Can you confirm that an Australian citizen
has been illegally detained in Barton?
- "Stateless" is inspired by the true story
of Cornelia Rau, who was this German Australian woman
who was wrongfully kept in an immigration detention center
in the late 1990s.
How much did you know about her story
before you began this project?
- I didn't really know anything, to be honest.
I was a kid when that happened in Australia.
And so I really only learned about it, you know,
in starting this project.
It is really interesting to highlight that
when that happened, suddenly there was a media storm
about this issue and
of displacement, detention.
What that meant for the people in there,
what the process was,
how horrible the circumstances were in there.
And interestingly,
I don't know that a lot of people outside of Australia
or even inside of Australia,
really know that much about it and the system,
which is what is really great about this show is, you know,
it tells you what's going on.
It shows from different angles, what it's like,
how this affects people,
the moral dilemma that people go through when working there
as well as the people who are going through the system.
- [Sofie] Excuse me, I don't belong here.
- No, you don't.
Can you tell me a bit about how you got into the mind
of Sofie Werner and what that journey was like for you?
She just seemed like such a bright, open spirit to me who was being crushed by her family and what they wanted to do with her.
And they wanted to hospitalize her because of her mental health and she just didn't want any of that.
And I think she went to seek sort of freedom elsewhere which is why she got so tied
into that cult and the relationship that she had with those two people who I think were kind of her parent replacement figures for awhile.
And then that ended up crushing her.
So just kind of approaching her like this free spirit,
In a vast majority of cases, those people who are missing choose to remain this because they're running from something.
- This series takes place in Australia,
but themes such as immigration reform and xenophobia
are really universal.
I'm wondering why is telling these stories,
the different stories that intertwined in this series
so important for this current moment.
- I think so often we as people,
can be removed from the humanity of an issue like this
because we see it in headlines,
and we see the numbers and reports and statistics.
Whereas with a show like this,
you really get a glimpse of what it would actually be like
for these families.
And it makes it human.
And I think that's what we all need now.
We need more humanity
and we need a revolution that comes from humanity
and comes from love and comes from inclusivity
and not fear and hate.
And I think this show, although it doesn't take,
like a political stance,
it shows from different angles.
I think it's really important to show that,
- People are dying,
families are being destroyed.
(man screaming)
- [Speaker] That was the one shot
that they had to be a family.
You took that from them.
- And it does feel like there's movement
and people are moving forward.
But I think it's still quite daunting out there.
Just when you look at the news,
when you look at what's going on,
when you look at the divisive culture,
when you look at all of it,
I think it's a really important time
for something like this.
People will be very interested in you.
They will want to know why someone who looks just like them
trapped in a place like this.
- As we await season four of "The Handmaid's Tale"
I'm wondering if you could tell me,
what is the most challenging part
about playing a character as morally complex
as Serena Joy Waterford?
(laughs)
- Well, I mean, I think you've nailed it right there.
The fact that she is morally complex challenged
is probably the biggest challenge.
'Cause I have to sit here and justify why
she does what she does to make this sort of
the most grounded performance that I can make it.
I always say I live in this kind of very strange territory
of kind of going okay,
well, I can understand why she does this and this and this.
And it comes from here.
And at the same time, it's horrible.
I would never think that way as me as a person.
So it's very strange to be sitting
in that space kind of going well, Serena would,
and this is why, and this is how she feels about it.
So I kind of have to do that,
then wash myself off that, and be myself again,
which kind of feels a little bit Jeckel and Hyde
to be honest.
- Oh yeah, I'm sure.
I was like, I couldn't imagine doing anything
more like intense than "Handmaid's Tale."
And it was like, whoa, nevermind.
- Same thing.
I went into it thinking,
I remember I read it and I thought this is, you know,
after "The Handmaid's Tale,"
nothing is going to be, you know, more intense than that.
And then I went to set and I was,
oh, oh, okay, (laughs)
okay, here we go.
And every day ended up being like whoa!
Explosion.
But that's great.
I love that kind of you know, deep dive challenge.