After playing several criminals in a career that spans almost three decades, Susie Porter has stepped to the right saw of the law to play Chief Inspector Sarah Craven in Paramount+’ No Escape.
While gritty characters — such as Marie in Wentworth Prison and Agnes in Netflix’s Irreverent — bring out a different side to her, being able to portray a “strong female protagonist” is something that excited her about her new role.
“I’ve always loved that there’s a strong female protagonist in a series,” Porter said during an interview on Mediaweek and Chattr’s The Entertainment Hotline podcast.
“So, I loved the fact that the female was the chief inspector because women who achieve a certain amount of status in a traditionally male job have to work hard. They have to really be good at what they do… Women who really had to fight for their place to be equal among men, and I’ve always been interested in that.”
“I love a little bit of a murder mystery and flashbacks,” she said. “And not knowing quite where we are.”
Susie Porter. No Escape. Paramount+
No Escape was adapted from the novel The Blue by Lucy Clarke
No Escape follows the story of best friends Kitty (Rhianne Barreto) and Lana (Abigail Laurie) who flee their lives in the UK and head to South East Asia on a yacht called “The Blue”. Soon the yacht is found drifting in Queensland waters with no one on board and Chief Inspector Craven is tasked with launching an investigation.
The seven-part series is based on the novel The Blue by Lucy Clarke and while some would think part of the research was to, well, read the book, Porter was advised against it due to the fact that the adaptation was “different”.
When asked if she felt that modifying stories to suit the screen was positive, she said: “Whatever is better for the story”.
“If it’s more interesting and exciting for the story, then I think they should go with that because sometimes there is a lot of artistic or creative licence taken with certain things, so whatever makes the story better for the audience, I think is the best way to go.”
Another modification saw the stunning backdrop of the Philippines (where the series and novel are set) be re-created in Thailand. In fact, Porter — whose character was based in Queensland — also filmed her entire role in Thailand… confused? So were the cast and crew!
“We were all confused,” she laughed. “It’s sort of meant to be in Australia, but we’re in Thailand, but then it’s meant to be the Philippines, Originally, when I got the job, it was actually set in Thailand and then they changed it.”
No Escape. Paramount+
Susie Porter created her own character’s back story for No Escape
While CI Craven’s back story is not explicitly explained, Porter’s process when it comes to acting consists of “doing the work”, something she learned in drama school. For her, it means creating her own idea of what she thought her character had gone through to get to that point.
“What’s interesting for me is what you learn about human nature,” she said. “More to the point, what drives someone? The backstory I had for Craven, which never appears on screen, is that she had some tragedy in her life that then made her decide how she wants to see the world and see that justice is pursued.
She continued: “Imagine if you had lost a son through a drunk driving accident and then you go about trying to right the world of the wrongs, then that’s kind of what pursues you. I always write back stories and I always think, no one gets through life without any kind of turmoil and tragedy. It’s life on life’s terms, it’s difficult for everyone. I think that they’re the things that mark and change people, the different experiences people have been through.”
Susie Porter. Paramount+
Porter also turned to studying real-life detectives for the role including Gary Jubelin, Australia’s most celebrated homicide detective who lead the investigations into the disappearance of William Tyrrell.
“I read his book. It was just a look into practical ways of how to interview people in different ways,” she said. “And by reading his novel, I understood a little bit more about what it means to be a cop as well because it’s quite a job.”
Susie Porter learned a lot from her younger co-stars
Alongside Porter are some of Australia and the UK’s most talented up-and-coming actors and when asked whether she served as a mentor to them after being in the industry so long, she admitted that she had actually learned a lot from them.
“I worked with Abigail Laurie who plays Lana,” she said. “Wow. She’s amazing. I think I learned more from her than she did from me!
“[But] I think you learn from each other, really. I just noticed she was so organic. I think you can learn from people regardless of how old they are, or how long they’ve been in the industry.”
Abigail Laurie. Paramount+
Porter then said that there was a huge benefit in working with actors who haven’t been professionally trained.
“There’s a kind of quality that is sometimes indescribable, that comes across on screen,” she said. “I don’t know what that is but some people have it and some people don’t.”
Listen to the full interview with No Escape’s Susie Porter on The Entertainment Hotline Podcast here.
No Escape is now streaming on Paramount+.