EXCLUSIVE

Aussie actor Liv Hewson has gotten herself into some scrapes in her young life.

Like the time she tried to buy a bag of vomit off a man from the internet.

Admittedly, Hewson wasn’t herself when she embarked on the bizarre regurgitated mission but playing out the will of her character, Abby, on Netflix’s The Santa Clarita Diet.

The hilariously dark comedy sees 22-year-old Hewson star as sarcastic teen daughter of Californian realtors Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) and Joel (Timothy Olyphant).

They may look like a shiny, all-American family but the Hammonds have been faced with a little issue ever since Sheila turned into a vivacious cannibalistic monster and started devouring people.

Naturally, Abby and Joel are doing their best to keep up appearances and find a cure for their zombie-fied family member (which explains the vomit bag, purchased in the hope it may reverse Sheila’s condition).

Hewson, who grew up in Canberra debuted in season one of the series last year, which drew rave reviews as well as criticism for its intense gore.

The role is Hewson’s first mainstream American TV gig — previously her most impressive credit was a small role on Jane Campion’s Top Of The Lake — and suddenly she was playing opposite Hollywood royalty, Drew Barrymore.

“It was really thrilling to be honest,” Hewson said.

“I didn’t have time to be nervous about it because she’s someone who is very warm and very open and makes other people comfortable. And that’s what happened, so it was quite easy, quite quickly.”

Hewson certainly holds her own in the series, going laugh for laugh with Barrymore and Olphant as she maintains a flawless Californian accent — a trait she learnt from reciting phrases from The Simpsons.

She also had no problem taking the blood and guts in her stride.

“I’ll take selfies with the fake severed heads and get really curious as to how people are making the effects happen.

“If there’s fake blood in front of you, you’re going to dip a finger in and try, aren’t you? Or maybe that’s just me …” she laughed.

Hewson also spills the beans on how the art department makes the human flesh Sheila chows down on: it’s usually disguised pasta with tomato sauce or raw fish.

The Santa Clarita Diet’s zombie storyline may sound fantastical but by season two, the cast couldn’t help but notice the parallels with current reality.

Barrymore believes the take-charge female characters are in line with the #MeToo sexual harassment movement, which has turned Hollywood on its head since the first accusations were launched against heavyweight Harvey Weinstein in late 2017.

“I think (show creator) Victor is a feminist himself, so I think he writes really loveable and admirable men, but I also think he writes a very strong woman,” Barrymore told The Hollywood Reporter.

“Myself and (onscreen daughter) Abby (Liv Hewson) have this ferocious, yummy empowerment that is really all coming from him. He just inherently gives women a great opportunity.

“I certainly had more of an awakening and a more exciting time becoming Sheila than some other characters [I’ve played]. She had something to her that really was like a weird wake-up call for me. And that’s a man writing a woman,” said Barrymore.

For Hewson herself, it’s certainly an empowering time.

With season two of The Santa Clarita Diet making headlines across the US for its fresh take on the zombie genre, Hewson is now a ‘someone’ in the eyes of international casting agents.

Australian viewers can also see Hewson in Homecoming Queens, a new coming-of-age comedy about two young women adjusting to life with alopecia and breast cancer patient, respectively (dropping April 12 on SBS OnDemand).

“One of my favourite parts of my job is being able to jump between characters that are so different,” said Hewson, who will also appear in the ABC revival of sitcom Very Small Business later this year.

With work on either side of the world, Hewson splits her time between LA and Melbourne but admits she is constantly blindsided by the casual star-power in Hollywood.

“I remember I was at a party around Oscars week and I looked across the room and Scarlett Johansson was there. And then the person I was with tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Did you see Leonardo DiCaprio?’ and I was like, ‘What? No!’

“It’s something that you never really get used to,” she said.

The Santa Clarita Diet is screening nowon Netflix.