Given the wildly disparate roles she has played over the course of her lauded, 20-plus year career, it’s easy to see why Tessa Thompson was drawn to the twisty thriller His & Hers and the role of Anna Andrews.

“She’s a fiercely ambitious, dedicated, sharp, and sometimes biting newscaster who has lost her way but finds it again through her work,” says Thompson of the Hers of the series’ title. Anna, an Atlanta anchorwoman, returns to her sleepy, humid hometown of Dahlonega, Georgia, where she is drawn into a murder investigation that prompts uneasy reunions with people from her past.

The Golden Globe–, Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated actor has nimbly toggled between film and television, drama and comedy, period pieces, and futuristic sci-fi. Thompson can crack jokes as well as she can jerk tears. She has scaled up her unique humanity to blockbuster franchise size for roles like fierce warrior Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and musician Bianca Creed in the trilogy of Creed films opposite Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan. The Los Angeles native can also modulate for rich character pieces, including a woman enmeshed with a friend dangerously flirting with hiding her true identity in the poignant Harlem Renaissance–set drama Passing and her recent turn as the titular role in Nia DaCosta’s acclaimed cinematic adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play Hedda Gabler. Crossing over to the stage, Thompson made her Broadway debut in March in the death row drama The Fear of 13 opposite Adrien Brody.

Adapted from Alice Feeney’s novel of the same name by filmmaker William Oldroyd (Eileen, Lady Macbeth), His & Hers is a dazzling showcase for the skills Thompson has honed through her various roles: Across the series’ six episodes, Anna cycles through a wide range of modes and moods.  

There is the tenacious news anchor/reporter version of Anna who is not above light subterfuge to get her scoop. She is also an estranged wife who is by turns ferocious and smoldering with her husband Detective Jack Harper — the His of the title — played with intense heat by Emmy winner Jon Bernthal (The Unforgivable, The Punisher). Anna is also an occasional caretaker of her declining mother Alice — played by Crystal Fox (Big Little Lies, The Big Door Prize) — to whom she wants to give her best even as she is exasperated by Alice’s needs. Underlying all those elements of Anna’s personality is the damaged woman who is still trapped in the wreckage of a devastating teenage trauma while also processing a much fresher grief from an unimaginable loss. The consequences of both those events simmer and boil over as the episodes progress.

“The beauty of playing Anna was to really reinvest in the truth that the only way to pass something is through it,” says Thompson about the various demons chasing her character through the series — some expected, some surprising. “In an effort to run away from her past. It has served her well to run toward ambition and work and activity, where she feels a sense of control. When that method falls apart and she doesn’t have that anymore, all that’s left is really herself. And it’s really painful, but also really, really beautiful.” 

Thompson not only dug deep on camera, she also rolled up her sleeves behind it as an executive producer on the series, via her production shingle Viva Maude. The behind-the-scenes element dovetailed nicely with her desire to work closely with Oldroyd. 

“I think he’s a really tremendous director, and I love the idea of working with directors in new spaces for them,” she says, noting that His & Hers marks Oldroyd’s first time helming a television series. “He wanted to make something sexier and pulpier than what he typically does and something serialized. I found it really sexy that he wanted to do some disruptive and surprising things inside of the genre space because I started my production company Viva Maude with an aim to do that and also to change the kind of protagonists that we typically see at the center of a story that we think we know and understand. I felt like this source material had the opportunity for us to do that in spades.”

Oldroyd found Thompson indispensable in both of her capacities on set. “Tessa is not only an actor of great sensitivity and intelligence but also a very savvy businesswoman and loyal ally,” says the director, who leaned on the executive producer as a collaborator. “I’m so grateful to her for the experience, insight, and support she shared.”

“I’ve found the transition into producing to be a very natural and fulfilling progression in my career,” says Thompson who also served in that capacity for Hedda. “My interest has always extended beyond just acting, focusing on the big picture of a project. I genuinely enjoy being deeply invested in the entire creative process, from the initial stages of development and script refinement to building the immersive world of a show. There’s tremendous satisfaction in being an integral part of every step of the storytelling journey.”

Her fellow lead, Jon Bernthal, agrees: He also pulled double duty, as the His of the series’ title and executive producer. He’d been a Thompson fan for some time. “Tessa is a ‘born to be an actor’ actor,” says Bernthal. (Coincidentally he also made his own Broadway debut in March; Dog Day Afternoon opened at a theater just four blocks from his co-star.) “She has natural capabilities and an inspiring ability to access emotions and tell the truth on camera. ​I loved the moments we had filming together.”

Thompson says the pair quickly developed an “easy rapport,” exploring the tender-to-explosive dynamics of the strained husband and wife trying to find their way back to each other in the midst of murder, betrayal, and grief. “I would describe Jon as an open book who brings a lot of himself to his work,” she says. “We found a dynamic where our characters give each other a hard time, with a lot of love underneath.”

While His & Hers is, at its core, a murder mystery, Thompson hopes Anna’s journey can serve as a launching pad for survivors of sexual assault to heal and discuss their own stories, something that she acknowledges people in her own life have struggled with. “It’s not something that should be stigmatized at all,” she says. “Maybe after watching His & Hers, there will be people who think about having a conversation that they couldn’t imagine having before.”