THE man who became a household name wowing audiences in the Australian movie Strictly Ballroom says he's spent the past seven years proving first and foremost he's an actor - not a dancer.
His priority now is taking care of his family. The Mercurio clan is about to move to the bush to escape the bright lights of Sydney. After dancing for 15 years, Paul Mercurio realised he wouldn't be able to dance forever and needed a second career to fall back on. Since 1994, he has worked as an actor full-time and his dancing has taken a back seat.
One day he hopes to open a pub brewery and restaurant, and act on the big screen full-time.
``Dancing is not how I choose to make a living anymore,'' he explained. ``When you're a dancer, you're an elite athlete, and your time is limited. Most dancers don't make it to their late 20s, let alone 30s. ``You can't dance forever, and while I felt I could have kept dancing--and I thought I would have been one of the lucky ones (and danced for many more years)--I decided to semi-retire in 1994.
``I make my living as an actor now, but the typecast of my character in Strictly Ballroom is very hard to break out of. It has been a struggle, to eliminate the whole ballet dancer image.
``A lot of soapie stars I know have faced the same issues trying to break out of their `soapie image'.
``I've talked to people like Guy Pearce, Marcus Graham and so on, and they have experienced similar frustration; it's not only dancers.'' Mercurio said part of the frustration he's faced has been ``the recent slump'' in the number of Australian movies being made.
He even considered moving to Los Angeles permanently in search of more work.
He claimed Adelaide was the only city in Australia producing Australian movies. ``I may be incorrect here, but I believe there hasn't been an Australian film made in New South Wales this year,'' he said.
``There have been foreign movies in production, which are good for Australia, but we need our own product.
``Adelaide seems to be flying the flag for Australian film, but they are produced by independent film companies which means they are low budget movies.
``I read an article recently which said the film industry is booming, but I disagree.
``We need to make films here which are written, produced and directed by Australians, and boost the industry.''
Mercurio has been busy making a host of TV appearances, and filmed six movies in the US over the past few years, including two Imax movies to be released in August.
He's made a pilot TV show and has written several film scripts.
``When you're an actor and you're not working for someone else (in a movie or TV program), you work for yourself,'' he explained.
``To sit by the phone waiting for your next acting job is torture; you have to do other things.
``I have a lot of different ideas, including a long-term goal to one day open my own pub brewery/restaurant.''
``I considered moving to LA, and I would have if my wife Andrea and I didn't have the girls, but it's not the place for children to live, so I concluded we were better off to stay here.
``I travel to the US when I need to.''
Despite his efforts to create a new image for himself, the actor said Strictly Ballroom was a movie he was very proud of--and his daughters are his biggest fans.
His priority now is taking care of his family. The Mercurio clan is about to move to the bush to escape the bright lights of Sydney. After dancing for 15 years, Paul Mercurio realised he wouldn't be able to dance forever and needed a second career to fall back on. Since 1994, he has worked as an actor full-time and his dancing has taken a back seat.
One day he hopes to open a pub brewery and restaurant, and act on the big screen full-time.
``Dancing is not how I choose to make a living anymore,'' he explained. ``When you're a dancer, you're an elite athlete, and your time is limited. Most dancers don't make it to their late 20s, let alone 30s. ``You can't dance forever, and while I felt I could have kept dancing--and I thought I would have been one of the lucky ones (and danced for many more years)--I decided to semi-retire in 1994.
``I make my living as an actor now, but the typecast of my character in Strictly Ballroom is very hard to break out of. It has been a struggle, to eliminate the whole ballet dancer image.
``A lot of soapie stars I know have faced the same issues trying to break out of their `soapie image'.
``I've talked to people like Guy Pearce, Marcus Graham and so on, and they have experienced similar frustration; it's not only dancers.'' Mercurio said part of the frustration he's faced has been ``the recent slump'' in the number of Australian movies being made.
He even considered moving to Los Angeles permanently in search of more work.
He claimed Adelaide was the only city in Australia producing Australian movies. ``I may be incorrect here, but I believe there hasn't been an Australian film made in New South Wales this year,'' he said.
``There have been foreign movies in production, which are good for Australia, but we need our own product.
``Adelaide seems to be flying the flag for Australian film, but they are produced by independent film companies which means they are low budget movies.
``I read an article recently which said the film industry is booming, but I disagree.
``We need to make films here which are written, produced and directed by Australians, and boost the industry.''
Mercurio has been busy making a host of TV appearances, and filmed six movies in the US over the past few years, including two Imax movies to be released in August.
He's made a pilot TV show and has written several film scripts.
``When you're an actor and you're not working for someone else (in a movie or TV program), you work for yourself,'' he explained.
``To sit by the phone waiting for your next acting job is torture; you have to do other things.
``I have a lot of different ideas, including a long-term goal to one day open my own pub brewery/restaurant.''
``I considered moving to LA, and I would have if my wife Andrea and I didn't have the girls, but it's not the place for children to live, so I concluded we were better off to stay here.
``I travel to the US when I need to.''
Despite his efforts to create a new image for himself, the actor said Strictly Ballroom was a movie he was very proud of--and his daughters are his biggest fans.
by Renae Leith
Sunday Tasmanian
08 August 1999
