JULIETTA JAMESON: Congratulations on this great little film, Red Ribbon Blues. How do you feel about it being shown at the Mardi Gras Film Festival?
PAUL MERCURIO: I think it's great. You don't make a film to sit in the closet, you want it to come out. Hopefully the right people will see it and someone will be smart enough to buy it for distribution. It's cheap! Buy it! You'll make money out of it!
JJ: I thought you played a great gay guy without going into stereotype and I've never seen a film that tackles the big drug companies quite so explicitly as this. You must have been really pleased when you saw it.
PM: Yeah, I was. I always liked the script and from the moment I read it I just knew it was a universal story, and even though it was a small, independent movie, it appealed to everybody. It was positive as well. It is an AIDS story, an HIV drama or whatever, that was positive as opposed to all the negativity that goes on about it.
JJ: And Paul, would it be fair to say that it showed your acting range more than in anything else you've done thus far?
PM: Yeah, this is my fifth film and so I'm getting more experience, getting better at understanding all the shit that goes on behind from the cameras. Also, it was a role that was full. The other films I've done have not been as kind script-wise to the actor.
JJ: And also, maybe in Red Ribbon Blues, you yourself are showing more acting ability?
PM: Yeah, my wife says the same thing. She thinks this one is the first where I've really gone all the way and I would agree.
JJ: How did you land the part of a gay man who leads an ad hoc guerilla gang in stealing lifeprolonging drugs for AIDS patients?
PM: I was in America looping Joseph and I'd just finished shooting Back Of Beyond and they sent me the script and I read it and I liked it so I met them and, I don't know; they just fitted with me. They were young - and I like to think of myself as young energetic, enthusiastic . . .
JJ: Did you know at that stage that one of your co-stars was going to be the fabulous New York drag artist, Ru Paul?
PM: It wasn't really until I got to America to shoot it that I heard, you know, this major drag queen was playing the role and of course, I kind of thought uh-oh, what are they doing? But of course Ru Paul is as famous for being himself as well as Ru Paul in the frock and he was terrific.
JJ: Some actors have qualms about playing gay characters because of their image. Did you?
PM: Well, I mean, I have been offered other dance roles and gay roles and things like that. I've always said, my fifth movie, sure. But just for the first couple of films I should play, not necessarily straight roles, but roles in which I wouldn't be typecast.
JJ: Well, you've certainly done that.
PM: Mind you, as a ballet dancer all my life I've been typecast. You know, the old, "Oh he must be gay. He's a ballet dancer". But Strictly Ballroom certainly broke that mould. People who would pick a fight with me and call me a poofter in the pub would buy me a beer. Suddenly, it was okay to be a guy and dance, almost for the first time in my life. They spoke to me about doing a part in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, and I was very tempted but ultimately I just thought, coming from a dance movie to drag queen, I didn't want to damage what Strictly and myself had set up. There was no problem with Red Ribbon Blues because I'd played a sex slave and a biblical slave and a bloke in a desert and in that sense I thought I wasn't going to pigeon-hole myself.
JJ: Did guys really try to pick fights with you in the pub?
PM: Sometimes, not very often, because generally I didn't go to those sorts of pubs. But at school and on tour it would happen. I got beaten up once because someone didn't like my shirt. You're not talking about very intelligent people or very articulate people and so those things happen.
JJ: So do you envisage a time when you will dance in film again?
PM: Well, um. . .
JJ: I believe that they wanted you to dance in Back Of Beyond but you put your foot down, so to speak.
PM: No. I mean, there was one draft of the script that came through in which the character had won a dance competition and come home with a trophy. It was like, well, Paul's gonna play it so let's put a dance thing somewhere in there and let's get people coming to see that. It was just out of place. I have yet to read a really great script like Ballroom, that has a dance element in it, which is why I've written my own.
JJ: Is the dance movie a lost genre?
PM: Well, it might be, but I'm actually talking turkey with some people in the States about doing a film which does have dance in it, and my own company, ACE, is about to do a film. And my own film, well, I'm in the process of finishing the second draft and that's about dancers and a dance company.
JJ: Oh, so all is not lost.
PM: No. I haven't danced for 21/2 years and I've started classes again in the last couple of weeks with the Sydney Dance Company. In fact, I'm gonna be dancing for them. I'm choreographing a couple of solos and will more than likely be dancing their main season.
JJ: People will be excited about that.
PM: Yes, Paul Mercurio is hitting the boards again and not on his bum, I hope. You never know. It could happen.
JJ: Well, it sounds like you think you've got to a point where you can do what you want and not get stereotyped. Is that a nice place to be?
PM: It is nice. I've missed the dance and yes, I am going back to it and hopefully it's not to the detriment of getting straight drama roles or comedy roles or action roles or whatever.
JJ: Did you say action?
PM: Oh, I'd love to do action. On Red Ribbon Blues, Charles the director would say, "You run out of the chemist, round the corner and into the car". So I'd run out of the chemist, I'd run overthe car. I did as much as possible, you know, just for fun. I want to do a big sword-fighting film or an action film, because a lot of it is dance. You spend a lot of time hitting the right step, the right mark, the right look and yet you still flow it. Well, I'm just waiting for someone to discover me.
JJ: Well, maybe someone will notice your natural action ability in Red Ribbon Blues. Where's it been shown so far?
PM: It's been shown at quite a few festivals but it hasn't been picked up for distribution yet, which is quite frustrating because it is a good film.
JJ: Have you felt frustrated that the films you've done, aside from Ballroom, haven't done huge box office?
PM: Kind of. If films I'm in don't make money then people think, oh, it must be his fault.
JJ: Have people actually blamed you for box office flops?
PM: Yeah, but a film goes through so many hands and so many opinions before it's released, I mean, I just turn up on the day and do my best and then there's people who do what they will with that. There's all this stuff that goes on. And people come up and go, "Oh, you're the star of the movie". I hate that. I mean, promoting it is a sales job and I don't mind playing the role of the front person trying to sell it but there's so many people involved and because of that, you don't know what the end product is going to be.
JJ: Well, despite the flops of Exit To Eden and Back Of Beyond, my sources in Hollywood, that is, a friend of mine who lives there, says the vibe on you is still very strong. Do you get the same intelligence?
PM: Well, scripts get sent, when my agent goes to see people to talk about me they open the door and let her in, you know, rather than saying, "Oh, let's do lunch some time". So there is a vibe apparently and that's great. I just hope that it transforms itself into actual movies - and action films.
JJ: So what's next for you, a gig with Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps?
PM: Well, I'm writing and I'm working on a short film for my dance company, Australian Choreographic Ensemble, I'm still doing my Bonds things and my Coopers things, there's a short film I might do in April, depends on the funding and my wife's about to have another baby.
JJ: Another baby! So that's why you're a little bit edgy. How old are your other two kids?
PM: Six and four.
JJ: Do you know what sex this one is?
PM: No, it's a baby.
JJ: Any ideas for names?
PM: Yes. But you're not telling?
PM: No.
JJ: Drats. Well, good luck with babydom Paul. How many more are you going to have?
PM: This is the last one.
JJ: That's what you say now.
PM: It's true.
JJ: Okay, well we better let you go and watch your wife closely for symptoms of labour.
PM: I don't actually do that, but yeah, I better go.
As this article went to print, the new Mercurio baby was due any second. [Erin Winifred was born the next day--Ed]
PAUL MERCURIO: I think it's great. You don't make a film to sit in the closet, you want it to come out. Hopefully the right people will see it and someone will be smart enough to buy it for distribution. It's cheap! Buy it! You'll make money out of it!
JJ: I thought you played a great gay guy without going into stereotype and I've never seen a film that tackles the big drug companies quite so explicitly as this. You must have been really pleased when you saw it.
PM: Yeah, I was. I always liked the script and from the moment I read it I just knew it was a universal story, and even though it was a small, independent movie, it appealed to everybody. It was positive as well. It is an AIDS story, an HIV drama or whatever, that was positive as opposed to all the negativity that goes on about it.
JJ: And Paul, would it be fair to say that it showed your acting range more than in anything else you've done thus far?
PM: Yeah, this is my fifth film and so I'm getting more experience, getting better at understanding all the shit that goes on behind from the cameras. Also, it was a role that was full. The other films I've done have not been as kind script-wise to the actor.
JJ: And also, maybe in Red Ribbon Blues, you yourself are showing more acting ability?
PM: Yeah, my wife says the same thing. She thinks this one is the first where I've really gone all the way and I would agree.
JJ: How did you land the part of a gay man who leads an ad hoc guerilla gang in stealing lifeprolonging drugs for AIDS patients?
PM: I was in America looping Joseph and I'd just finished shooting Back Of Beyond and they sent me the script and I read it and I liked it so I met them and, I don't know; they just fitted with me. They were young - and I like to think of myself as young energetic, enthusiastic . . .
JJ: Did you know at that stage that one of your co-stars was going to be the fabulous New York drag artist, Ru Paul?
PM: It wasn't really until I got to America to shoot it that I heard, you know, this major drag queen was playing the role and of course, I kind of thought uh-oh, what are they doing? But of course Ru Paul is as famous for being himself as well as Ru Paul in the frock and he was terrific.
JJ: Some actors have qualms about playing gay characters because of their image. Did you?
PM: Well, I mean, I have been offered other dance roles and gay roles and things like that. I've always said, my fifth movie, sure. But just for the first couple of films I should play, not necessarily straight roles, but roles in which I wouldn't be typecast.
JJ: Well, you've certainly done that.
PM: Mind you, as a ballet dancer all my life I've been typecast. You know, the old, "Oh he must be gay. He's a ballet dancer". But Strictly Ballroom certainly broke that mould. People who would pick a fight with me and call me a poofter in the pub would buy me a beer. Suddenly, it was okay to be a guy and dance, almost for the first time in my life. They spoke to me about doing a part in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, and I was very tempted but ultimately I just thought, coming from a dance movie to drag queen, I didn't want to damage what Strictly and myself had set up. There was no problem with Red Ribbon Blues because I'd played a sex slave and a biblical slave and a bloke in a desert and in that sense I thought I wasn't going to pigeon-hole myself.
JJ: Did guys really try to pick fights with you in the pub?
PM: Sometimes, not very often, because generally I didn't go to those sorts of pubs. But at school and on tour it would happen. I got beaten up once because someone didn't like my shirt. You're not talking about very intelligent people or very articulate people and so those things happen.
JJ: So do you envisage a time when you will dance in film again?
PM: Well, um. . .
JJ: I believe that they wanted you to dance in Back Of Beyond but you put your foot down, so to speak.
PM: No. I mean, there was one draft of the script that came through in which the character had won a dance competition and come home with a trophy. It was like, well, Paul's gonna play it so let's put a dance thing somewhere in there and let's get people coming to see that. It was just out of place. I have yet to read a really great script like Ballroom, that has a dance element in it, which is why I've written my own.
JJ: Is the dance movie a lost genre?
PM: Well, it might be, but I'm actually talking turkey with some people in the States about doing a film which does have dance in it, and my own company, ACE, is about to do a film. And my own film, well, I'm in the process of finishing the second draft and that's about dancers and a dance company.
JJ: Oh, so all is not lost.
PM: No. I haven't danced for 21/2 years and I've started classes again in the last couple of weeks with the Sydney Dance Company. In fact, I'm gonna be dancing for them. I'm choreographing a couple of solos and will more than likely be dancing their main season.
JJ: People will be excited about that.
PM: Yes, Paul Mercurio is hitting the boards again and not on his bum, I hope. You never know. It could happen.
JJ: Well, it sounds like you think you've got to a point where you can do what you want and not get stereotyped. Is that a nice place to be?
PM: It is nice. I've missed the dance and yes, I am going back to it and hopefully it's not to the detriment of getting straight drama roles or comedy roles or action roles or whatever.
JJ: Did you say action?
PM: Oh, I'd love to do action. On Red Ribbon Blues, Charles the director would say, "You run out of the chemist, round the corner and into the car". So I'd run out of the chemist, I'd run overthe car. I did as much as possible, you know, just for fun. I want to do a big sword-fighting film or an action film, because a lot of it is dance. You spend a lot of time hitting the right step, the right mark, the right look and yet you still flow it. Well, I'm just waiting for someone to discover me.
JJ: Well, maybe someone will notice your natural action ability in Red Ribbon Blues. Where's it been shown so far?
PM: It's been shown at quite a few festivals but it hasn't been picked up for distribution yet, which is quite frustrating because it is a good film.
JJ: Have you felt frustrated that the films you've done, aside from Ballroom, haven't done huge box office?
PM: Kind of. If films I'm in don't make money then people think, oh, it must be his fault.
JJ: Have people actually blamed you for box office flops?
PM: Yeah, but a film goes through so many hands and so many opinions before it's released, I mean, I just turn up on the day and do my best and then there's people who do what they will with that. There's all this stuff that goes on. And people come up and go, "Oh, you're the star of the movie". I hate that. I mean, promoting it is a sales job and I don't mind playing the role of the front person trying to sell it but there's so many people involved and because of that, you don't know what the end product is going to be.
JJ: Well, despite the flops of Exit To Eden and Back Of Beyond, my sources in Hollywood, that is, a friend of mine who lives there, says the vibe on you is still very strong. Do you get the same intelligence?
PM: Well, scripts get sent, when my agent goes to see people to talk about me they open the door and let her in, you know, rather than saying, "Oh, let's do lunch some time". So there is a vibe apparently and that's great. I just hope that it transforms itself into actual movies - and action films.
JJ: So what's next for you, a gig with Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps?
PM: Well, I'm writing and I'm working on a short film for my dance company, Australian Choreographic Ensemble, I'm still doing my Bonds things and my Coopers things, there's a short film I might do in April, depends on the funding and my wife's about to have another baby.
JJ: Another baby! So that's why you're a little bit edgy. How old are your other two kids?
PM: Six and four.
JJ: Do you know what sex this one is?
PM: No, it's a baby.
JJ: Any ideas for names?
PM: Yes. But you're not telling?
PM: No.
JJ: Drats. Well, good luck with babydom Paul. How many more are you going to have?
PM: This is the last one.
JJ: That's what you say now.
PM: It's true.
JJ: Okay, well we better let you go and watch your wife closely for symptoms of labour.
PM: I don't actually do that, but yeah, I better go.
As this article went to print, the new Mercurio baby was due any second. [Erin Winifred was born the next day--Ed]
The Daily Telegraph
17 February 1996
