Melissa Roxburgh made a name for herself on the small screen thanks to four seasons as Manifest's leading lady, starting on NBC before the sci-fi drama moved over to streaming for Netflix subscribers. More recently, she joined Justin Hartley to play his on-screen sister for CBS' super successful Tracker Season 1. After explaining to CinemaBlend why it was a "no brainer" to play Dory Shaw opposite Hartley as Colter, she also reflected on her Manifest days.
When I spoke with Roxburgh ahead of her debut episode on Tracker in the 2024 TV schedule, I noted that this show definitely isn't her first time playing a sister with a complicated relationship with her brother, as that was the case when she played Michaela Stone opposite Josh Dallas as Ben Stone on Manifest. The actress shared what it was like for her to go from Michaela to Dory, saying:
So on Manifest, Michaela was kind of a hot mess. Ben Stone was a little bit more put together, but this time it's the other way around. Dory is the one with her stuff together and she's a professor and she's got all her ducks in a row and she's kind of the one handing out the advice this time. He doesn't take it obviously, because he's Colter. She just wants her family to come back together, and so there's a lot of love there. And I hope that comes across on screen.
It truly is a twist on the sibling dynamics, as Manifest fans will remember that Ben Stone started out the series as a college professor. Fortunately, Dory didn't go through any of the fantastical ordeals than either of the Stone siblings did on Manifest, either in its NBC days or after it was cancelled then renewed for Netflix.
While there are certainly questions about what Dory is hiding after the bombshell reveals for Colter in Tracker's Season 1 finale, it's a safe bet that the CBS hit with its grueling schedule for Justin Hartley doesn't have a Manifest-esque twist in store for Dory if/when Roxburgh returns.
My fingers are crossed to see Jensen Ackles and Melissa Roxburgh guest-starring in the same episode for a full Shaw sibling reunion, and the actress' comments are promising on that front. Roxburgh went on to share what it was like to come to a more grounded show after not only Manifest, but guest-starring on NBC's Quantum Leap:
Quantum Leap was fun. Even the people that they cast, they were all funny people, and so that one was just a blast to go play. But this I got to be a bit more serious, and I got to go back to Vancouver, which is where I'm from. There's something really grounding about the environment up there as well. And then Manifest was super sci-fi and very out there and so it was really nice to just kind of play in proper reality. I feel like I've been a lot of sci-fi and... I've rarely played just a normal person. [laughs] So it was really nice to do that.
Whether or not Melissa Roxburgh is back on Tracker sooner rather than later when it returns to CBS in the fall, she does have another role in the works for a show that is outside of the realm of Manifest-esque sci-fi. Back in May, NBC announced that she will star in a new procedural drama called The Hunting Party.
In the new show, a small team of investigators will be on the hunt for the most dangerous killers in the country. Described as a "high-concept crime procedural," the focus of the team's chases is on criminals who escaped from a top-secret prison that shouldn't actually exist. The Hunting Party is set to premiere in 2025 as part of NBC's midseason lineup.
For now, you can always revisit her episode of Tracker as Dory Shaw streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, along with the rest of the first season. If her thoughts on "hot mess" Michaela put you in the mood for Manifest instead, you can find all four seasons of that series streaming on Netflix.
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