Melissa Roxburgh Explains Why Joining CBS’ Tracker As Colter’s Complicated Sister Opposite Justin Hartley ‘Was A No-Brainer’
Tracker quickly became a new hit for CBS when it arrived on Super Bowl Sunday in the 2024 TV schedule, with Justin Hartley returning to primetime in a whole new way after This Is Us. Now, the drama is just a couple of weeks away from the Season 1 finale, and the stakes for Colter are getting higher with the arrival of none other than his sister Dory, played by Manifest alum Melissa Roxburgh. The actress spoke with CinemaBlend about the appeal of joining the show as well as the complications of the Shaw family.
Melissa Roxburgh debuts on Tracker as Dory in the May 5 episode, called “Beyond the Campus Walls.” Colter encounters his sister when the case of a missing grad student brings him into town, and the promo indicates that the siblings will make time to talk about their dad. I spoke with Roxburgh about her arrival on the show, which received an early renewal for Season 2. When asked what drew her to Tracker and if she already knew what a hit it was when she signed on, the actress shared:
I mean, they got a Super Bowl [time slot]. [laughs] I think that’s just a testament to how big it was gonna be. It’s obviously done so well, so it’s always fun to come onto a show that people love already. And then the other part’s just that Justin is such a good friend of mine, and it was so fun to go play with someone I knew. And I’m also from Vancouver, so it was nice to be back. I haven’t been back to film there in years. Those were all kind of the reasons that I was excited to come play.
While Tracker is the first project that teams Justin Hartley and Melissa Roxburgh up on screen, the Manifest alum shared that she was already close with him before starring as his sister. When I asked if they knew each other from their mutual NBC days – when he starred on This Is Us while Manifest was in its pre-Netflix days – she clarified:
Not through that, but just socially and he’s married to one of my best friends, so I’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the last couple of years, and he such an amazing guy. So when he asked me to come play, it was a no-brainer.
Justin Hartley has been married to actress Sofia Pernas since 2021, and the two appeared on Quantum Leap together before she joined her husband for an episode of Tracker earlier this year. Roxburgh was already friends with Hartley prior to playing Dory since he was married to one of her close friends, so the two actors had some background before playing siblings.
These two siblings aren’t two of a kind, however, as Dory is a university professor with roots down, while Colter lives more of a vagabond life. Hints about the third Shaw sibling, Russell (to be played by Supernatural alum Jensen Ackles next week), indicate that he’s not quite as settled as Dory either. Melissa Roxburgh weighed in on how different Dory’s path in life is from her brothers:
Oh, completely. There’s a dinner scene where she feels guilt about that because when everything happened in the past, she left and she chose a safer route in life and I don’t think she regrets that but I think there’s guilt there about where her brother was left and what he chose for his life. And so I think she just wants to make sure that everyone’s gonna be okay.
All in all, from what we’ve seen in our glimpses of Colter’s childhood over the first ten episodes of Season 1, there might be too much baggage in the Shaw kids’ pasts for everybody to “be okay” any time soon. Fortunately, the renewal for Season 2 and both of Colter’s siblings being cast suggests that Tracker still has plenty of Shaw family story to tell. So, is Dory in a healthier place in her life than her brothers are? I asked Roxburgh that very question, and she shared:
Absolutely. I mean, I’m not too sure what Russell is up to at this point, but Colter is obviously on the road and he doesn’t have family or anything like that. And I think that she just really wants him to at least be a part of hers. Just as an audience member, I’m excited to see how the family dynamic unravels.
Luckily for fans, the wait is nearly over to see how the Dory/Colter part of the Shaw family dynamic works by this point. Plus, Jensen Ackles arrives as Russell just one week after Roxburgh’s debut as Dory. Check out the promo for “Beyond the Campus Walls” and what to expect from the new storyline:
Be sure to tune in to CBS on Sunday, May 5 at 9 p.m. ET for the “Beyond the Campus Walls” episode of Tracker, featuring Melissa Roxburgh as Dr. Dory Shaw. If you’ve missed any episodes of the new hit show, you can find the full first season so far streaming with a Paramount+ subscription and catch up before the finale on May 19.
