Pilot season a busy time
With US management behind him and a move to Los Angeles in the works, the ball is well and truly rolling for WA actor Alistair Cooke.
The Duncraig-raised performer, who relocated to Sydney at 18 to pursue his acting dreams, was recently poached from his Australian managers by renowned international agency Armada Partners, who count Craig McLachlan, Dave Navarro and The Hunger Games actress Stef Dawson as clients.
Securing representation in the US is a big coup for Cooke, now 23, after he scored a role in a TV pilot during his first visit to LA last year, only to be forced to turn down the project becasue of visa complications. But Cooke tells Access All Areas he is going back fighting this year, ready for any challenges that are thrown his way.
"It's the sort of industry where you can go for months with lots of work and then have months with absolutely nothing," he explains.
"But luckily this year has picked up and it's going to get busy with the pilot season starting in the coming weeks. That will be around three castings a day and tapes sent off to America, so it will be intense but a lot of fun."
Having appeared in a range of Australian projects, including Foxtel's crime series Behind Mansion Walls and the award-winning feature film Wasted on the Young, Cooke is eyeing a permanent move to the US this year and says he has already bonded with a group of *Perth * actors living in Hollywood.
"We've got our own sort of mini network and we all help each other out," the burgeoning star says.
"You hear an Australian accent and you're like, 'Oh, you're my best friend'. There are so many Aussies there and it's great to have that community."
And Cooke's biggest inspiration also comes from home.
He says he looks up to late WA actor *Heath Ledger *, who also moved to Sydney at a young age before taking on LA.
"He is someone I really aspire to and I have always loved his performances, especially his portrayal of the Joker," Cooke says.
