Toni Collette is a character actor, which is just a fancy way of saying she's talented. It means she has chops and range and elasticity, and that she fully inhabits every role, creating something new and unique every time. Character actors aren't usually movie stars, but Collette is - she got an Oscar nom for her role in the 1999 megahit The Sixth Sense - albeit a quiet one: She's been steadily working in the industry for more three decades, amassing a résumé packed with critical darlings and fan favorites alike (often those are one and the same, like 1994's Muriel's Wedding and 2006's Little Miss Sunshine). And she's done it while raising kids and protecting her private life. "I listen to my heart and go with my gut," Collette, 52, says of the simple game plan she's followed. "That's it, because I have to live with myself." Ahead of her starring turn in Netflix's Wayward (out Sept. 25), a limited series about a last-resort boarding school for teens, she sat down with Us to talk about finding success and staying true to herself. Zoe McConnell Wayward is, in part, about a school for supposedly problematic teenagers. How much did you know about the troubled-teen industry before taking the role? I really did not know much at all. I was a bit of a novice, and then [creator and star] Mae [Martin] sent a plethora of information and documentaries and podcasts. It was a lot to take in. It's frightening and infuriating, [but] I think the problem with the world is that we don't encourage individuality and the freedom to be one's authentic self. Even talking about mental health in the past has been taboo or hidden away or a real problem, and it's just essential to be able to talk about these things as human beings. Right, it's harm reduction. [Teenagers] are in these incredible moments in their lives where their bodies are changing, their thoughts are changing. Their worlds are opening up, and then there's this big thumb that just comes and squishes them and demands they be a certain way. And I find the two young girls, the lead characters [Sydney Topliffe as Abbie and Alyvia Alyn Lind as Leila], so exciting. I wish I was their age to play one of those parts. They're so gutsy. They're so themselves, their friendship is so tight and loving and supportive, and then they are just put in this hot-water situation of judgment where it's meant to be helpful, and they're seeing through it. But also some of it feels good and it's confusing. It's interesting to me that you said you'd love to be able to go back to how old they were to take on a role like that. I don't want to be any age again. I am so happy [with] where I am right now and what I've gone through. Everyone is on an individual path. And I really do believe that what is meant for you will not pass you by - the good, the bad and the ugly. You can look at it as an opportunity to grow, or you can become a victim and blame other people and look outside yourself. But I think to be able to look inward... Part of this story is about society being structured in a way that we are kind of brainwashed to have to look beyond ourselves for what's real, when actually it is in all of us. Not until we each go into ourselves can we even contribute to society in a real way. Getting older may be the only way to truly learn that lesson. All the important things in life you just have to go through. Somebody can lecture you. You can read a million books. You can try to learn, try to prepare, try to research, until you go through things like grief, love, childbirth. You know, these are the big things that are unseen, that have to be felt. Zoe McConnell One thing about Wayward that is really striking is the representation of a full spectrum of gender and sexuality identities. How much of that was part of what drew you to the material? There's such a diverse range of people in this story, and they all felt whole to me. Nobody made a big deal of anybody's differences, and that seems really important in this day and age and on screen. The love story between [Martin's character] Alex and [onscreen wife] Laura [Sarah Gadon] is beautiful and complicated, and it's never sensationalized or questioned. [Alex is a trans man; Laura is a cis woman.] I'm aware that, in some circles and to some people with limited thinking, Mae's character might be considered to be unusual or even abnormal. So I love that it's this very character who is probably the most grounded, normal person in the whole show. Alex is the portal through which the audience gets to experience all the craziness of Tall Pines. Nobody's sexuality or identity is ever really a big deal. The characters are much more interesting than that. Which you mentioned is particularly crucial and of the moment... Yeah, there are no words anymore. Hopefully, people will sit in their homes and watch this and feel like there's a sense of acceptance in terms of the ability for someone to be free. Since the world is becoming less and less [connected], there's s