Love for sale

Peta Sergeant insists her favourite part of any acting role is the research.

For her role as sex worker ‘Heather’ in Satisfaction, she spent time in brothels with working girls who got her to share aspects of her life that she has never revealed before.

It’s this very intimate skill that drives Satisfaction. The girls of the mythical ‘232’ brothel are tempting as much for their physical attributes as their ability to become therapist, advisor, moral support and mother-confessor.

“Some of them were really confident and extraordinary,” said Sergeant (pictured, left). “All of them had an exceptional gift to unlock whoever they were talking to.

“We all found ourselves in private interviews. I shared things that I’d never told anyone about my life and my past. And I think that’s part of why people see these women. You know that they’ve seen everything and done everything.”

The second season of the hit Showcase series once again returns with its formidable female ensemble of Alison Whyte, Diana Glenn, Madeleine West, Bojana Novakovic, Kestie Morassi, plus Sullivan Stapleton and Dustin Clare. This time, Sergeant’s character deals with the loss of her baby, and re-evaluates her personal boundaries.

“This year wasn’t as involved as last year, when we all went around to various establishments together and it was quite extraordinary. The research was more character specific, and storyline specific.

“I didn’t think I needed to get as close to things as I did last year. There were other things that were more important to me to get back into than the sex work.”

In visiting working brothels, Sergeant says she was compelled to consider what it was that kept women in such a unique occupation.

“I suppose the money’s really good. I guess once you’re in it, it’s easier to think less of it than when you’re outside of it. It’s like anything that you do in life that you might have a big trepidation about. Once you throw yourself into it, it becomes easier and easier to justify it,” she said.

“I think there are girls that get trapped in it, I think there are girls who stay in because they want to, I think there are girls who become addicted to the money or luxury or attention. We only went to establishments that were on the same level as 232. So we didn’t talk to girls who work on the street, we didn’t talk to girls who are drug addicted, or supporting a habit. We didn’t talk to girls who are there against there will. Because there is that as well, because it’s not what our show is about.”

The character of ‘Heather’ is also same-sex attracted, yet works with heterosexual clients, something Sergeant said she encountered in her research.

“From the research that I did with women who were in same-sex relationships and were always working as sex workers, they found it easier to compartmentalise their lives. It’s not something they took home.

“We’re re-defining boundaries as far as Heather’s concerned at work. At home, I think she’d like to throw herself into something that’s not a relationship. But because of things that have happened to her, she can’t follow through.”

The male clients of Satisfaction have previously been depicted as submissive, dominant, addicted, reckless. In the privacy of a bedroom they frequently belie their status, whether as successful corporate businessman or happily married husband. Sergeant says the working girls she spoke to had many true-life tales to tell that are mirrored in the scripts.

“There were so many stories about men who wanted to rescue them from the brothel, and fall in love with them and buy them cars and jewellery. It’s pretty wild. I could imagine you become addicted to that.

“The duplicity of that is what’s interesting dramatically, because it’s not real,” she said.

“It’s a transaction based on a brutal honesty.”

Satisfaction series 2 premieres 8:30pm tonight on Showcase.