Melissa George has revealed she refused to do one thing on the set of her new series, Ms. X.
The dark comedy, which premieres today on BINGE and Foxtel, was filmed in New Zealand and follows a suburban mum played by the former Home And Away star who gets caught up in Auckland’s criminal underworld.
But the 49-year-old said she was grateful her character Mia wasn’t a local because she didn’t feel comfortable speaking in the New Zealand accent.
Instead, the Perth-born star chose to embrace her own Aussie accent.
“When I was doing the show in New Zealand, I don’t play a New Zealander,” she recalled in a new interview with the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About.
“I’m not going to do any disrespect to their accent because I just didn’t even want to try. So I did my Aussie [accent].”
Stream Ms. X from June 30 on BINGE, available on Hubbl.
“For me I didn’t want to do it to them because I’m just next door and I’m already struggling enough just being back here,” she explained of why she didn’t adopt the accent.
“It was too much for me. I had a new baby and I was like, ‘OK, I just have to focus on the role.’”
The role – which marks her return to Aussie screens since 2019’s Bad Mothers – came in 2025 just after George welcomed her third son, Lyor. She also has sons Raphaël, 12, and Solal, 11, from a previous relationship.
The three-time Logie winner now resides in France with her three boys, so she welcomes any roles that allow her to temporarily relocate to an English-speaking country.
“I mean, over here [in France] I’m not really speaking English much, which is a bummer,” she told Stellar. “That’s why, sometimes, I just like to go to an English-speaking country for a very long period of time.”
Unfortunately for George, she did not get the chance to fly home to Australia during filming in New Zealand due to her on-set schedule.
“I wasn’t allowed because I was the lead, but my family came over,” she shared. “My mother visited because I just had baby Lyor, so that was lovely. She got to see her grandson. It was a really good break for me, and also to do what I do best.”
“I like to be on a set. I like to tell stories. I like to be good at my job and I love being a good mum. I think the parallel of the character [Mia] was fighting for your kids,” she added.
“It’s interesting how far you will go to make sure that they’re in a good way.”
Indeed, the six-part series sees her character Mia team up with a high school friend and wannabe private investigator Oscar (Dean O’Gorman), to search for answers following her husband’s mysterious disappearance.
But their investigation goes disastrously wrong, leaving Mia on the run from police and a dangerous drug cartel, all while juggling kids and judge PTA mums.
Ms. X premieres June 30 on BINGE.