Man of the Month – Thomas Cocquerel

The Australian actor discusses 2000s pop culture, TV drama The Gilded Age and the best rom-com of all time

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Your new TV series Paper Dolls lifts the curtain on the dark side of fame. What was it like navigating this period of pop culture?

I didn’t think it would resonate as much as it did. [Yet] there are things in the show that are quite appropriate for the world today, especially in the artistic industry. The series looks at the music industry in the early 2000s and how it didn’t take care of artists and talent, not just in terms of the industry, but also the power dynamics between men and women. Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are a perfect example. Back then, you didn’t have any control. Now it’s pretty exciting, as you have a lot more input into what gets put out in the world, but it certainly wasn’t the case back then. The real artists had to play the game or perish.

Which artists were you listening to back then?