When she sat down to watch the first episode of "Invasion,” an Apple TV+ series about the violent arrival of extraterrestrial life on Earth, Shioli Kutsuna says she felt quite emotional.

Although the Sydney-born actress has appeared in several Hollywood movies, this sci-fi drama, which premiered on Oct. 22, is her first international television series. As with many recent productions, filming was halted in 2020 due to the pandemic and there were times when she thought the series might never air.

"Just watching the opening credits was an amazing feeling," Kutsuna, 29, recalls in an interview with The Japan Times. “To see the names of these people I’d worked closely with, I was just very proud of them. ... Shooting took around a year, with six months in between when we were all uncertain as to what would happen. It was the longest break I'd experienced. Returning to the role, I wasn't sure if I’d be able to seamlessly get back into it, but it was easier than expected.”