It's been twelve years since Tom McGregor took his sister for a fateful ride. Now his insulated world is invaded by strangers, bringing him purpose, and perhaps forgiveness.

   AS THE Outback sun beats down on his firm, muscular body, Paul Mercurio breaks out in a fine glimmer of sweat. This man is hot--in more ways than one.     The temperature is nudging 38 degrees, and if Paul were wearing his trademark white singlet, the desert dust would turn it crimson.     Welcome to the back of beyond--a patch of red earth near Alice Springs that's the setting for Paul's latest bound-for-Hollywood Aussie movie.     "It's just beginning," he grins. "I don't feel hot yet. I don't feel I'm on a roll yet. In another couple of years I might be."     Paul is playing it cool. Since his acting debut in the smash hit movie Strictly Ballroom, he says he's been offered at least 100 scripts by producers and directors keen to cash in on his appeal.     "But it's a business and a career," he says. "You don't say yes to everything. I'm fairly cautious. I want to be in it for a long time, not just do a quick movie and get out. I'm treating it with care."     Paul, 31, worked with Pretty Woman's Garry Marshall for his first taste of Hollywood--the kinky sex comedy Exit to Eden, co-starring Dana Delany, Dan Akroyd, and Rosie O'Donnell. Then came the telemovie The Bible: Joseph with Oscar-winning Ben Kingsley.     Now the $4.5 million Back of Beyond is being made as a Paul Mercurio star vehicle. He has had a hand in the script and the casting. Distributors Beyond Films--who took Strictly Ballroom to the world--hope to release the movie in Australia next Easter. There is already strong interest from overseas.     In Back of Beyond, Paul plays Tom McGregor, a motormechanic who blames himself for the motorcycle accident that killed his little sister. To make up for his guilt, he takes over his family's abandoned service station in the back of beyond.     There he falls for Charlie--a beautiful con artist played by former Home and Away star Dee Smart--and runs into trouble with her male friends, Connor (Colin Friels) and Nick (John Polson).     "For me, Tom's an all-Australian guy--a bit reckless when he was younger," says Paul. "Now he lives with the burden of his sister's death. He's in his own purgatory--he's stuck to the garage; he can't leave it because of the memories.
    "I look at him as kind of a mystic mechanic. He's a fixer of souls."     Spiritual themes appeal to Paul. Even though Back of Beyond is billed as a love story, he disagrees. "It's more about finding love within yourself," he says.
    "I can relate to it. I used to be a tormented, angry young man. That's why the inner journey appealed to me. I'm on my own inner journey. We're all searching for something. I'd say it's love--whether it's loving someone or yourself.

This film is not about murders or silly things. It's about more important issues."     Paul knows a lot about true love. He is a one-woman man. Or three women--his dancer wife Andrea Toy and their young daughters, Elise, 5, and Emily, 3.     "I think if this fame had happened when I was single and younger, it could have been dangerous," Paul says. "I thank my lucky stars that I was a bit older and married.

    "We're a traditional family. You know that great Australian dream of working and building a career, buying a house, having kids--I've always been focused on that. I'm a sensitive New Age guy--with traditional values."     Paul has a manager, an agent in the US, a personal publicist--all directing his career. Once Back of Beyond wraps, he'll head back to Hollywood to "do lunch" and get his own movie project, Dance Burglar, up and running.     In his words, it's "an action adventure about a choreographer who becomes a cat burglar to support his dance company".     For this Aussie star, life is exciting, wonderful, and challenging.     "But it's not scary," Paul says. "What would scare me is sitting at home not having a challenge to go out and face.     "I don't sit still for long. See ya!"