Meet Tasneem Roc, the Aussie actor who took Brooke Shields’ advice on the chin

Sydney’s Tasneem Roc has been acting for nearly three decades and has now scored her first big Hollywood gig. She stars in Mother of the Bride alongside Brooke Shields who provided some feedback.

Nearly three decades into her acting career, Tasneem Roc has finally wedged her foot in the Hollywood door.

Roc has been a well-known face on Australian television and film since scoring her first acting gig on the original Heartbreak High back in 1997 and now plays a lead role alongside Brooke Shields and Benjamin Brat in American romantic comedy Mother of the Bride.

“In terms of the size of the role and the calibre of the actors I am lucky enough to be working with, I’d say this is the biggest thing I’ve done so far,” Roc told The Daily Telegraph. “Hopefully it is not the last, fingers crossed. Rocket me to Hollywood.

Australian actor Tasneem Roc, who stars in Mother of the Bride with Brooke Shields, pictured in Moore Park, Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Roc, 45, grew up in Sydney’s Turramurra and is an English and Art History graduate from the University of Sydney.

Some of her TV roles include Harrow, Rake, The PM’s Daughter, Doctor Doctor, Crownies, Sea Patrol, Home and Away and Packed to the Rafters.

She played two different characters on Heartbreak High between 1997 and 1999, firstly Mariel and then Thania Saya.

Australian actor Tasneem Roc with American Benjamin Bratt in a scene from Mother of the Bride. Picture: Netflix / Supplied,

“Hollywood definitely didn’t seem like a tangible thing when I first started acting,” she said. “But it was definitely an aspiration back then. I’ve had enough setbacks to kind of recalibrate my expectations. Yes, I would still love to be working in Hollywood and I would still love to have a career in Australia. I think now when I am looking at roles, I see it as an opportunity leading to the next step, which could lead to the next step. They do talk about having an acting career like it is a marathon, not a sprint and I have come to a place now that I probably wasn’t in when I was younger of being content at this step. I don’t known that is the wisest approach to a career but yeah.”

Shields, 58, comparatively got her start as a child model at just 11 months and her first acting job at 11 in Pretty Baby. She subsequently played the lead alongside Christopher Atkins in The Blue Lagoon.

Tasneem Roc and Susie Porter.

Actors Matt Day and Tasneem Roc in 2012. Picture: AAP

Brooke Shields co-stars in the film. Picture: Getty Images

Mother of the Bride meanwhile was shot in Phuket in Thailand and is released via Netflix on May 9.

Of working with Shields and Bratt, she said: “They were very gracious, very gregarious, they made a lot of time to talk to everyone. It was a really friendly fun set because of their attitude. One of the things that Brooke did tell me was, she pulled me aside during a take where I am revealing this dress to her and she was like, ‘your neck’. I said, ‘what?’ and she said, ‘just be careful’ because they way that I had my head, I was giving myself a double chin. That was the tip that she gave me.”

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