New Zealand screen and stage actress Danielle Cormack has a resume many young actresses would aspire to have. Filled with an impressive list of film, television and theatre credits, as well as a handful of acting awards, Danielle Cormack is one of New Zealand’s most well known and respected thespians, and now, she’s making a name for herself in Australia.
New Zealand screen and stage actress Danielle Cormack has a resume many young actresses would aspire to have. Filled with an impressive list of film, television and theatre credits, as well as a handful of acting awards, Danielle Cormack is one of New Zealand’s most well known and respected thespians, and now, she’s making a name for herself in Australia.
In May this year, Danielle begins work on the third series of the Aussie drama Rake. Series one has just begun screening on Rialto Channel at 8.30pm every Wednesday night, and it’s absolutely brilliant – one of the wittiest, entertaining dramas I’ve seen on the television in ages.
The show was co-created by and stars Richard Roxburgh as Cleaver Greene, a witty, self-destructive and politically incorrect barrister. Danielle plays Scarlett, one of Cleaver’s love interests and his best friend’s wife.
When I spoke to Danielle, she had just returned from Thailand where she had been recovering from a tough shoot for Aussie prison drama Wentworth. The show revives the classic Aussie drama Prisoner, and Danielle takes on the iconic role of Bea Smith in the series which is due to be released in Australia shortly. It seems that life in Australia is good, and that’s how we began our chat.
So, you’re on a real roll over there at the moment, do you think you’ll be based in Australia for a while?
DC: I think I am now, I’m rather reluctant to state, but I think I am. I’ve been here for quite a few years now and I don’t get offered any work in New Zealand anymore, which is kind of disappointing. I don’t know why that is, maybe New Zealand has wizened up, they’re onto me, they haven’t caught up over here yet! I do love it over here and the industry is nicely buoyant and I feel appreciated. Not that I haven’t in NZ, but I feel people are interested in my work over here and it’s kind of like a natural progression in terms of my career. So I am pretty much based here, but I’m always, always wanting to come back to NZ.
Congratulations on the success of Rake and your role as Scarlett. I love the series, and it looks like it’s been a lot of fun to be part of…
DC: It was great. For me at that time to land that role, I think I was about eight and a half months pregnant when I went for the audition in NZ and I hadn’t been working for a while in the acting department, I’d be doing lots of other things doing wardrobe and set design and I got this offer and I read the first couple of scripts and it was just a no brainer – the writing was so brilliant. I hadn’t read scripts that were so beautifully constructed for so long and I went to the audition in NZ and asked them to shoot me from the neck up so they had no idea I was actually hapu. And then they came back and said we really loved your audition and we’d love to audition you again with a few director’s notes and so, same applies – shoot me from the neck up. And then they offered me the role and at that point I thought it was prudent to tell them that I was actually about to have a baby.
They were a little bit reluctant to begin with and I think once they found out I’d already been through that process, I guess with Topless Women Talk about their Lives [Danielle’s real life pregnancy was written into the script] that helped me because they could see that work and family for me wasn't that difficult, it wasn't my first child, so I flew over and hit the ground running really and it’s just been a critical success over here. People really love the show, and for me, the opportunity to work with Richard Roxburgh was just a dream. He’s such a fantastic actor and he’s a great man so I feel really blessed that I got this role. I know it’s a phrase that’s coined often, but I really do.
What kind of impact has Rake had on your profile in Australia?
DC: It’s the kudos of being involved in a project that has received such critical acclaim. I am genuinely surprised when people approach me and talk to me about Scarlett and Rake and how much they enjoy the character and my work. I really am.
I would have thought you’d be used to it by now?
DC: For me, it’s healthy to maintain or retain a certain amount of self-doubt. It keeps me working harder. Contrary to psychology these days and how much you’re suppose to believe in yourself, and all that kind of stuff, I don’t really believe the hype so much. I don’t know whether it’s because I don’t want to or I think it’s dangerous. I think it’s kind of dangerous to and once again it’s just wonderful when a project has left such impact on people, its great, because I have been part of shows that haven’t, and slowly over time you’re just wishing them off the CV. The fact we're going to shoot a third series is testament as to how much people have been enjoying it.
Just going back a little to when you got the role, you were having a baby, had to move to Aussie and contemplate doing sex scenes. What went through your head when you learnt you got the role?
DC: Literally at the read through I think my baby was eleven days old, so from the start of work I don’t think much was going through my head because the trajectory of the whole transaction carried me and I had baby brain anyway, so I don’t think it was until maybe half way through I thought - wow, this is really happening. I think a lot of the time, especially being a working mum, you know jobs come into my life so furious sometimes and then there’s a massive drought, so when they do I just go with it. I don’t really think about it too much. I was really thankful that they had taken that punt and employed me because I know it was some concern to them that I had just given birth – or at that point I hadn’t given birth and my baby was about 10 days late. I’m not one to force nature, but I think I must have tried every single induction practice there’s known to womankind…
But it was lovely to work with a whole new group of people, people that I’d never ever worked with before which is new to me because in New Zealand having worked in the industry for a number of years, there’s always a handful of people on set you’ve worked with before, you’ve got a rapport with. So it was really lovely to be in this new environment with new people and this project that to me, was already a success, just on paper. It was amazing. I didn’t have to do any work really, just say the lines and go home. So, I didn’t feel like it was too arduous. Like sometimes it can be, because you’re re-honing the script and there’s a lot of work that will go into a project if it’s not up to shape yet, but I felt like this project was already there so I didn’t have to do that much.
The question all women will want answered is how did you look that great six weeks after giving birth?
Oh gosh, did you think I did? I don’t know! I’ll tell you what; breast-feeding boobs are the best looking boobs ever! I don’t care what anyone says, it’s all about the boobs. I guess I come from good gene stock as well and it’s a bloody lottery that kind of thing, you never know what’s going to happen to your body when you’re pregnant and how you’re going to recover. I did have my doubts because I’m a little bit older than I was when I had my first son, but I’m pretty active anyway. When you’re moving country and breast-feeding there wasn’t time to think about how I looked; it’s all kind of smoke and mirror at the end of the day. Little black dresses work wonders. I really didn’t think about it to be honest. I just hoped like hell I didn’t start lactating when I had my top off on set!
I wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate to ask, but I did wonder…
I don’t care how my bum looks, I don’t care how my stomach looks, I don’t care just as long as I don’t start milking all over Richard Roxburgh then today will be a success!
Richard made the point that he’s doing his best to employ all of New Zealand on the series – how welcoming is the Aussie film and television industry to Kiwi talent?
Yeah, there are a fair few of us who have jumped ship over the last few years. I don’t know whether that’s evidence of a flagging industry in New Zealand or whether there are more actors, or less work? For me I think I just felt like there wasn’t much happening for me, and why a lot of people come over here now and of course the industry is saturated with actors of every kind and the law of averages, of course they are going to turn up…Perhaps there are a few people paving the way and showing other young New Zealand actors that you can work here, it seems to be perhaps it’s that logical, natural step into a more international industry as well.
Do well-written, polished projects like Rake come up very often?
No, not at all, which is why I think everyone just jumped on board this one because it was just the writing was just astounding. Every page the words were falling off the page with such ease and they were so easy to say, the dialogue, the character arcs, just everything, just really good storytelling. And you know, in the hands of someone like Richard Roxburgh, he’s just the consummate professional, he does it was such ease. He makes it look so effortless and he’s playing the most unlikeable flawed character. He’s amazing.
I’m really thrilled that everything is going well for you!
DC: oh thank you – I’m thrilled as well!
Good luck, and thanks for talking to us.
Don’t miss Danielle Cormack on Rake, tonight and every Wednesday night at 8.30pm.