Having played a prosecutor in 2010, Danielle Cormack is back in the robes -and determined to get it right this time.
Danielle Cormack, who spent several years behind the bars at Wentworth, is back to the long arm of the law, this time in Foxtel / Binge drama The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer.
Playing Prosecutor Gabe Nicholls, a rival to Sam Neill’s defence Brett Colby, it’s not the first time she has undertaken such a role.
“No, it was a really lovely opportunity to step into that world again and have another chance to play scenes out in a courtroom. I guess I didn’t feel like it did a great job the first time around. This is with (producers) Easy Tiger again, so I don’t know if they see me that way. They keep casting me as a prosecutor!
“My first show over here was Rake. If it wasn’t for Rake, I wouldn’t have landed the role in Underbelly. So I’m really thankful for that, because that was the show that actually brought me over from New Zealand to Australia.”
Underbelly: Razor‘s crime queen Kate Leigh was her first Australian principal role, but it would lead to many more.
In The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer she is determined to put a man charged with murder behind bars, and defeat Colby, with whom Gabe Nicholls has her own history.
“I had the opportunity of speaking to a defence lawyer, even though she wasn’t prosecution, she was defence. It was great to speak to a female barrister who enlightened me a lot about the trajectory of her career, starting out as a solicitor, and making her way through what, ostensibly for many years has been the boys club, really,” she explains.
“It was aligned a lot, I felt, with what Nicholls ‘journey would have been as well, and because Nicholls started off as a solicitor with with Colby. So their relationship has a lot of history there, and then she jumps over to the dark side and becomes a prosecutor.
“For me, there was a really rich history, not only of their relationship but also her journey within being a barrister, that was wonderful to be able to play. Especially because for her, becoming a mum, was the turning point for her where she actually had a eureka moment of ‘I don’t want to be defending people who are being put out into the world where I’m bringing a child into this world.’ That really spoke to the character of Nicholls for me.
“As the series unfolds, we get to see that storyline becomes more evident in the way that Nicholls and Colby are relating to each other.
“In the previous series, there’s been, I guess, a frisson with Colby’s character. But for Gabe, it was very different for her. I feel Colby is more of father figure to to Gabe and and she does have something to prove to him as well.”
The Twelve‘s third season also features Eryn Jean Norvill, Sarah Peirse, William Zappa, Ewen Leslie, Phoenix Raei, Hanah Tayeb, Nathalie Morris, Catherine Moore, Bolude Watson, Bessie Holland, Stuart Daulman, Paul Tassone, Charles Napoleon An, Libby Stone and newcomer Claire Leach.
Storylines span two time periods and the narrative shifts between accused, lawyers and jurors.
“It makes it more enjoyable viewing when you’re watching a show and your alliances are compromised halfway through,” she suggests.
“Suddenly you’re following a person or a character that you didn’t expect. It’s a great tribute to the writers, the actors and the creators who have embodied the characters and created the characters. More so in this show, because we’re following two different mysteries this time.
“There’s not one crime, there’s actually two that are unfolding in different timelines. I think it makes it extra rich.”
Yet while Cormack has never been on a jury herself, she’s not keen to start anytime soon. The intensity of the courtroom drama was enough for now, thanks.
“I must say, after spending all that time in the courtroom shooting these scenes, I don’t know if it would really be my cup of jarrah,” she admits.
“They’re very long days, lots of words. I mean, I know that we’re shooting scenes for actors who are playing the jurors, and there’s some fantastic storylines this season, great characters. But I didn’t envy them, having to sit there all day listening to Sam and I questioning and cross-examining people.
“I think that in the end, it was akin to the experience of being a juror. Or being on a long haul flight that never ends.
“But for Nicholls she’s got something to prove where she’s adamant that she wants to put the killer away but she’s also very set on not coming second.”
The Twelve screens 8:30pm Mondays on Showcase / Binge.