Thomas Cocquerel ‘stoked’ to see Hollywood drama realised after Covid delay

Two nervous years in the waiting have paid off for Australia’s next Chris Hemsworth Thomas Cocquerel, star of period drama The Gilded Age.

Thomas Cocquerel’s shot at the big time in The Gilded Age was almost destroyed by the Covid pandemic.

Cocquerel had been cast as handsome young lawyer Tom Raikes in the drama that follows the millionaire titans of New York City in the 1880s, a role tipped to make him the next Chris Hemsworth.

“I had just finished filming Escape Room in South Africa in 2019, then was off to New York shortly after that where I started four weeks of prep for The Gilded Age and we were ready to go, then Covid happened,” Cocquerel told The Sunday Telegraph.

Actor Tom Cocquerel is making his big Hollywood break in The Gilded Age. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“We stopped production four days before we were due to start filming.”

Seven months later and no start and there were whispers the production might be sidelined. ”It was a bit touch and go there,” he said.

“It was a waiting game and anyone’s guess as to when and if the show would be able to continue and it ended up being a much longer pause than we had anticipated.

“Three or four months into the waiting, I definitely started to get a little worried.”

Cocquerel plays Tom Raikes, a sensible young lawyer. Picture: HBO/Alison Cohen Rosa

Fast forward two years and the high profile project, which has been produced by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars big names including Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Morgan Spector and Louisa Jacobson, is due to hit our screens this week, more than a decade after it was initially put into development.

Cocquerel’s character is the love interest of Meryl Streep’s daughter, Jacobson, and many have him tipped to become the new hottie of period drama.

“I do think it has a huge ­potential to do well, but I want to just try to focus on what a wonderful experience it was and how lucky I was to be a part of its making,” he said. “I am just stoked to be here.”

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