On the eve of the release of Back of Beyond, his first Australian film since Strictly Ballroom, Paul Mercurio is playing it safe.

     "I don't want to say too much about it," he says. "Being my second Australian feature and following up Strictly, I think people want me to say it is going to be as big.      "Films such as Strictly happen every few years. They are rare."

     Who could blame Paul for tring to remain low-key? Some fans wil expect grand efforts based on the performance of the oddball comedy Strictly Ballroom, while others will expect him to redeem himself after his poorly received American debut feature Exit to Edin in which he co-starred with comic actors Dan Akroyd and Rosei O'Donnell and China Beach star Dana Delany.

     "All I want to do is work, have fun, enjoy and do things that are important. I want to develop and grow," he says.

     Back of Beyond, filmed in the Northern Territory and co-starring Colin Friels, Dee Smart, and John Polson, is the story of a guilt-ridden young man who returns to an Outback garage in an effort to atone for an accident that killed his sister.

     The stream of characters who pass by the garage includes a bunch of con-artists (Friels, Polson, and Smart) on their way to the coast to exchange a stash of diamonds for cash.

     "To me, going to make a movie has to be an enjoyable process," Paul says.

     "It has to have some significance and importance, and it has to have the kind of message that I'd like to be involved in giving to people who watch the film.

     "It has got to be a good time and wonderful experience in terms of working. It has got to challenge me and stretch me.

     "Those are things that make it successful to me. So Back of Beyond is successful to me. Strictly was very successful and Exit to Eden was really successful because I got through my second feature film and it was a big Hollywood thing."

     Paul's latest film, Red Ribbon Blues, a low-budget U.S. comedy-drama about a group of HIV-positive patients who take their treatment into their own hands, is currently doing the overseas film festivals and reaping good reviews.

     Yet another facet of Paul's acting abilities will be revealed by his portrayal of a gay, Catholic, HIV-positive man alongside Debbie Mazar (of TV's Civil Wars and L.A. Law fame and one of Madonna's best pals) and famed drag queen RuPaul.

     "It is a learning and working experience," he says.

     "I know that when I'm doing my 15th film I'll be a better actor than when I did Back of Beyond or whatever."

     Paul's learning curve has so far taken him from unknown status and Strictly Ballroom's humble beginnings to working with such Academy-Award winning actors as Ben Kingsley and Martin Landau on the Emmy Award-winning Biblical telemovie Joseph (which screened recently on the Nine Network).

     "If Exit to Eden had been a huge hit, I would probably have been over there (in the U.S.) making movies for &7 million now," He says.

     "That would have been, on one hand, a real advantage but, on the other, quite damaging and frightening.

     "I'm constantly surprised by my image and the way people view me as much bigger than where I'm actually at.

     "I've only been on the screen since 1992, so in a sense my notoriety and fame is bigger than what I feel my experience is."

     With five films in four years and demand growing in the U.S. for Paul's talents, he is in the enviable position of being an international actor with offers for films to be made in Europe, Australia, and the U.S.

     "People ask me if I will go and live in American, and I say, 'No'...but never say never," Paul says.

     "If I was getting huge offers there that I just had to do, then it might be the case.

     "I get more interest from the U.S. than Australia. Probably because they make 500 movies a year in the U.S. and Australia makes 15 or something.

     "Australian audiences doen't want to see you playing in all of them, and there's not that many roles to suit."

     While Paul isn't sure which project will come next--one Australian and three U.S. films are in the pipeline--one project close to his heart is a little further off.

     In recent years he has been working diligently on a film script about a dancer--the perfect, self-penned starring vehicle for himself. The script's second draft is nearly complete.

     "I'd like to see it made in Australia, but if I can't come up with the money I'll go to the U.S.," he says.

     "My plan is to film it this time next year and have it in Cannes in 1997, but realistically it could take another year...so, whatever."