She’s best known for wowing theatre audiences through the celebrated one-woman play, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, which toured the east coast of Australia from 2020 to great acclaim and multiple five-star reviews.
But this week Eryn Jean Norvill leaves behind the theatre world for a return to the small screen, starring in the third season of Foxtel’s esteemed courtroom drama, The Twelve.
“This is me kind of stepping back into more TV work — I’d forgotten how wonderful it is!” says Sydneysider Norvill, who is chatting with STM during filming for the series, which took place in Perth and Margaret River late last year.
“I’m actually really loving working back in TV.
“I think there was something that happened with Dorian that sparked this hunger for me to come back into screen — I am really, really surprised how much I am loving it.”
Norvill has had roles in several TV projects over the years, including Home And Away and Foxtel’s Love Me — and is no stranger to the small screen.
She is also familiar with the courtroom: in 2018 the award-winning actor was thrust into the spotlight when she had to testify in a high-profile defamation action brought against Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph by actor Geoffrey Rush. It was a bruisingly public trial — Rush eventually won — and Norvill, who was a theatre star-on-the-rise at the time, was right there at the centre of it.
The case revolved around allegations the newspaper made that the Oscar-winning star engaged in “inappropriate behaviour” towards a female co-star during a stage production of King Lear. Norvill was not named in the article, but was called to testify for the newspaper in its defence.
But rather than let it define her, Norvill has forged ahead, and in the years since, not only has she carved a place for herself as one of the country’s most exciting acting talents, she’s also used her experience to push for change in the Australian theatre space, via her involvement with the Safe Theatres Australia advocacy group.
This week, Norvill is back in the courts once more, but this time, it’s on her own terms.
The upcoming third series titled, The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer, focuses on the case of a murdered woman whose death links directly back to a historic crime committed in the 1960s. Norvill plays the victim, with Sam Neill and Wentworth star Danielle Cormack battling it out in court as defence and prosecutor respectively.
It mines heavy territory, but Norvill says she knew she wanted to be a part of the project.
“I think the thing that got me over the line was having a conversation with Madeleine Gottlieb, our director,” she explains.
“I’ve had a career, but I haven’t worked with many female directors, so I think that I was really impressed and startled by not only Madeleine’s artistry — her framing, and how she spoke about the work — but also the kind of culture that she wanted on her set.
“And that was just a really new conversation for me, even though I’ve been advocating for that, and that is how I like to work.”
Norvill met with the show’s writer, Sarah Walker, before filming began, whom she says was “incredibly open and collaborative” when discussing the series — it was another reason she signed on.
“I like to know what the politics of a piece is, and I like to know that there is a complexity, not only like why are we doing the piece, but also what for. What are we saying with each character?
“I thought with those minds, in collaboration with the people framing it and trying to push everything across the line, it could be a really incredibly smart and irresistible piece of television.”
It’s certainly shaping up to be that way.
And with the calibre of the actors involved, it’s almost a foregone conclusion.
Joining Norvill on the call sheet is a who’s who of top-shelf Australian acting talent, including Sarah Peirse, and The Dry’s William Zappa. Bump star Nathalie Morris, Runt’s Catherine Moore, Hanah Tayeb from Miles From Nowhere, and The Night Agent’s Phoenix Raei round out the cast — WA-raised Ewen Leslie is also front and centre.
The cast spent time together during filming in and around Perth and in Margaret River last spring, forging a bond — Norvill and Neill, though they don’t share much screen time together, became friends.
“I had never even met Sam before, but we’ve been spending quite a lot of time together, because he is (staying) in North Fremantle, and I am (staying) in North Fremantle — we have gotten to know each other in a nice way, going for walks, and he’s a wonderful person,” she said at the time.
The cast swapped notes on places to visit and things to do while working on the west coast for four months, “and I have been down to Leighton Beach, and (visited) Wild Bakery — I have gotten a lot of hot tips from pretty much everybody,” Norvill explained.
“Perth people have a lot of pride, as they should do — it’s a really f...ing beautiful place; I really am sort of astounded.
“The weather is just good all the time. The water, and the horizon — I have never been to a place where the horizon just goes and goes!
“And everyone has their quintessential bars and restaurants, and they are all really good.”
Norvill particularly enjoyed her time in Margaret River. Before filming started she had relocated to London, so travelling back to sleepy WA was quite a contrast from her busy city life there.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in nature, and Margaret River is amazing — the beaches!” she says.
“I’m a ‘salt therapy’ girl, and any kind of ocean heals wounds for me. But also, I got to see the migration of whales (up close), which was pretty special.”
“I couldn’t believe it. It was incredible.”