Melissa Roxburgh Reveals What Manifest’s Josh Dallas Taught Her About Leading ‘The Hunting Party’ (Exclusive)

The Hunting Party‘s Melissa Roxburgh is grateful for the lessons she learned from former Manifest costar Josh Dallas.

“Josh taught me a lot actually. I went into Manifest still pretty green as far as leading goes,” Roxburgh, 32, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her NBC series. “I watched a lot of how he handled things and he just has such a grace about him.”

Roxburgh recalled Dallas’ consistently “pleasant” energy on set and how it set the tone for the entire cast.

“So I was like, ‘OK even on a really long day where nothing’s going [the way it should], he still handles it like that.’ Then going into this show, it didn’t really feel like I had to do anything,” she continued. “Everyone was just great. But I think the only thing that I really care about is making sure that everyone on set feels good.”

Roxburgh continued: “I’ve had sets where I don’t feel good or I don’t feel like people want to connect with me. I just don’t want anyone coming onto The Hunting Party feeling that way.”

The Hunting Party, which premiered earlier this month, is a crime procedural centered around a team of investigators who track down and capture the most dangerous killers in the country after their escape from a top-secret prison that’s not supposed to exist.

NBC’s newest series marks Roxburgh’s return to the network after previously starring on Manifest. The supernatural drama ran from 2018 to 2023 and centered on passengers and crew of a commercial airliner who suddenly reappeared after being presumed dead for five and a half years.

Manifest aired three seasons on NBC before moving to Netflix for its fourth and final season. The hit series, which starred Roxburgh, Dallas, 46, Athena Karkanis and J. R. Ramirez has sustained a passionate fan base that has followed the actors from project to project.

“The fans are so loyal and they feel like family in their own way to us now,” Roxburgh shared. “The fact that they loved Manifest and now they’re cheering for this show to do well too. It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy. The fact that they spend this much time supporting and pumping it up, it’s so meaningful and lovely.”

After winning over viewers with Manifest, Roxburgh says she was excited to try something new.

“I was open to anything after Manifest since that was so specific. It was very sci-fi and there were so many extraordinary events happening in that show that I was like, ‘Anything else will be different,’” she noted. “So when this came up, I thought it was cool. I do love profiling and I love psychology. So this character obviously does that full-time for a job and she does it for very interesting and unique killers.”

The Hunting Party airs on NBC Mondays at 10 p.m. ET and new episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.