Actor Rodger Corser on the reality of the Australian entertainment industry: ‘Do you want the truth?’

Australian actor Rodger Corser reveals the next phase of his career came ‘out of necessity’ – and after his wife asked him to ‘please go and get a job’.

It’s game on in a career twist for actor Rodger Corser, who reveals his skill set is widening “out of necessity” – and after his wife ask him to “please go and get a job”.

Stellar: This is your second time on the cover of Stellar. How did you find the photo shoot?

Rodger Corser: I don’t think my fashion sense has changed much in 20 years, so anything that’s a little fashion forward is a little foreign to me. But I’m happy to be pushed, so it was fun. I got into some baggier pants than I’d usually wear, but afterwards I had to help my oldest daughter – she had a flat battery – and I had a photo of the proof sheet, and she loved it. So we got a tick of approval from [Zipporah]. That’s hard for a lot of parents of 22-year-olds to get. She said it looked cool.

Listen to the full interview with Rodger Corser on Something To Talk About:

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Stellar: You have a new prime time game show coming out this month on the Nine Network called The Floor. As someone who’s known for your acting work (McLeod’s Daughters, Underbelly, Doctor Doctor), why this gig?

Rodger Corser: Some people think that if you’ve been acting a long time, 15 scripts are coming across your desk at any one time. And it’s not the case. The industry in this country has thinned out considerably, so you end up broadening what you think you can do.

I think I’ve always been a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none, and willing to try new things – just really out of necessity, because you want a gig. I heard about it, and things are a little quiet on the acting side so I kind of chased it a little bit.

It was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I had ventured into presenting over the last couple of years. I’d done a couple of seasons on a show called The Traitors. That was a good crossover because I sort of played a pseudo character in that.

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

This show requires a broad skill set, from the live TV component, to getting to know the contestants quickly, to helping to disarm some very nervous guests – most of whom might be setting foot inside a TV studio for the first time. I did a uni course in media studies, not acting, so I’ve always had a 360-degree view of the industry.

But this was a new environment, so I don’t know who was more nervous, the contestants or me. I don’t know if I was allaying their fears, because they saw the fear in my eyes in those first couple of episodes. But I relaxed into it.

Stellar: Does your persona on The Floor draw a little bit on any other game show hosts?

Rodger Corser: Grant Denyer, Larry Emdur … I mean, if I can be half as good as those two gentlemen, I’ll be a happy man.

Listen to the full interview with Rodger Corser on Something To Talk About:

Over the course of your acting career, you’ve played all sorts of characters: doctors, crime bosses, heroes and villains across film, TV, even on stage – including the lead role of Roger in the first Australian production of Rent in 1998. You haven’t done a musical since. Is that something you would revisit?

I have had some inquiries about perhaps going back on stage for a couple of musicals. I’ve got to say Rent is definitely a standout. We’re all still amazing friends … I’d have to get the voice back. It’s not where it was.

Also, I think I’m at the disadvantage of knowing some really amazing singers.

Renae, my wife, she’s from musical theatre. She was fantastic in Chicago and Saturday Night Fever. That’s where I met her, when she was doing Saturday Night Fever.

Zipporah – your daughter with singer/songwriter Christine Anu, who also starred in Rent – is the child of entertainers. She’s also a singer and a presenter on Triple J. How do you feel about the next generation coming up and going into the same industry, facing all of the amazing experiences that you’ve had, but also the flip side: that lack of job security and stability you’ve talked about?

We can unpack the whole social media thing, but that would take forever. It’s a different kind of pressure. People are talking about how people are getting cast.

People are always cast because of their profile, sure … but someone with 150,000 Instagram followers is getting the role because they’re going to help promote the show in some way. And you’re going: are they, though?

How many of those 150,000 are going to come to the show? That’s where it’s tough, then they’re forced to play that game. I think there’s an added pressure for younger performers these days to already be something.

Picture: Stellar

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Your wife Renae (nee Berry) launched a health and wellness business last year. In 2006, soon after you started dating, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer; what role did that experience play in this venture?

I’m really proud of her. She’s worked really hard. Renae had a bad diagnosis about a year into us going out; we weren’t even engaged yet. She was told she had small cell carcinoma [of the cervix], and it was a dire diagnosis. She was told, “You’ll have to have a hysterectomy straight away, and you’re lucky if you last three or four years.” If I can give anyone advice, if they have anything similar: get a second opinion.

Thank God her mum was by her side, and her mum went, “Well, we’re going to go seek out something else, because that’s fairly drastic advice to take.” Then the second doctor said, let’s go slowly, slowly, we’ll get to the bottom of this.

She had to go through several procedures. But more than anything, it was the mental impact. It shot her confidence and changed her trajectory. When we’d met, she was the lead in Saturday Night Fever, and she pretty much hasn’t done [a major musical] since.

Listen to the full interview with Rodger Corser on Something To Talk About:

Fertility became at the forefront. She was like, “I’ve got to have my babies now.” So we struggled with that a bit, she changed physically and mentally … and the stress and everything sent her off on a journey about health

So she started Renae Corser Wellness. She’s focusing on something that she’s passionate about and that’s menopausal and perimenopausal women. All her girlfriends are going through that stage themselves and so she’s really enjoying helping people. She has found her calling again.

‘I have been home a lot!’ Rodger Corser and his wife, Renae. Picture: News Corp Australia

As a society, we’re always asking women how they juggle work and career. As a father of four (Corser and Renae have two sons, Budd, 14, and Dustin, 9, and daughter Cilla, 13), how has that balance changed as the nature of your work has evolved?

I’ve probably been home too much lately, because there could be a thing with seeing too much of each other and everyone going, oh, there’s you again.

I think Renae’s like, can you please go and get a job? What’s funny is, yes, you have a family dynamic, but you also have your own ways of doing things, and where we clash is in the kitchen: “Oh, you’re putting that on first, are you? Interesting …”

Or tasting [their] sauce and going, “Oh, no salt. That’s a choice.” So we have that. Sometimes a little separation is good. Because the acting work has been a bit slow, I have been home a lot.

I’ve got a little bit to make up there, because there were years where I was working between Sydney and Melbourne and Renae would have the kids really young, I’d only come up on weekends and so forth. So she had to put her things on the back burner for so long.

So she’s still done the majority [on the home front] by far.

But I’m glad I’ve been home over the last couple of years to help out as well.

The Floor premieres at 7.30pm on April 28 on the Nine Network and 9Now. For more from Stellar and the podcast Something To Talk About, click here.

See the full cover shoot and interview with Rodger Corser in Stellar today. Inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA).

Originally published as Actor Rodger Corser on the reality of the Australian entertainment industry: ‘Do you want the truth?’