Missy Peregrym is back as Andy McNally in the latest season of cop drama Rookie Blue.
The actress chats about the new series and what lies ahead for her character.
- So Andy is suspended. She's kind of messed up. Where do you start in season Three?
I've actually had a lot of time off to do whatever I want to do, which has been great on one hand and difficult because I can't be with Sam. So, that's why I leave because if Sam and I are together we're going to lose our jobs.
- So is that what happens in the bit we haven't seen yet?
Everything about the relationship between me and Sam picks up in the first episode because he picks me up at the airport.
I'm obviously very excited to come back to work to see a new rookie there. He's not as much of a threat as I thought he was going to be originally.
It's very interesting coming back this year because Luke has gone. He's not in the Division. Now I'm able to date Sam and we're going to really start this relationship.
But Sam is mad at me for leaving, so we have to repair. Of course, I am going to leave so we don't lose our jobs and I come back and we can be together.
But he's upset that we've been together and he almost died because we were together undercover and so why would I leave now when it's not such a big deal? You see us work that out in the beginning episodes.
- Is Andy’s career important to her?
Yes, I think it is really important and I think that is another issue in our relationship when we're together. Because we're partners, it's difficult to be able to put the job aside and be in a relationship. So they struggle with that.
- Was it always your intention to become an actor or was it just by chance?
I'm only starting to feel a little bit more comfortable with what I'm doing. I had no idea why I was really doing this. It was fun and it was obviously a choice - and I made that choice to be in this over and over again - but I've also wanted to quit 100,000 times.
But I kind of fell into it and I'm really grateful that I am here now. But it's such a strange job. I still look up and I'm like "What am I doing? I'm playing pretend for a living.
I'm so lucky to be a child. If you ask anybody else I act like a child, anyway. It may be the only thing I could do and get away with it!
- Do you have an acting or screen idol?
No, not really. I love Sandra Bullock because she is so organic and genuine on camera. That's why I like her so much. There are a lot of great actors and actresses, but I'm not the kind of person that goes to films; that's why I feel it's weird that I do this.
If you talk to Travis or Ben or to all these guys [in the cast] they see movies all the time. They're constantly analysing the way the filming is done and who the people are and following careers and doing all that stuff.
But I play Nintendo and hang out with my dog. I just love being with people more than sitting and watching TV or movies.
- Are you close to anyone in the cast on the show?
I'm really close to Charlotte; we live in the same place and we're very close to each other in Venice, in Los Angeles. So when we are not working, we hang out together in the off-season.
When you're working, you see everybody and everybody really gets along well. It's more the off-season stuff. Matt Gordon and I talk when we're not filming. I feel bad that I'm not saying other people's names.
They're going to read this and they'll be saying, "I said you are my greatest friend and you didn't mention me!"
- Do you have any similarities with your character?
Yes. Here's the weird thing, when you start with a project you naturally feel that you understand the person or you don't. When I read this one, I really felt I understood Andy and I had things in common with her. I also had a discussion about it with the creators.
They were talking about where they wanted the character to go - things like being honest to a fault. I am huge on justice and I really care that things are fair for people. These were things that we talked about that Andy would be displaying throughout the show.
That was easy for me to relate to. It's very strange when you're working for a long time, you kind of grow with your character and sometimes Andy goes through things that I haven't necessarily experienced yet and then I have those moments in my real life and I'm like "What? I've been here before.
I've said those words before but they just weren’t mine and now I'm saying it." It's the strangest thing.
- Is there anything you struggle with?
First of all, I'm terrible at all the cop stuff. I'm terrible at handcuffing. It takes me about 45 minutes to put cuffs on people. Any time I have to say real cop stuff, I can never remember my lines because it means nothing to me.
There's nothing emotional to it. That's why I can do this, because it's about relationships and how the job affects me as opposed to being a police officer. Thank God for that because otherwise I'd be the worst cop on TV if it was really a procedural.
- I saw you yesterday driving the police car up on the back of the truck when you're being pulled around. How fun is that?
Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's okay, but sometimes they mount the camera on your side of the car and they shut it all off and I get claustrophobic.
I can't get out when I want to and I'm stuck because there are guys there. I don't like it at all (laughter).
Yesterday the window imploded. The mount was so heavy, we were driving through and I guess the rig was so heavy that when we went over a bump and the way the car went over it made the window shatter while we were filming.
It was next to Peter but he wasn't hurt. It was totally scary. The first second we were stunned as it was so loud and we thought we were under attack. It was just unexpected - and it had never happened to us ever in all our seasons. So that was interesting.
- In Season Three do you question yourself being an actress and do you have to change who you are?
Yes, I felt that pressure. More when I was younger than now. I took it very seriously. Not the acting part, but the fact that I was putting myself out there and how I was going to allow myself to be represented.
I still do take roles based on something which is close to me and which I would want to share with somebody. So that is very personal to me. I thought I had to answer everything in a certain way - you know when people ask questions.
I didn't want to let anybody down. You feel you have to be 'on' when that's not normal at all. It's not realistic. So I put a lot of pressure on myself when I was younger.
But now when I've tried my hardest and then I read blogs and I’ve thought "Wow, that's not very a nice thing to say. You don't even know me." I thought, that's it, I've tried so hard and people still make their judgements about me. No matter what I say it gets taken out of context.
I can't really control that and that's taken the pressure off me to be the perfect person. Everyone thinks actors are crazy, emotional and wacky. That bugs me because I'm not.
I'm not crazy. I mean, I am weird, but I was raised in such a way that I had nothing to do with this business. I didn't care about making a ton of money or about being famous.
We were taught to be good people inside and that's what matters. It wasn't all the exterior things and in this business that is what it's focused on. That's what I still struggle with that publicity.
- Do you not like being famous? Do you not want to be famous?
No, no. I don't want to be famous. Right now is great. It's great that I get to do something I'm proud of. I like that it makes a difference to some people. That's great. To be famous? I don't know what that means, other than pressure on me. Yes, I could do some things with it, but I can do good things without it.
I don't need that to make me feel that I've made it or been successful. I don't think that matters at all.
And the publicity thing, when you do talk shows and stuff, I get so mad. Why can't I wear jeans and a T-shirt? Because that's who I am. Why do I have to show up in a short dress with high heels and glam hair because that's not who I am. It's so fake to me.
I fight with my publicist all the time. She's really great and it’s her job to get promotion for the show - and I understand that's part of my job. I'm game for that, but there's so much pressure to be something that I'm not. It’s like 'We really want the guys to like you.'
But why do you want the guys to like me? I don't want the guys to really like me for this. But I put on my dress, anyway, because I have to.
- Is there anything you can tell us about Season Three that we can tease our readers with?
I meet my mom after 14 years and in a very difficult way. You obviously know the relationship with my father and last season he was getting sober and he makes an appearance this season too, but I haven't heard from my mom in 14 years. I haven't heard from my mom at all.
I didn't know where she'd gone and where she was living. I run into her on the job, when I'm working. That's something I can't relate to in my real life. I have a great relationship with my parents and we're very close.
I think that actually motivated me to know how to play Andy not seeing her mother because I actually have a feeling as to what Andy would be missing out on in not having her mom around. Every person knows there's a bond there whether or not that person is in your life.
She is a social worker and she ditched me, but she spends her time bringing other families together. It's such a hard hit when I first see her.
It's so hard to process. I'm angry because she obviously wants to reach out and you'll see what happens with her and how we kind of develop, but that was something that's really interesting.
What's really weird is my TV mom reminds me of my real mom. They kind of look alike. It's so strange. The real lady looks like my mom a little bit. And it was weird because my mom came to visit and they were hanging out together and getting on. It was so strange.
- Is it an inspiration for you being the main character?
I think I put pressure on myself. The first season was really draining because I didn't know what to expect as it was the first season that I was going to play the lead. Yes, it's hard.
The biggest sacrifice is being away from my family and my friends. I leave my life to work here. That's the hardest part. I don't have time for my life when I'm part of the show.
I think that's the most difficult part for me. When I come to work afterwards, everyone is so fantastic with their characters and what they're playing and we have such a good time that even though the days are long, it could be so much worse.
There are many people who work this number of hours in the day and don't have as much fun as I do, so it's pretty easy to put into perspective.
- Is it important to keep some tension between Andy and Sam in Season Three because that's what the fans like?
There's tension anyway. That’s the thing. What's been difficult - which even I notice - was when we were not together, it was like we were more together
There are difficult situations. When my mom comes in, he's so protective of me. He doesn't want her coming back into my life. He's nervous that I'm going to be really heartbroken.
The truth is I'm already heartbroken by the whole thing. I'm confused as to what to do and it causes tension between us. That's what I really love about a relationship - it's not like we're trying to create drama for the characters, that's what life is all about.
You have an idea about what it should be like and it doesn't meet those expectations, so it's difficult. So we're getting to know each other, but it's a lot harder than we thought it was going to be and I'm not going to tell you what happens.
We're up to episode nine and it's really crazy. This is the cool part about doing TV shows too, you get to know people more in their real-life as real people too and you become a family.
Every year you come together and the relationships get more entwined and difficult because there is already so much established. I'm really enjoying where we are at right now.
- It's really not fair to say that and not reveal anything! (Laughter)
I know, but last year I was excited because Luke got shot and I was so happy that he almost died. I was so excited. It was dramatic and I was thinking "Wow, that's crazy. I took a bullet in episode one and then he is shot for real.
Then he cheats on me but he asks me to marry him. It's so crazy. I could never have seen that coming. It was so fun to play that. I was really excited for the fans except for one thing. What I didn't understand was that people were telling me on Twitter that I should be with Luke after everything. I was like "Sorry! He cheated on me, what are you talking about?"
I know I'm talking as if it's my own life, but I really took it that personally. I thought there'd be no redemption for Luke after all that, but people still thought I should be with Luke. It was shocking.
- Surely most people want her to be with Sam?
Season One it was Sam all the way. Season Two it was very 50-50 and I couldn't believe it because Luke keeps putting himself in a deeper and deeper hole. We'll see what happens this year. I think they're really happy that we're together.
- Do they know you're together?
They don't know we're together, but they're hoping we'll be together. Because last year when we filmed the last scene he asked "Do you want to try being normal together?" And I get in the car and we drive away.
I didn't watch it but I heard that they didn't show me getting in the car. They ended it with him asking.
Rookie Blue is brand new and exclusive to Universal Channel every Sunday at 9pm, from Sunday 2nd September.