or even Foxtel. Jessica Jones is part of Netflix’s ambitious and critically acclaimed original programming slate, available only on the streaming platform.

Set in New York and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jessica Jones (played by Krysten Ritter) is about a former superhero eking out a living as private eye. It’s a dark, psychologically driven show about a woman who’s essentially suffering from PTSD and drinks too much. Taylor plays Jessica’s bestie, Trish Walker, who’s got demons of her own.

Jessica Jones isn’t the kind of mainstream, easy-viewing experience you’ll get from the two most popular shows in the world, The Big Bang Theory and NCIS. But it is the kind of show that will attract a passionate following among those who appreciate “Quality TV”.

Taylor told news.com.au: “It’s a really good show. It’s got a great lead character to follow — she’s flawed, complicated and a reluctant superhero. And all the people around her are flawed and messy in their own right. I think that makes for an engaging show, whether you’re male, female, a diehard Marvel comic fan or just a fan of good TV.

“It’s not something for everyone in that’s easy or super mainstream but there’s something in it for everyone in that it’s good, meaty television. If you look at the TV shows people really respond to right now, like Narcos, Orange Is The New Black or The Walking Dead, audiences are ready for a bit of meat on the bone.”

Taylor, who’s made a name in films including Transformers, Bottle Shock and Red Dog, has ventured into the TV world before with a turn in Grey’s Anatomy and lead roles in Crisis, the Charlie’s Angels reboot and 666 Park Avenue.

Rachael Taylor and Krysten Ritter star in Netflix series Jessica Jones - FOR SWITCHED ON USE DECEMBER 2, 2105

But those last three shows were all cancelled quickly when the ratings weren’t up to scratch. American broadcast networks are vicious when it comes to giving the boot to new shows. Charlie’s Angels survived four episodes before the axe swung while 666 Park Avenue got the bad news only six weeks into its 13-week run. Crisis lasted one, short season.

For an actor, trying to get a regular, stable gig in American TV is fraught with the unknown.

For Taylor, the Netflix streaming model has been a different kind of experience.

“What’s exciting about streaming TV, particular with the Netflix mandate, is that it’s content first,” she said. “If a director turns in an episode that is 42 minutes long and it’s great, it gets aired. If a director turns in an episode that is 49 minutes long and it’s great, it gets aired.

“So it’s not bound by traditional elements in broadcast TV. It doesn’t have traditional boxes to tick. For example, in traditional TV, acting towards act breaks is kind of a bummer. You had these scripts that were orchestrated around commercial breaks. So within the story, you’ll be building these synthetic peaks and troughs, and that might not serve the creative intention of the story. It serves selling laundry detergent but not the story or the characters.

“With this model, [if you need it] you get an extra 20 minutes of character exploration, narrative, or a deeper explanation of tone because we don’t have to build towards these act breaks. And we don’t have to catch the audience up what happened last week.

“Are we moving towards a streaming world? Probably. It’s kind of above my pay grade in a way. What I personally enjoyed and could recognise is the freedom in not being so hamstrung by all the parameters of what network TV is.”

But Taylor said she still holds a candle for traditional TV. “The good stuff rises to the top. It’s exciting when you see something like Empire really matter. And look at what Shonda Rimes is doing on TV. She’s extraordinary. I still think there’s plenty of room for both.”

All 13 episodes of Jessica Jones season one will be available on Netflix from November 20.