For Michelle Vergara Moore, the chance to play Roxanne, an ambitious self-made wellness entrepreneur in the new SBS heist romp The Unusual Suspects, was the meaty role she was waiting for.
For Moore, it was in stark contrast to what she had been used to in the past: casting calls for 'Woman 1', a generic Asian character with a generic Asian accent.
"It’s so fun to play (Roxanne). Someone with power and tenacity and determination and fearlessness and someone who just knows what they want," she tells SBS Voices.
"It’s not often that this sort of role comes along for a woman; and for me to be able to portray and represent Filipino culture and ethnicity as well, it’s so thrilling and such an honour to do."
Moore plays opposite her real life husband Toby Leonard Moore, who plays Roxanne's good-for-nothing screen husband Jordan. It was the first time they had played alongside each other. Michelle and Toby, who stars in Billions, both live in New York and flew to Sydney to shoot the series in August 2020.
Michelle Vergara Moore (plays lead Roxanne) and Toby Leonard Moore (plays Roxanne’s husband Jordan) in the new SBS show The Unusual Suspects. Source: Supplied
The pair fell in love as first year drama students at the prestigious Australian acting school NIDA. They couldn't be more different. Michelle's parents, both teachers, migrated in 1977 from the Philippines' Bulacan province to the town of Sale in Victoria's Gippsland region where she was born.
One of 10 children, creativity, singing and karaoke were a big part of her family's culture. The siblings would write, act in plays and sing growing up. But it was only Michelle who sought to translate this love into a career. At 17, she was rejected on her first audition to NIDA and instead enrolled in a theatre degree at Federation University in rural Ballarat. After a car accident forced her to stop her degree, she auditioned again for NIDA two years later. Her tenacity paid off and in 2003 she moved to Sydney to enrol in NIDA. 
It's where she met Toby. Toby grew up in Sydney's lower North Shore in Lane Cove, and later Tasmania. He came from an arts and TV family who backed his ambitions to pursue acting. His mother, Robyn Moore, was the voice of iconic Blinky Bill in the ABC children's series.
Michelle Vergara Moore and Toby Leonard Moore in their younger years. Source: Supplied
The fact they are married and still together 18 years later, surprises them both.
"It’s funny when I tell people that, I sort of forget that a lot people date a lot of people at uni!" Michelle says.
"Particularly at drama school, my god! It’s a disaster area!" Toby laughs.
The couple moved in together in their second year. In the exclusive cohort of 20 students, they both scored coveted leads in the uni play A Winter’s Tale, Michelle playing Hermione to Toby’s Leontes.
“I thought Toby was impressive to begin with, I thought, 'he’s going to get all the lead roles'. When I saw his first acting exercise, I was just blown away by his skill and his talent,” she says.
Toby is equally complimentary: “I was blown away by her strength on stage, and she looked quite nice!"
Toby was quickly embraced into Michelle's karaoke-loving clan. He has visited the Philippines and met Michelle's extended family.
Michelle Vergara Moore and Toby Leonard Moore on their wedding day. Source: Supplied
"The story I loved telling (is) the first time I met Michelle’s family, I am a bit nervous and she said 'it’s just a BBQ and it’s immediate family only'. And 45 people turned up!
"And I was like, ‘just immediate family?’ And she said, 'Yes! Just brothers and sisters, spouses and kids'," Toby laughs.
"Personally, I have one brother and no first cousins, so I loved it. Marrying into a clan, it was wonderful, a beautiful big family."
The Unusual Suspects examines the cocktail of power, class, race and money that rules Sydney, through a group of women who are thrust together in a zany heist scheme centred around a missing diamond necklace in Sydney's sparkling Eastern Suburbs.
Michelle Vergara Moore and Toby Leonard Moore on their wedding day. Source: Supplied
Race is something Toby and Michelle have reckoned with in their own relationship, through the stark differences in their own experiences in the industry.
"Toby is a white cis male. He has way more auditions than I get. But it is getting better. Earlier on in my career, it was very few and far between," Michelle says.
Both were star graduates - Toby got auditions easily, but Michelle struggled to get roles - fuelling the couple to shuttle between Sydney and the US. The pair shifted to LA in 2008 and later to New York in 2011.
"The fact that we met early in our degree at NIDA was a major factor in us moving to the US because they (in the US) were embracing the idea of colour-blind casting and that just wasn’t happening in Australia," Toby says.
Like a lot of couples under COVID-19, it was the first time the pair had worked together since their NIDA days. (Longtime married couple Peter O'Brien and Miranda Otto also star in The Unusual Suspects as husband and wife).
Michelle Vergara Moore (plays lead Roxanne) and Toby Leonard Moore (who plays husband Toby) as seen in The Unusual Suspects. Source: Supplied
Toby and Michelle helped each other rehearse, audition and break down scenes at home, but they had never worked together officially in front of a cast and crew, a prospect that was daunting to them both.
"That’s part of a double-edged sword isn’t it, because you sort of get there on the day and think ‘oh my god, what if we suck!?'” Toby says.
Creative partnerships could be volatile, but their admiration and support for each other is clear. Taking the The Unusual Suspect roles meant their schedules could align; and they could tell Australian stories on Australian soil.
"There are definitely ups and downs," Michelle says. "It’s not an easy trajectory for any artist. I've heard stories (from) friends - jealousy can play a major part- or just bitterness or disappointment. It can be very difficult in relationships particularly for actors dating actors.
"I support Toby so much in his career and he supports me as well."
is an SBS drama that marks the first major representation of Filipino-Australians on Australian television and continues SBS’s legacy of delivering exceptional drama exploring the rich diversity of Australia in an authentic and nuanced way. It premieres Thursday June 3 at 8:30pm on SBS, with the full series also available then at (full-series drop).
