Against the odds

Robin Tunney needn't have been so worried about rival series Fringe. Photo / Supplied by TVNZ

Television stars aren't in the habit of discussing the competition. It isn't the done thing.

But actress Robin Tunney, who audiences first met in the 90s hits The Craft and Empire Records, has always been a little bit different. And in the sugar-coated, self-promoting world that is television, she tells it, refreshingly, like it is.

When her new series The Mentalist was set to premiere against J. J. Abrams' new series Fringe, the actress was sent a preview copy to scope the competition.

"I watched it and I had my hands on my head and I was like, 'Oh my God. This is the most fancy, expensive, effects-laden ... This is so unfair. This is a Ferrari!

"It's like being in a race at school and someone's father has bought them a $200,000 car and you've got your Honda."

It may have seemed like an unfair draw, but The Mentalist has given Fringe a run for its money in the States, pulling the highest ratings for a debut series since Desperate Housewives in 2005.

It has also become a hit in Britain where American series tend to be shunned in favour of homegrown programmes, and regularly claims the number one spot on free-to-air channel, Five.

"The creator is English," explains Tunney, "And I think it has the tone of irony unlike any other American show. I think people found that unusual.

"And it's old fashioned. We've had every kind of CSI ever. [The Mentalist] is a little bit more character-driven. It has a sense of humour. It's like solving crimes the old fashioned way with wits and not microscopes. It's not flashy and it's not violent."

Tunney spends most of her screen time opposite Simon Baker who plays Patrick Jane - a former celebrity psychic, outed as a fake. He now works with the Serial Crimes Unit, headed by Tunney's character Teresa Lisbon, using his exceptional observational skills to try and capture the elusive villain Red John - the serial killer who murdered his family.

It's a complex character and one that Tunney wasn't convinced many people could play, refusing to sign on to the project until the producers had cast their leading man.

"I read it and I really liked it, I liked the character. But Simon wasn't attached to it.

"I didn't really want to get involved and I said, 'we've got to find out who this guy is.' Because a) I thought it would be a really, really hard part and b) I thought it was something that would be successful and I didn't want to work with a jerk.

"You can stomach doing a movie with somebody you find revolting because you know in three months, it's going to be over. But this isn't something that has that kind of ending."

Not only did Baker pass the acting test and the non-jerk test, Tunney was also drawn to her leading man's strong principles.

"I knew he was a demonstrative guy, as far as wanting to make things right. So if ever there was a problem, he'd fight the big battles. Because I always feel shy in that kind of atmosphere."

Tunney came to the series after a season on Prison Break, where her character Veronica Donovan was killed off unceremoniously at the beginning of the second series.

Some actors might have taken offence to such an offing, but Tunney says she was only too happy to go.

"My argument was, 'It's called Prison Break. My character is their attorney who wants to get them out the legal way. Obviously I'm going to be ineffectual.' By about the third episode, it became obvious that there wasn't a lot that could be done.

"The experience wasn't unpleasant but I think it would have been if it had gone on for another year, being like 'don't worry! I'm going to get you out of prison'.

"I think that show is one of those shows that is really fun to watch but not as fun to act in. You're never smiling, you're never relaxed, you never get to crack a joke because it's the end of the world.

"Every moment is filled with so much peril that, as an actor, it does feel a bit redundant."

Fortunately, Tunney is more enamoured with her role on The Mentalist, which has been renewed for a second season in America.

"I've really come to like her and I love doing the show," she says. "I find it really interesting that it's such a gender reversal. He's sort of the brains and I'm the brawn. I'm the one who's always saving him and kicking ass."