When the Courier-Mail managed to entice megastar dancer Paul Mercurio away from his burgeoning career for lunch, a restaurant table in one of Sydney's grandest pubs--just up the road from his theatre-was booked in anticipation of a swish three-course feast.
     But the choreographer-turned movie star snubbed the refined atmosphere of the Lord Nelson Hotel's brasserie, preferring the swashbuckling antics of the public bar downstairs where he tucked into pork pie and chips, washed down with several pints of his favorite ale.
     Caking his cold pie with cranberry sauce and mustard, the self-confessed beer fanatic also confessed a liking for white sausages, salami sandwiches, and something called Vegemite stout--a dubious legacy of his new hobby, home beer brewing.
     "Creating my own beer is like creating a ballet in my new dance company," the Strictly Ballroom celebrity mused while polishing off another pint of Three Sheets, an in-house ale made at the grand old Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel in Sydney's historic Rocks precinct near the harbor.
     "Beer is such a great leveller. At the end of the week, you all get together over a beer and relax."
     Mercurio, 27, is a man of many faces. To millions of young and not-so-young women he is a hunky sex symbol, to his audiences, he is a consummate and fleet-footed exponent of classical and contemporary dance, to his mates, he's a jolly joker--the last one to call it stumps--and to his dancer wife Andrea Toy, he's a humble and devoted husband and father of two girls, Elise Amy, 3, and Emily, 1.
     Mercurio, who brews his own beer at home, thrives on the diversity and is determined to keep his feet firmly on the ground as his acting and dancing career rockets to heights he had never envisaged.
     "Having my wife, children, beer brewing, mates and now the success of Strictly Ballroom, I'm very happy. It's great," he said.
     Earlier, all heads in the packed hotel turned when Mercurio, dressed casually in a white sloppy-joe and pyjama-style trousers, dismounted his motorcycle and strolled into the pub in search of a thirst-quencher.
     "I'm only recognised now just about all the time," he quips.
     "Fame has its good and bad sides. I find giggling girls and people pointing at me a bit pointless but I love it when people come up to me and say they really loved the film and shake my hand.
     "I don't think fame will change me. I am what I am.
     "The film has given me lots of exposure and a wealth of opportunities."
     Mercurio, who will perform in Brisbane's Celebration of Dance fest at the South Bank Piazza on Friday night with the Australian Choreographic Ensemble (ACE) dance troupe he established, is eager to see ACE become a hit overseas but has surprisingly found it hard to raise funds.
     "A lot of people want to shake my hand but no one wants to sign a cheque," he said, his cheeky smile vanishing for the first time during the slap-up lunch.
     But he reveals he has received several film offers from around the world and will soon begin work on two feature Australian movies, details of which he could not unveil.
     "I'll pick a film not for the money but for the fulfilment it will bring me as an actor," he said.
     Mercurio, who often dishes out trophies at beer-drinking bouts at the Lord Nelson Hotel, says he delved into home brewing "because I was sick of paying lots of money for beer".
     He says Vegemite stout was one of his favorite concoctions, although friends' opinions differed.
     When forking out for non-domestic ales, Mercurio opts for South Australia's Coopers Ale and anything from the brewing cellars of Brisbane's Kelly's Pub.
     "I just love home-brewed beers," he said. "They're quality beers, they're fresh and they have a different taste. I like any pub that makes its own beer."
     Mercurio says he prefers home cooking to restaurant nosh "simply because we've got two young children who cause havoc whenever we go out to eat".
     Although his wife serves up most nights, Mercurio says that when he has the time, he likes to whip up chicken wings and marinated roast pork. Mercurio is infamous for the lunch boxes he takes with him to rehearsals, hauling out home-made salami, cheese and tomato sandwiches whenever his well-photographed tummy rumbles.
     "It's my staple diet except when I come to the Lord Nelson when I have pork pies and chips," he smirks.
     Just as well he skips and leaps across the stage so much to burn off the calories.