AXN is set to premiere Instinct, starring Alan Cumming and Bojana Novakovic on 6 August, Monday at 10pm (9pm JKT/BKK). The new series tells the story of Dr. Dylan Reinhart (Cumming), a former CIA operative who’s created a quieter life for himself as a professor and author of a best-selling book on abnormal behaviour.
However when a tenacious and resourceful NYPD detective Lizzie Needham (Novakovic) approaches him to help her solve a serial killer case, he taps into his old skill set and reaches out to a CIA friend who has access to invaluable top-secret intelligence. As Dylan gets lured back into the adrenaline filled world of law enforcement, he and Lizzie realize that, together, they make the perfect team.
In this exclusive interview, Novakovic reveals more about the series and the character of Det. Lizzie Needham
Let’s start with who is Det. Lizzie Needham?
Lizzie is a super feisty homicide detective who is temperamental to say the least and she is also – Lizzie is a really curious, alert, reckless detective. I think that’s super exciting to see a female detective who is like that.
What drew you to this role?
The first time that I read the script when she started kicking those garbage cans that’s when I fell in love with her, because I was like this woman has – something is going on and I have no idea what it is, but it’s big. And I love it when – I love characters for whom something big is happening. And they’re doing their best to deal with it, but probably failing, hopefully, because that makes them human.
What is it like working with co-star Alan Cumming?
You can’t not love [Alan Cumming]. He is such a generous ray of sunshine. I mean, he comes to work every day alert, awake, happy to be there, honest, ready to tackle whatever problem is before him. I just love it. I love working with him.
Whoopi Goldberg guest stars as Joan Ross in Season 1, what was it like working with her?
Whoopi Goldberg is a delight. She is a hoot. It’s hard to not laugh on camera. It’s really hard to keep a straight face when you’re working with her because she is a boss. She is so good at what she does. She is so funny. She is so approachable, so easy to work with, very smart, asks such good questions. And I just love that she is doing the show. Yeah, she is on it a bit.
Do you enjoy shooting the action scenes on the show?
I love doing that stuff. I train in muay thai and I’m obsessed with MMA. I’m a huge MMA fan and I have been for a while. And we’re even actually getting a little bit of muay thai into the precinct, yeah, there is a bit of muay thai coming your way. Yeah, I’m obsessed with that stuff. I love it. So, I definitely let my double do the running if I have to run in high heels. But she is not going to do my fighting sequences, no way.
Why should audiences tune in to watch Season 1 of Instinct?
You have to tune into this show because this show is a character driven like almost eccentric, funny, kooky kind of drama filled with banter and fun and solving cases of the week. And these cases of the week affect the main characters, you know, like this is driven by these characters, their personal lives, their foibles, and yet every week they have a case to solve that directly affects them and their personal relationships.
