Life Is A Highway

WENTWORTH STAR DANIELLE CORMACK TALKS ABOUT CAREER CHALLENGES, A LIFE-CHANGING TRIP TO EAST AFRICA AND HOW HITTING THE ROAD HELPS HER UNWIND. 

- Sara Bunny

She might be well known for playing the role of violent characters in dark, emotional scenes, but for actress Danielle Cormack, it was a recent journey to Africa that really pulled on her heartstrings.

As a long-time sponsor at ChildFund, Danielle knew that travelling to Kenya and Uganda, countries ravaged by drought and food shortages, would be confronting. But it wasn’t until she got back to Aussie soil that the realities truly sunk in.

“It was emotional, insightful, and the spirit of the people was incredibly humbling,” she says thoughtfully. “Upon reflection, you can’t help but look at all the little grumbles you might have and think, are they really that relevant?

“Of course it makes me think about all the children in my life, my own and my friends’ kids, and how they were brought up with access to food and clean running water. It’s so simple, we don’t even think about it when we turn the tap on, but I’ve seen kids who are five or six years old drag a jerry can for 3km to bring water home.”

For Danielle, who is best known for her role as tough cell block matriarch Bea in the prison drama Wentworth, meeting her sponsor child was a highlight of the trip, as was witnessing firsthand how in communities throughout Africa, a little help goes a long way.

“They are up against climate change, and in some areas, political unrest,” she says. “But when I met my sponsor child and the farm animals her family were able to buy with what little I had been contributing, it was like, ‘wow, it has actually been working’. I think there’s nothing wrong with giving people a hand up. I’ve needed it before and people have done that for me.”

Double duty