‘I’m sorry to say that’: Wentworth star Danielle Cormack reveals her biggest regret

Former Wentworth actor Danielle Cormack discusses why she’s willing to try anything – except wearing the colour teal, as she unveils her new role.

As she gears up to star in a courtroom drama, the actor discusses why she’s willing to try anything – except, perhaps, wearing the colour teal

Never one to just sit around and wait for the phone to ring, Danielle Cormack is happy to create her own opportunities for work and play.

That’s why she founded Four One One Productions with her close friend and former Wentworth co-star/TV prison mate Nicole da Silva. It’s also why she’s recently had a crack at stand-up comedy and is now throwing herself into her latest hobby, linedancing. “At this point in my life I’m open to trying anything,” she tells Stellar.

“It’s go hard or go home, right? It’s the nature of the industry. Well, for me, anyway … I’m not jumping from job to job.”

So rather than sit at home worrying about her next screen role, Cormack uses her downtime “to get out and have different experiences, do things that I haven’t tried before and meet new people”.

Danielle Cormack has unveiled her newest role and revealed why she won’t wear teal post-Wentworth. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Boot scooting in the local hall with 150 strangers isn’t Cormack’s only passion that has required fancy footwork and endurance.

As a producer and director, she has learnt to play the long game. Unlike with acting, once the cameras stop rolling, Cormack says, “I’m now in the edit [suite], and then you have to get it out to all the festivals, and so you’re still holding the project’s hand way after it’s finished being shot. It stays with you for a long, long time.”

She proudly watched her directorial debut, Why We Fight, receive an AACTA award nomination and win Best Australian Short at the Sparrowland Short Film Festival earlier this year. And after bringing Sarah Walker’s Who’s Afraid to the stage at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre in 2022, she is edging closer to realising the play on screen.

“We are going into the financing stage of it,” she says. “It’s a long, arduous slog, but we’re getting there. Things change so quickly, with strikes and pandemics and the state of the industry; it’s shifting all the time.

“It’s about having to pivot really fast, take those knocks and get back up.”

The former Wentworth star poses in a new fashion shoot for Stellar. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

From portraying powerful brothel madam Kate Leigh in Underbelly: Razor to her role as a dogged prosecutor in the upcoming series The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer, that pioneering spirit is echoed in Cormack’s body of acting work.

Seeing women’s stories told authentically on screen and ensuring their voices are heard behind the scenes has always been a driving force for the 54-year-old. And while there is still progress to be made, she tells Stellar she has witnessed changes that have given women greater freedom to express themselves.

“There have been a lot of conversations over the past five to 10 years that have led to huge shifts across all industries,” she says.

“In terms of not just equality, but pay parity and equality within the workspace.

“There has [also] been a greater understanding about genders, and what each and every one can bring to the table.”

In the current social and political climate, Cormack believes people need the arts more than ever – not just to escape the bleak news cycle, but to “better understand other people’s experiences and to see stories told boldly and through a different lens on our screens. Seeing the human experience and all of its beauty and all of its ugliness is so, so important.”

This sentiment is at the root of why she feels unsettled to see funding for the arts scaled back by different sectors of government.

She says the enduring popularity of Wentworth reflects on ‘how powerful storytelling can be’. Picture: Getty Images

“If you think historically, during times of the Great Depression and the war, it was those moments of art and an exploration of the creative world that really helped people survive through great adversity,” she reasons.

The enduring popularity of Wentworth with audiences around the world is a source of great pride for Cormack, who played tragic Bea Smith in the acclaimed Prisoner reboot’s first four seasons.

“It’s an indication of how powerful storytelling can be, even when it’s set in a fictitious prison and it’s heightened for the drama of television,” she says. “It’s not a documentary, but it still resonates.”

She still hasn’t got over her time on the show, either. As she explains with a laugh, “I must say I am rather averse to wearing teal now. And I’m sorry to say that, because it was a favourite colour! But tracksuits? I’m never going to stop wearing those. That was one of the more comfortable costumes I’ve ever had to wear.”

6 The same cannot be said for playing women on the right side of the law, though. Having previously played a barrister in the dramedy series Rake, Cormack wasn’t thrilled about once again donning a wig for her latest role. The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer is the third season of the Binge series that examines the personal and professional baggage jurors bring to their deliberations.

See Danielle’s full shoot inside the new issue of Stellar. Picture: Stellar

“Thankfully, though, this one is set in Western Australia, and they don’t wear the wigs,” she says. “It’s hot. So my hair, and myself, were deeply relieved to not have to go put on a wig.” Even so, she says donning the robes again felt instantly empowering. “It’s such a great thing to be able to put that costume on and then step into the courtroom, because it felt like half my job was already done,” she says.

7 In the show, Cormack plays Gabe Nicholls, a lawyer who finds herself up against her former mentor Brett Colby (Sam Neill) in a high-profile murder case. For Cormack, who has spent decades admiring Neill’s work, it was no big stretch to play his protégé on screen. “The commonality is that we both hail from Aotearoa; that is New Zealand,” she points out. “I’ve met Sam many times over the years, but I haven’t had the fortune of working with him before. So I was very excited, because he has worked on some incredible projects; iconic films and shows. I’ve looked up to him, and it was great to finally share a set with him.” The fierce rivalry between their characters in the courtroom was somewhat mirrored behind the scenes, where Cormack and Neill were often locked in serious crossword competitions. “And we would just relax and hear his stories and talk and play games,” she recalls. “We had fun making up limericks about each other, too.”

The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer premieres on August 4 on Binge and Foxtel. See the full shoot with Danielle Cormack in tomorrow’s issue of Stellar, inside The Sunday Telegrph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland) and Sunday Mail (SA).

For more from Stellar and the podcast, Something To Talk About, click here.