NCIS: Sydney season one was a hit for CBS, the number one show in its freshman season and starring British star Olivia Swann.
Season two will return on February 7, and will bring even more "action, comedy and mystery," Olivia, who plays Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey, tells HELLO!
"We really swing for the fences, and everything is taken up a notch," she says.
Season one ended with JD Dempsey (Todd Lasance) agreeing to free a prisoner in exchange for his kidnapped nine-year-old but as the meeting ends, the escaping criminal made a phone call, implicating JD’s boss Colonel Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) in the abduction.
Olivia previews the new season below.
Season two picks up immediately where the finale ended; where will we find Mackey?
Olivia: It's a very intense start, and it doesn't really let up from there. We see Mackey caught in intense stakes right from the start, and she's thrown into this confusion with Rankin; everything that happens with him is not what she's expecting.
We get to see a very different side to her in the first episode that we're not quite used to seeing, a side that is a little more exposed and laid bare, which I really love. It also sets up the rest of the season, because we see a lot more to Mackey than we've seen before.
We will see under her armor, a softer side to her, which I think is really engaging and interesting, because we're so used to this hard-ass badass woman who kicks butt and doesn't take no for an answer. It's been really, really lovely to get to see a different side there.
What can we expect from the rest of season two?
Olivia: It is very much bigger and better all around. We really swing for the fences, and everything is taken up a notch; all of the drama, all of the action, all of the comedy, everything is turned up to the next level.
It's more intense, and intriguing, and there's mystery and there's lightness.
What progress will we see across the season for other characters?
Olivia: We see a lot more from all the characters this season, and there's at least two episodes which are very DeShawn and Evie heavy, and so you get more of a sense of their dynamic and how they work.
It's pretty intense, some of the stuff that they go through. We're really ramping up these character connections, which is very, very cool.
Is there romance for Mackey in the future?
Olivia: I'd be very intrigued to see how she deals with a relationship. She's not someone who you instantly think of as romantic or mushy or lovey dovey, touchy-feely, but I think that's in there somewhere, it exists deep down.
Mackey is very hardened woman and I feel like, based on her past and what she's been through, that makes a lot of sense so I think it would be so interesting to see her in that space, engaging with someone in that way.
Will we ever get a hint about who chose who for kiss, Marry, Kill in the bunker?
Olivia: I hope so! That would be very cool. I can't remember if we all figured out what we chose on the day, I don't remember off top of my head.
Are you similar to Mackey at all?
Olivia: Mackey is one of the strongest women I think I've ever encountered in a script, and it's always so inspiring to get roles like this. But I didn't necessarily read it and see myself in her at all, it was almost the opposite.
She's very different to me on a base level, but being able to play a woman like that really allows me to learn much more about myself, and about strong, powerful women who are unashamedly committed to making the world a better place and making their voice heard, to the difference between right and wrong.
Every time we get a script, every time I get to be on set and do a scene, I'm so in awe of her.
Do you find the accent easy to do?
Olivia: Yes, because the majority of characters I've played are American compared to the British, which I think is hilarious.
But with NCIS I stay in the accent all day when I'm on set, whereas for the previous role I would drop out every time we yell, 'cut' so this is definitely more tiring, and you start to realize: 'Oh, my jaw really hurts. Why is that?'
It definitely takes more mental gymnastics and physical gymnastics than I would have expected but it makes it easier to sit in it and exist in the world for sure.
Is there something or is there somebody you would love to see do a cameo in Sydney from the NCIS universe?
Olivia: We should get Jessica Knight on (Katrina Law), we should get all the women gathered together, a boss-ass women episode would be really, really fun.
What can we say about season three?
Olivia: We'd all love to come back. We'd all love to keep taking these stories and being these characters, and exploring and expanding the world.