Roxie Mohebbi: The New Zealand actress talks about her new Australian series “Critical Incident”

The canvas depicts police brutality, ethnic discrimination, juvenile delinquency and the criminal justice system. Mohebbi believes that addressing these difficult issues through art is a surefire way to start conversations.

“Ultimately, we want to promote empathy with the show,” said the former Shortland Street Star explains.

“The show asks a real question,” she adds. “Is it the system? The people? The circumstances?” Through the lens of different characters' perspectives, it looks at both sides of the law.

Despite the Australian setting Critical incidents History is universal.

“I think New Zealand has a lot of these problems,” says Mohebbi. “We have so many young people being punished when they should be protected, educated and given opportunities.”

Here, juvenile offenders and their experiences with the system have made headlines. Following the publication of the inquiry into abuse in care in July and the resumption of boot camps for young offenders, there have been calls for a tougher approach to crime.

The actress, who also appeared in New Zealand productions last year Heading south And Miles from Nowhere, admitted that playing a police officer in the series was “challenging”.

“Especially considering that I can identify with the experiences on the other side.”

But how did she prepare for the difficult role?

“I actually followed police officers for about two weeks,” she says, talking about her preparations for the series. “Whenever I saw police officers in public, I filmed them and followed them,” Mohebbi says, laughing.

It also helped the actress to have supportive co-stars by her side.

The “rich community” of people on set gave her a certain ease in filming this rich series.

“The cast and crew were so incredible,” she says. “We had so much fun despite everything we were doing. I think that's what kept us sane.”

“The stuff sticks to you.”

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The focus of the show is on people, says Mohebbi – be it through the series’ complex characters, the topicality of its subject matter or the actors behind the complex characters.

Human error, human empathy and human choices play a central role in the plot, but it is the human style of storytelling by Mohebbi and her fellow actors that gets the message across.

“We just want to show different target groups what it looks like on the different sides of the coin,” she says. “And let people form their own opinions about it.”

“Critical Incident” will be available to watch on TVNZ+ from August 20.