Exclusive: Return to Paradise's Anna Samson on the twisty new mysteries being unwrapped in season 2

It was a thrill and a joy. Because that story certainly didn't feel finished for anyone, me or the audience or the rest of the cast. We deliberately left season one in a place where the story hadn't been concluded. So the first thing is the murders – which are outrageous and wild and tricky, and the puzzles are seemingly impossible. But you're pretty confident that Mack will be able to solve it. 

The second element is the interpersonal relationships, especially with Mackenzie and Glenn. At the end of season one, Mack hears Glenn tell Frankie, the dog, that he thinks he's still in love with Mackenzie. But what's she going to do with this information? There's a responsibility that comes with now knowing this – and she doesn't know what to do straight away. The first episode is you, the audience, seeing her cope with this information. And it brings up a whole rainbow of emotions for her. 

Mack's not so good with her emotions – I think an overarching theme of the whole show is how we can be better with each other. And I think she feels great guilt towards Glen – she feels great affection, great friendship and romance, of course, but whether or not she thinks she's good for him is a different question. It relates to hurting him in the past, to her own self worth and whether she thinks she's deserving of romantic love. 

We film in New South Wales, outside of Sydney, on the coastline of New South Wales. We also travel north into the northern beaches for one or two locations, but mainly it's the Illawarra region – Wollongong or the "Gong", as we call it in Australia. You can almost take it for granted, living so close to that part, but it's some of the most beautiful coastline on the planet.

The others do. There are group chats and various invites to go for a swim in the beautiful ocean pools, but I can never go because I'm always on set. 

It's a kind of a strange, wonderful responsibility, but being that much of a show is not something I've experienced before. I have in theatre, but it's an incredibly different medium, an incredibly different job. If you're in a play, whether or not you're the lead role, you're at the theatre and you're doing the whole thing – it's different with film and TV. It's a different working schedule. And for me, and Lloyd [Griffith, who plays Colin], we both have a huge workload. Having a scene off is a strange experience.

There's nothing I'd rather be doing than working – as Anna, the actor. Especially on a show that I love doing and the people who are so brilliant to work with. There's no place I'm happier than when I'm at work, I find great purpose, great joy and responsibility. And yeah, it is my favourite thing to do: my job, which is a wild and lucky thing in my life, and Mack's very much the same. I don't think I'm entirely doing it to avoid my emotions in the way Mack is, because my job requires my emotions. I do relate to her in finding work the most comfortable pocket of life, for sure. Being on set, and certainly being on stage, is the closest I feel to a sense of home, internally.

I think it was vital. Aaron McGrath, who plays Felix, that's his episode in a way. The boomerang that he gives Mackenzie was actually painted by Aaron's grandfather in real life. So when he gives that to me on-screen and we're all getting upset, that was entirely real. When they explained the backstory to me, I was already blubbering before they even said action.

So that was a sweet moment going into that episode with a little bit of our indigenous history in Australia. Because Aaron is in the show, because he's on screen, because he brings something that no one else can bring was really important, and I'm really pleased that the writers went there with that episode. 

It's an unavoidable thing that we need to look at even more in Australia, and we need to integrate it more seamlessly with our storytelling. Because it is us – it's not just a part of us. It's our foundation for better and for worse, the bad things are also a foundation that we need to look at. And why wouldn't we embrace the beauty of that culture and use it in our storytelling? It is vast and magic. And there is only more story and depth to be found in looking at it, not away from it. I think we should keep doing so.

There's an episode that's all about the comedy and absolute hideous tyranny of modern dating. It's a joyful episode because you can imagine Mackenzie and Colin in that world and how opposite they would be. He's so optimistic about love and romance, and Mackenzie is quite cynical. And they function like best friends throughout it, without them realising. It's a wonderful bit of writing, and the way that they talk to each other through that episode reminds me of chats with my girlfriends about modern dating. So I can't wait to watch that one, it's a great episode.