Aussie star on being objectified: ‘I was commodified’
Thomas Cocquerel graduated from NIDA more than a decade ago and has experienced the good, the bad and the in-between of the industry. Here, he tells his story.
Confidential
Don't miss out on the headlines from Confidential. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Thomas Cocquerel knows what it is like to be judged and objectified.
It is part of being an actor, although he is hoping that aspect of the business is changing.
“I have experienced it first hand,” he said. “As a young guy, when I first moved to Hollywood, I was commodified, I was pushed into a box. I was told to work out, that I was too skinny, that I didn’t look good enough and it is very confronting. You walk into those auditions and everyone looks the same and how can you stand out? But also, you don’t want to stand out, you want to be what they want too, you don’t want to be too different, or you did at that time.”
Cocquerel sat down with Insider for his new project, Paramount+ television drama, Paper Dolls, a series that explores the underbelly, and glossy side, of the entertainment industry.
Having graduated from the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 2012, Cocquerel has more than a decade of experience under his belt.
At the time of graduating, he was pegged as one of the faces to watch and he didn’t disappoint as he’s navigated his way through the ever changing industry here and abroad.
“When I first started, I was down to the last two or three for a new big action movie, and I remember going in and having my body scanned, my weight taken, my muscles looked at and they were analysing how long was the shoot was and what they could do to me as a product,” he said. “I remember feeling quite insecure and not good enough when I didn’t get the role, now maybe it was because of talent or whatever but that was a very confronting experience and something that I remember standing in a booth in my undies like you do at the airport, it was wild.”
He got through those moments with the help of a strong support network and was brought up to believe in “finding security from within, not without”.
Locally, the 34-year-old has starred in Love Child, Anzac Girls, Safe Home and Red Dog: True Blue.
In Hollywood, his credits range from In Like Flynn to The Gilded Age, The 100 and Billionaire Boys Club.
“I feel incredibly fortunate having watched the industry change so much,” he said. “When I came out (of NIDA), it was all about film and there was no streaming. I remember Kevin Spacey jumping on House of Cards as a first Netflix streaming service and that was just wild and we were all like, ‘what is he doing? That’s crazy’. Now to watch the industry completely change in that way has been really interesting.”
he continued: “So when I look back at what I’ve done the last 10 years, I feel incredibly fortunate that I’ve managed to grow with the industry and do so many different kinds of projects.”
Paper Dolls is executive produced by former Bardot singer Belinda Chapple and is based loosely on the rise and fall of the Aussie pop group that had a huge hit with Poison and launched the career of Sophie Monk more than two decades ago.
The eight part series premiere’s on Paramount+ tonight and will tell the story of a fictional girl group named Harlow from the early 2000s.
Cocquerel is band manager Teddy while Harlow is made up of actors Miah Madden, Emalia, Courtney Monsma, Naomi Sequeira and Courtney Clarke.
Ditch Davey is head of Millennium Internationa Music Roger while Emma Booth is label publicity director Margot Murray.
Cocquerel explained that each episode will follow a different character and would touch on a different “trauma that can come out of the pressures of working in an industry that is really out to exploit young talent.”
There is more fact than fiction in the series with the similarities between Paper Dolls as a fictional story and real life confronting. And despite the many progresses made over the years, the series highlights just how much still needs to change.
“They analyse different ways in which the industry can manipulate and exploit and commodify young talent that really don’t have much say in the matter and are really just trying to make their art and be a part of something that they think is glamorous on the outside but is actually quite traumatising and triggering and dangerous on the inside,” he explained. “It is kind of very accurate to what it was. So the question is, when you watch it, is it changing and have we come forward and have we grown up? And is the industry being called out more? Which I think it is. Look at how Hollywood and films and everything’s changed, you don’t get away with the same thing. The Me Too movement and everything that’s happened over the last few years, things aren’t tolerated anymore and the industry’s being called out so hopefully when you watch the series, you see how far we’ve come, but also how easy it is for it still to happen.”
Real life experience strengthened Cocquerel’s connection to the story.
“I think Teddy is really cool because I was able to draw on real life experience in Hollywood and I’ve seen representation push clients in different ways and manipulate and what I witnessed bothered me,” he said. “So to be able to come back and play this role with a certain amount of truth and honesty was really special.”
Pure talent too does not guarantee success. Being the best actor or singer doesn’t guarantee a gig. Looks of course too are a factor, and always have been.
In 2023 for example, casting agents often look at an actor’s social media presence as a way of amplifying the work.
“I really struggle with that game, trying to put up a mix of my personal life and professional life on a platform that really I don’t feel is reflective of my work.
I want to be in film because I like that story and my personal story, I don’t really care about showing the world as much as I care about the projects that I’m in. It is an ongoing journey and it is one that is a process. I do find it disappointing that especially in casting now it is part of the game and whereas before I fought it, you can’t fight the game and I am just trying to learn how to play it better.”
Cocquerel believes the series will be an international hit. With the Hollywood actor and writer strike now over, broadcasters are desperate for content to deliver to audiences.
Paper Dolls, despite being an Australian story shot in Sydney, is a global issue.
“That’s what we’re feeling with this,” he said. “This is an Aussie show but it’s also made for an international audience and in many ways it’s not Australian in the way that it covers something that is universal and that everyone can connect to because the music industry here is kind of the same as it is around the world.”
And as for AI and how the industry will tackle the changes afoot, Cocquerel is not alarmist in his views.
“I think there will be other opportunities in areas that we didn’t think – I think maybe theatre might actually get a real boost from it because we will crave more personal live contact with the medium itself and with storytelling, which could be really exciting.”
The roles Cocquerel is going for are definitely different too to his earlier days in Hollywood.
“When I first started, every audition felt exactly the same,” he said. “And now there is a lot more colour to what is on offer.”
* Paper Dolls it out now on Paramount+.
Dally M red carpet gallery: NRL and NRLW stars, partners shine
The NRL and NRLW’s biggest stars are walking the red, um green, carpet for the 2024 Dally M Awards. Check out their looks.
Where to find Sydney’s best bread and butter combo
A new Sydney eatery is offering a first of its kind bread and butter service to kick off meals and its luxe flavours will blow your tastebuds. See what they are.