The unpredictable nature of acting is par for the course. But where it takes you can make or break a career. For Bella Heathcote, this is a life she’s become accustomed too – and she zooms into our interview from Atlanta, Georgia, where she’s currently filming her latest project. But, mixed in with her ongoing success, both here and abroad, is an innate fear of failure.
“I’m very insecurely geared, so I never feel confident until the first day – even week – is done,” Bella, 38, tells TV WEEK. “I feel the pressure to rise to the occasion and do it justice.”
This sentiment is echoed by her Scrublands co-star, Luke Arnold, 40, who, despite his accomplishments, never feels he can just sit back. “There’s always some ‘it’s not going to work’ anxiety, so you never go in with too much confidence,” he says. “I may have made that mistake in my early days… rocking up to the next thing thinking I could carry that confidence over. But the anxiety never leaves.”
It was a lesson he learnt while playing INXS frontman Michael Hutchence in the 2014 miniseries biopic Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS. His blistering performance sent him on an upward trajectory that could have given him the ego of a real-life rock star. But it didn’t.
“I had to pretend I had confidence, even if I didn’t, because no one wanted to see me unsure of whether or not I could be Michael,” Luke explains of portraying the renowned musician.
“There was no time for doubt because, if I’d stuffed it up, I’d be living on the other side of the world, never letting my hair grow out again and never speaking a word to another Australian,” he laughs. At the time, Luke was flying back and forth between commitments for the miniseries and US drama series Black Sails, which was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa. After embodying a rock star for months, Luke was quickly brought back to reality.
“I got a bit of s* when I returned to continue filming Black Sails. They [the cast] said, ‘you’re still walking like a rock star’. I carried back more of him than I should have,” he says with a grin. “It’s a nice thing at some point to think, ‘maybe I’m not terrible’. But it’s a danger to play any other role like I played Michael.”
The same can be said of Scrublands, which launched to rave reviews when it debuted on Stan in 2023. In the follow-up season, Scrublands: Silver, Martin and Mandy – played by Bella and Luke – are now together and navigating the complexities of their relationship during a trip to his hometown. But things get murky when Martin’s childhood friend is murdered and Mandy is the prime suspect.
“She can’t catch a break,” Bella says of her ill-fated character. “The stakes are pretty high from the start. But I love playing her so much. She’s a spunky character.”
Filmed in Augusta, Western Australia, the location and atmosphere set the tone for the series, which co-stars Australian legends such as Debra Lawrance, Sarah Roberts, Tasma Walton, Hamish Michael and Luke Carroll.
“It was so moody and the landscape and costumes were all shades of blue, which lent itself to the unravelling of everything,” says Bella. “Then, for Mandy, I built up her relationships off screen, so that when they got taken away in the series, I really felt it. It’s easier to access that than to wonder what it would be like to be accused of murder!”
While season one introduced the characters, Luke says Silver gives viewers an in-depth look at who they really are – and allowed the co-stars to become good friends.
“We only had a few scenes together in the first season, so we weren’t doing the level of work we are now,” he explains. “We have a lot of emotions and a complex issue to navigate, which is a lot for a new couple to go through.
“Bella and I work similarly and we get excited by the same things. She challenged me to dig deep and do the work.”
Off screen, the two are just as close, with catch-ups scheduled for whenever they are in the same location.
“Luke is such an incredible actor and he made it so easy. Only recently, he and his fiancé came to LA, so they came to hang out with my husband and me. And so did Sarah [Roberts],” says Bella, who splits her time between LA and her home in Phillip Island, Victoria.
“We all became a bit of a family on set. When you’re on location, you need that.”
With more projects in the pipeline, the unpredictable ride is seemingly never-ending for the pair. Luke, who got engaged at the end of 2024, is busy promoting his graphic fantasy novel series, The Fetch Phillips Archives, while looking ahead to his wedding. Bella, meanwhile, is juggling commitments in the US with upcoming Aussie drama The Family Next Door. But no matter what, they’ll always find their way home.
“I always try to bring something from home with me when I travel,” Bella says, adding she’s always keen to delve into the Aussie traits. “One thing I love about Scrublands and the character of Mandy is how uniquely Australian she is. If you like someone, you hang s* on them! It doesn’t always land in America, but it creates an instant bond back home.”
For Luke, the allure of travelling abroad is always there, but he’s happiest just where he is – in Australia.
“I like knowing the people I’m working with every day,” he says. “In the US the productions are so big that you often work with people you’ll never see again. I have my career and relationships here.
“There’s always the possibility of being pulled overseas but, right now, the quality of projects here is incredible. Things are perfect.”
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