'The Show Breaks Through Some Barriers': Bojana Novakovic On 'Instinct', Alan Cumming, 'I, Tonya'

(CBS Local)-- Bojana Novakovic's character on CBS's "Instinct" is totally different from who she is in her everyday life.

The Australian actor is outgoing and vulnerable, while her character Detective Lizzie Needham is guarded and private. The show returns for season two Sunday and stars Alan Cumming, who plays the first openly gay character in a network TV drama. While Novakovic looks at this as a major accomplishment, she also wants the audience to focus on the many interesting aspects of the show.

"As Alan always says, it's come very late in the scheme of when it should've come," said Novakovic in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "It's on the most watched network on American TV and it's something some people wouldn't have expected CBS to do. It's just been what it is and he is in a marriage that is like other marriages. I think it's really important because people can be afraid of what they don't know. We become apart of their lives and they become less afraid of something they may have been prejudiced towards."

Novakovic, who grew up in Serbia and Australia, loves the challenge of playing Detective Needham because she is rough around the edges.

"She is a woman that is emotionally inept," said Novakovic. "You don't necessarily see that from female characters on network TV. It's the other way around normally. I think the show breaks through some barriers. When you have a female character like that and a female character who is the boss and has flaws of her own, I think it's really great way to introduce an audience to new people for them."

In addition to her work on "Instinct," Novakovic had the opportunity to play Dody Teachman in "I, Tonya" alongside Margot Robbie and Allison Janney. It is an experience that she will never forget.

"I loved I, Tonya, are you kidding me," said Novakovic. "I was only there for a week or something, I wasn't there for that long. It was really quick and they filmed really quickly. The whole thing was four or five weeks, something like that. She [Margot] trained a lot before that. That was a low budget film. That was an incredible experience. Margot wasn't like let me get into character.  At times I was like, this was really cool."

Watch "Instinct" Sunday nights at 9pm EST/PST on CBS.