Essie fakes it until Phryne makes it

She shoots a pistol, she swordfights, she drives fast cars, solves crime, dances flamenco and speaks several languages. Is there anything that Miss Phryne Fisher can’t do?

In a nutshell, not really. But for actress Essie Davis it’s a demanding role, especially when a lead role in television already requires one to be on point for multiple scenes.

Davis admits playing the multiskilled Ms. Fisher can be a testing experience, but it’s one she relishes in filming the new series of  ABC1’s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

“The first episode was the most terrifying for me because it had fan dancing and flamenco which I had to learn very quickly. Phryne gets her gear off I guess. In a beautiful, feather fan-dance kind of way!” she says.

“There are certainly days I feel full of nerves and fear. Sometimes I think ‘Oh my god am I really about to do this?’

“But then I usually find someone else is more nervous than me. Then I just dive off and I feel supported.

“Because Phryne is so skilled I have to learn things really quickly. I had to learn a big slab of Russian the other day and hope that I sounded alright and remember it all. It’s just super-fact skill acquisition. But that’s also what makes it fun. There’s a lot of pressure to be brilliant at the things that Phrynne’s good at.”

So is the answer ‘fake it til’ you make it?’

“I’m terrible at faking it. I really do push myself to try and do those things well. But it is good fun. Occasionally there will be ‘stuntys’ coming in and I think ‘I can do that!’ and I do it.”

Davis says the key to playing the lovable sleuth is having energy, but as an actor even costume can help establish character.

“She has really easy shoes to put on and easy garments to wear as long as you have energy to do it,” she says.

Playing literary characters, such as the one created by author Kerry Greenwood, is nothing new to Davis. She recently appeared in both The Slap and Cloudstreet. But there are inherent risks in bringing to life characters that are already well-established with audiences.

“As far as I know everyone was pretty pleased about it. If they weren’t I didn’t hear about it. I feel like the fans have really embraced the series and Kerry is so happy with it,” she says.

“A lot of the characters I’ve played (have been a big ask). Dolly in Cloudstreet, Anouk in The Slap. There will always be people who don’t like my interpretation, but I feel confident my interpretation is right for my imagination of the part.

“I’ve read a lot of the books and the history, so I feel justified in my choices, I guess.”

The ABC mystery is also gathering fans overseas, notably in France and the UK, and fanmail has been sent to her from across the globe. Davis was even recognised during a visit to England for her role in The Slap.

“I did get spotted at a kid’s library. A woman was explaining to me how to return books because I didn’t understand the computer system and she said ‘My god you look so much like an Australian actress!’” she laughs.

“But that was for Anouk (The Slap). I haven’t been over there since Phrynne’s been on but I’m going to London in February.”

This season includes some stellar guest performers including Geoff Morell, Genevive Picot, Julia Blake, Dan Wyllie, Sibylla Budd, Rachel Blake, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Jared Daperis, Jane Harber, Kerry Walker, Rhys Muldoon, Joan Sydney and Simon Burke.

“Every episode has a new journey, but because the body of Janey, my little sister has been found there’s not the same dark underscoring for Phrynne as the last series. But there is another arc for Jack’s character and the police force,” Davis explains.

“Julie Forsythe did the most phenomenal job. It’s really great when the guest cast come in and take it incredibly seriously. It’s wonderful that we make it as fun and as silly as possible but it’s still a murder mystery and you still have to have motivations about why someone kills someone.

“I remember when Julie was doing a scene like I was going to cry, but Phryne wouldn’t. So it was really hard.”

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries returns 8:30pm Friday on ABC1.