When he’s not starring in Australia’s most successful television shows, Rodger Corser is a doting dad to 22-year-old daughter Zipporah.
The Doctor Doctor star and Aussie singing royalty Christine Anu welcomed Zipporah together in 2002, and while their relationship didn’t last, they have continued to harmoniously co-parent their only shared child together.
Rodger and Christine were together for six years after falling in love on the set of the wildly successful 1998 musical production Rent, which toured Melbourne and Sydney.
Following in her famous parents’ footsteps, the stunning 22-year-old completed her final year 12 exams in 2020 at a performing arts high school and has been pursuing her musical ambitions ever since.
Meanwhile, Christine is making sure her daughter is fully aware of just how tough the entertainment industry can be.
“She’s a rising performer herself and I guess every element of choices I’ve made throughout my career are a model for her to follow,” she told Now To Love in 2020.
“Everything that I’m doing to prepare and every way that I present myself in the public and on television and the choices of jobs that I take, are all things that she will take, or not take from.”
Rodger and Christine broke up in 2004 after six years together. The Underbelly star went on to marry former theatre actress Renae Berry in 2007.
The pair share three children; son Budd, daughter Cilla, and son Dustin, while hitmaker Christine has an older son, Kuiam, from a previous relationship.
Rodger has previously opened up to Marie Claire about racism in Australia and how it has impacted his family.
“My eldest daughter Zippy has Torres Strait Islander heritage, so this issue is particularly close to me,” he said in 2020.
“Over the years I’ve noticed that Australia has done a lot for multiculturalism – which is amazing – but I believe what’s been lacking is the acknowledgment of Indigenous people, and a melding of cultures.”
Zipporah said that as a lighter-skinned Indigenous person, she has experienced “colourism” and prejudice.
“Being told that I can’t do certain things because I’m not dark enough, or not Aboriginal enough,” she said.
“But I’m lucky that my parents are both in the media, so I have a way of sharing my voice, through my mum as a Torres Strait Islander woman and my dad as a non-indigenous man.”
Zipporah has described her famous mother’s hits as “the script of my life” after growing up singing family songs in the Torres Strait Island dialect Kalau Kawau Ya.
“She’d always ask me when I was younger and I’d be like, nah, I’m not up to it yet. But now it’s become more of a thing because I’ve started to sing by myself a lot,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2019.
“It is intimidating. She is my mum, but there’s also the fact she’s an experienced artist. For me, I’ve never seen her as an Australian icon because she is my mum. But the more gigs I sing with her, I’m like, oh yeah, clearly this is her job and this is why people know her for this.”
Christine told the publication that Zipporah, whom her and Rodger affectionately call Zippy, has come into her own as she’s gotten older.
“I think for Zippy, she’s grown into her own skin as a performer and I think she needed to do that in her own time, and she’s at that place now,” she said.
“I was certainly not as confident as her at her age, that’s for sure! They’re made of something completely different these days, and she is. It’s such a pleasure to be her mum, and performing with somebody who really loves what they do.”
When Zipporah graduated high school in 2022, Rodger and Christine attended her Year 12 formal by her side.
But it was the touching tribute shared by Rodger’s wife and Zipporah’s stepmother, Renae, that made the occasion truly memorable.
Taking to Instagram to praise her stepdaughter, the actress shared a series of photos from Zipporah’s formal alongside Christine as she admitted the pair were two proud mothers.
“Well year 12 formals just got a whole lot more glamorous! Our beautiful @zipporraahh and her bestie looked incredible last night at their final hurrah and her 2 mummas couldn’t have been any prouder 😍😍,” Renae penned.
In the photos, Christine and Renae posed with the teen, who looked glamorous in a chic black formal gown.
The Underbelly star has been married to Renae, a former theatre actress, since October 2007 after being introduced to each other by their mutual agent.
