Relaxing into the story, he leans back in his chair. "I proposed after returning from Europe, having decided that Andrea and I would settle down and live together forever and ever, amen, and have a family. I went to Perth, and Mum and I bought the engagement ring-and this is funny, because Mum was trying on engagement rings and asking me if I liked them. We were getting some very strange looks. Anyway, I had the ring hidden in a drawer at home in Maroubra. I was planning to propose on the rocks by Maroubra Beach, which I thought would be really romantic. Andrea caught me in the spare room as I was getting ready for the big moment, and so I put the ring in its box and the little poem I'd written for her in my pocket and got a guilty look.

"I have this problem. I get guilty looks. At the worst times. So she said: 'What are you doing?' And I, of course, said: 'Nothing.' And she said: 'What are you doing?' and I bleated: 'Nothing!' Andrea, you understand, used to persist greatly-she's eased up a little bit, but then I don't look so guilty anymore...so I told her that we should go for a walk, and she said she wouldn't let me out of the room until I told her what I was doing," he sighs as he takes another sip of his caffe latte. "So I said: 'OK, close your eyes.' And I got the ring out and dropped to one knee and proposed to her in the spare bedroom. She cried, and then accepted."

The two married beneath a "beautiful" tree in Melbourne's Rippon Lea Gardens-Paul in a suit he bought in Singapore, and Andrea in her mother's wedding dress. He wanted to marry in the ocean, to which his wife-to-be retorted: "And what about the women in their high heels?"

This was 1987. Paul's workload continued to increase as he gained fame until, in November 1989, he became a father to little Elise.

He dips a finger into his second caffe latte and then licks it. "We wanted homebirths, but then decided it was too messy...you just can't get those stubborn stains out of the carpet! We went to a birthing centre instead, where it was just Andrea, myself, and the midwife, who checked on us every now and again. I helped Andrea as much as I could, but she was the one going through the pain and giving birth. And was it mind-blowing!" He feigns amazement, and then begins to laugh. "I remember when we took Elise home...we got home to our little flat, and Elise was in her capsule, and I just sat there and thought: 'Shit! It's not like taking a cat or a dog home, you know?' There was this awful moment when we both realised that if it was no good, we couldn't give it back or flush it down the loo!" His tone smoothes into seriousness.

"When a child comes along, the marriage becomes secondary. From lovers and friends to mothers and fathers. Unfortunately, mother and father forget lover and friend, because the accompanying stress-and joy-overwhelm. Since Elise and Emily were born, we've just had to deal with those changes, and then right in the middle of it, BANG! comes a film career, and then ACE, and so it really is...quite difficult."

Pausing, he concocts a delightfully wicked expression: "Shall we talk about sex when you're pregnant? A naked pregnant woman is a beauty, you know, and I love the spirituality of the whole process. That gorgeous belly...that lovely spreading bottom...the enlarging breasts...the whole miracle of life." He stares into the middle distance and smiles. "Sex for the first three months of pregnancy is...magnificent. For some reason-hormones, whatever-the woman is much more aroused much more often." He giggles. "and then you go through the second three months where she says: 'Get away from me, I'm fat!' And then the last trimester, she goes through this other surge of passion. But sex obviously changes. You've got this big belly to content with, and so it gets very interesting in terms of 'being creative'. I don't think I want to keep Andrea pregnant, though. Heck, no."

Andrea has said that her husband is "just beautiful with the children", and his mother proudly acknowledges her son as "an angel". Mercurio just smirks. "I reckon I'm pretty good to live with. I cook, I clean, I do the washing. An occasional problem between us is professional jealously. Andrea had a great reputation as a dancer and she gave it up to have kids and then I went on to get the adoration, and it is difficult for her. She's absolutely proud of me, but a times I'm sure she wishes that she could still be doing it and still be in that world."

1991 was the year that completely altered the course of Mercurio's life, the year he played Scott Hastings in Strictly Ballroom, the year his production of Café was shown on the ABC, the year he rejoined the SDC to perform in Poppy, the year he began to be famous. 1992 saw him touring the world, choreographing Edgeing for the SDC, establishing ACE, and vainly trying to care for his family. Now 30, Mercurio-despite his fame-still doesn't own his own home. His earnings only allow him to rent a little house in the Sydney suburb of Eastlakes.

"I'm a dancer, and dancers don't make a lot." He shrugs, and rubs his index finger into the tablecloth. "I feel I have a calling. I'd like to have a role on the world scale. It used to be a suburban scale, then a Sydney scale, then a State scale, then a national scale, but now I'd like a role on the world scale."

The waiter removes his cups, and Mercurio tersely looks at his watch. He has to leave to rehearse for the celebrated ACE production, CONTACT. "This is certainly the busiest time of my life, but not the happiest, no. What I'm doing is investing in the future. I feel good about what's going on, I can't say I'm unhappy-but I'm really in the thick of it. Andrea and I don't have much of a relationship at the moment because things are so difficult and busy, but I'm investing. I think you have to take a risk and work 24 hours a day, because then your investment will pay off. But as for enjoying a more relaxed pace of life...as for indulging in a holiday with the kids and the wife, I'll just have to wait."

With an elegant twist of his body he stands, attracting whispers, and offers an overwhelming, affectionate embrace before vanishing into the Melbourne traffic, and absolute star and gentle man.