Toni Collette plays a sixth character named Shoshana on the second season of "United States of Tara."

We’re not surprised that actor Toni Collette won an Emmy last fall for her role in the Showtime series United States of Tara. After all, the 37-year-old was the only nominee playing five different roles, the result of her title character’s multiple-personality condition, aka dissociative identity disorder.

Inside the suburban wife and mother Tara Gregson also lie a promiscuous teen (T), a prim June Cleaver type (Alice), a swaggering redneck male (Buck) and an animalistic expression of her id (Gimme), all with the ability to emerge at inopportune times — trying the patience of Tara’s husband and kids.

This season, Tara’s existing “alters” are getting some company, thanks to show creator Diablo Cody (Juno). When her husband (John Corbett) insists she get help, Tara invents a therapist named Shoshana, a bespectacled Jewish New Yorker. The character debuted last night and will play a larger role on next week’s episode. “She’s a little more sophisticated than the other alters, a little more knowledgeable. She acts as a kind of mentor to Tara,” says Collette of the newcomer, a “co-conscious” personality (meaning they can converse with each other).

A real-life working mother who also plays in indie band Toni Collette & the Finish with husband Dave Galafassi, Collette knows quite a bit about wearing multiple hats. “I understand where they’re at and what they’re about,” she says of her six characters. “I make myself relate to them.”

We’re intrigued by the idea of having an inner mentor. What kinds of questions would you ask yours if you had one?

Photo credit: Showtime

Tags: actor, Collette, Dave Galafassi, Diablo Cody, Emmy, Entertainment/Culture, Genealogy, John Corbett, Tara, Tara Gregson, Television, therapist, Toni Collette, Toni Collette & the Finish, United States, United States of Tara