Actress Brit MacRae joins us on Close-Up Culture to chat about her role in the third season of the hit suspense drama series, Departure.
This season follows the investigation into the sinking of a sea ferry, The Queen of the Narrows, that was destined for Newfoundland, Canada.
What were you feeling heading into season three of Departure?
Excited. Nervous. ALL OF THE THINGS. That flight from LA to Newfoundland felt like the longest flight ever!!!! Like the night before the first day of high school all over again.
What journey does Jessica Hicks go on in this season?
Season 3 centers on the mystery of The Queen of the Narrows ferry, destined for St. John’s Newfoundland. En route, an explosion occurs on the ferry and it sinks in record time with 500 passengers on board. My character, Chief Officer Jessica Hicks, is a rookie and is completely caught off guard when an explosion occurs… Throughout season 3, I work with the investigators to help figure out what happened and why things went wrong. My character is a big feeler, and I’m feeling a LOT of things through the season.
What should audiences expect from the season?
An explosion, terror and fear, heartbreak, loss, the human will to survive, hope, love — TV!
What has your experience been like collaborating with Kris Holden-Ried, Archie Panjabi and the rest of the Departure team?
Working on Season 3 was amazing. There’s something magical about shooting on location. You can’t go home after a day of work so you end up truly getting to know each other. It almost feels like an elevated version of summer camp where people from all over come together to create something great. Archie, Kris, Eric and everyone the cast was so generous… and TJ Scott was a fantastic director.
What will be your biggest takeaway from working on this season?
Departure is refreshingly smart television. Each season is an EPIC whodunnit….right when you’re certain about one person being the “bad guy,” you realize you’re completely wrong. Smart storytelling coupled with beautiful cinematography and epic action scenes makes for really good TV.
But the BIGGEST takeaway? Crew = the superheroes of the film/TV industry. It was mind blowing to see how the Crew on Departure operated like a well-oiled MACHINE. The amount of collaboration, grit, resilience and an overarching attitude of “YES, LET’S!” was inspiring.
What are your hopes and plans for the future?
In 2022 I Co-Founded a venture-backed indie film company called KINO that was founded with the mission to make the film/tv industry more equitable for all. In a world of Studios exploiting artists, KINO’s model ensures that everyone (from actors to PA’s) receive a piece of the backend. We have two films currently in post-production, another film in pre-production and two more in development. I feel very passionately about equitability within our industry so I’m very excited to see the impact of creating film/tv this way.
Follow Brit on Instagram – @britmacrae