TV HITS: What is your earliest childhood memory?
PAUL MERCURIO: I remember getting my head stuck in a metal fence. You know those little gates with bars? I remember mum had to go and get dad. Funny how I got my head in there but I couldn't get it out (laughs).

TVH: Do you have any brothers and sisters?
PM: Yep, I have an older sister and two younger brothers. We all danced. My sister started dancing and then I joined and then my two brothers joined. So we all did the ballet, jazz, tap, song and dance and then we all quit and got involved in theatre. Then I left school and went into ballet.

TVH: Did you have to dance with you sister a lot?
PM: I cannot remember having to dance with my sister. I think my brother and I sometimes did things together. I remember the first time I had to wear tights, jeez, I was so embarassed. I mean I was twelve and that was probably one of the reasons I gave up because I had to wear tights and we didn't have jock straps in those days and at twelve you're not all that well-formed or anything. We had this little top on and we kept trying to pull it down to cover our rather embarassed organs.

TVH: Did you win a lot of medals?
PM: Not really. There was another guy at our ballet school who used to win the trophies. (pauses) Bastard. (laughs) I mean I remember that, being a bit jealous because he used to win the trophies and I didn't, but we were good friends, too. He just had cabinets of them.

TVH: Is he a dancer now?
PM: I don't think so. That's probably why I went my own way in a sense, some people win medals and some don't but that has nothing to do with how good you are. Success to me is just being happy at what you're doing and doing it to the best of your ability.

TVH: Sounds like the message of Strictly Ballroom?
PM: Well, perhaps. I mean I hope to some extent that was one of the messages, you know? Scott didn't want to play by the rules--the rules were limiting his freedom and so instead of being downed by that and trying to win at all costs, he was just interested in discovering himself and dance and creativity. That's a good message for everybody, I reckon.

TVH: Being a dancer, did you get a hard time at school?
PM: Yeah, I did get a bit of a hard time. Because I did something that was seen to be feminine or sissyish, I copped heaps of flack, but then again it didn't upset me a great deal. If people think you're effeminate because you like to dance, that's their problem, not mine. Sometimes I'd get upset, who wouldn't? But generally it was just like 'Oh well'. Mind you, when you got to sport, all the other guys used to get upset: I was pretty good at hurdling because I could do the splits!

TVH: When did you meet your wife? Was it love at first sight?
PM: When I first saw Andrea, I think the bug bit me, but I forgot it. A year after that, she joined the Sydney Dance Company. She was from the Australian Ballet and I didn't talk to her for six months because I was a pretty moody, angry young man who would sit in the corner and write poetry and not talk to people. Then we got to know each other and we became pretty good friends. Then I'd find myself hoping to bump into her while I was shopping. I was by myself at this stage and I'd decided I didn't want any more love affairs in my life for a whlie. But we started to really like each other and after about six months of gentle, indirect courting we kissed and freaked each other out. That was in '86, we got married in '87, had our first child in '89, our second child in '91, and we might even have a third. Well, we're practicing (laughs).

TVH: Would you encourage your kids to dance?
PM: If they were interested, not because I'd want them to follow in my or Andrea's footsteps. I think it's just a great way to be fit and a great way to know your body. You're healthy, you're vibrant, you've got energy.

TVH: Have you ever had any bad accidents while dancing?
PM: I've broken both my feet dancing. One was on the opening night of a rather heavy production that we did in Spain. I did it within the first ten or fifteen minutes of the show and it was an our and a half show. I danced on it but afterwards I couldn't walk. they took me to the hospital and put me in plaster. I had a great time after that, sitting in Spain, drinking beers and eating olives. I almost broke my left food just before we started shooting Strictly but thankfully I only sprained it.

TVH: What will ACE's next production be called?
PM: It's called Parts One and Parts Two--that's the working title. I'm going to direct it but I'm commissioning three choreographers as well as myself to choreograph it. We need to really sit down and flesh it out and write it. It sort of revolves around the life of a family and the relationships within a family.

TVH: Are you looking forward to doing more movies?
PM: Mmm, very much. I've got a few scripts at home that I've been reading.

TVH: Would you like to make Strictly Ballroom II?
PM: No. Strictly was a melting pot of a lot of things that made it successful and I don't really think you can recapture that. When I went to Japan last year and Tara (Morice) was there we'd joke about Scott and Fran: now they've got a fish and chip business and the union's onto them about how they deep fry their fish, something like that. Or Scott and Fran open a gym and become body builders. You'd have to do something quite qurky because where else can they go?