Paul Mercurio
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Editorial Department
Blame it on Elvis.
It was the lusty gyrations of The King in Jailhouse Rock that inspired
nine-year-old Paul Joseph Mercurio to dance. His mother, Jean,
responded with her usual supportive posture and enrolled Paul in a
local ballet school.
From there (with a short surfing break) it was on to John Curtin
College of the Arts, a scholarship at the West Australian Ballet
Company, and finally leaving his home in Perth for the Australian
Ballet School in Melbourne.
He was the odd man out in Melbourne. Not completely lonely as he had
family there, he nonetheless wasn't part of the crowd in school. "They
have a particular way of being, and I think my idea was broader." He
said of the experience.
His greatest loneliness came with his greatest opportunity thus far: an
offer from the prestigious Sydney Dance Company. With no money to visit
home for the holidays, alone in a strange city, Paul formed a family of
prostitutes and junkies at a café in Darlinghurst--later to serve as
the inspiration for his dance Cafe.
Time and hard work later, Paul became something of a star with the SDC,
getting plum parts from the troupe's brilliant director, Graeme Murphy,
as well as doing more of his own choreography. He met his wife, Andrea
Toy, during these years, and they were married in 1987.
1992 put a most remarkable wrench in the works. Paul was asked to
contribute choreography for the debut work of an Australian director,
Baz Luhrmann. Baz, an old friend, offered him the lead in the phenomenal
Strictly Ballroom (1992). Under Luhrmann's direction, Paul's intensity took over the
screen and made him an overnight icon of sensuality.
Suddenly, things got busy. Paul was looking over movie offers,
choreographing a production of Jesus Christ, Superstar, and most
ambitiously, starting his own dance company: the Australian
Choreographic Ensemble (ACE). The vision for ACE was to promote
Australian choreographers and bring dance to more rural areas. All
this, plus juggling a family which now included two young daughters.
On the movie front, Paul did Back of Beyond, a serviceable ghost story
that received a lukewarm reception. Afraid of being typecast so early
in his film career, he turned down a part in Stephan Elliott's smash, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994).
He then accepted an offer that left him "scared sh**less": a $30
million dollar venture helmed by Garry Marshall, who had just come from the
stunning success of Pretty Woman (1990). Paul would co-star with Dana Delany, 'Rosie ODonnell',
and Dan Aykroyd. It must have seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Poor plotting and badly mismatched marketing led to a box-office flop.
Despite very good performances by the main cast, the failure of Exit to Eden (1994)
became a stone around the careers of the two young leads, Mercurio and
Delany.
While he did land the title role in the cable movie Joseph, for the
most part the movies that followed were low-profile, becoming more so
toward the end of the nineties. In 1997, Paul took the first of several
television roles, playing a regular character in the series Medivac (1996).
His passion for beer and his work as a Coopers spokesman paid off when
they bailed out the ailing ACE when government funding ran dry. Still,
after six years and some success, the troupe disbanded in 1998. The
inability to shake the Scott Hastings image may have been partly
responsible. Eight years later, Australian news still considers it
pithy to pun Strictly Ballroom (1992) in the title of every interview.
Recent years have found Paul still busy making locally-produced movies,
with the occasional trip to Los Angeles. In addition, he's spread his
talent to once again include the stage--but this time he's acting, not
dancing. He toured with A Passionate Woman at the end of 1999. Opting
recently to move to just outside Sydney rather than haul his family to
Los Angeles, where he is less typecast, may not have been the career
move his fans would have chosen. It is certainly the choice of a man
who has his priorities in order. Perhaps the near future will give Paul
a chance to open his brewpub and settle down to watch his three
daughters grow.
His fans hope not.
It was the lusty gyrations of The King in Jailhouse Rock that inspired
nine-year-old Paul Joseph Mercurio to dance. His mother, Jean,
responded with her usual supportive posture and enrolled Paul in a
local ballet school.
From there (with a short surfing break) it was on to John Curtin
College of the Arts, a scholarship at the West Australian Ballet
Company, and finally leaving his home in Perth for the Australian
Ballet School in Melbourne.
He was the odd man out in Melbourne. Not completely lonely as he had
family there, he nonetheless wasn't part of the crowd in school. "They
have a particular way of being, and I think my idea was broader." He
said of the experience.
His greatest loneliness came with his greatest opportunity thus far: an
offer from the prestigious Sydney Dance Company. With no money to visit
home for the holidays, alone in a strange city, Paul formed a family of
prostitutes and junkies at a café in Darlinghurst--later to serve as
the inspiration for his dance Cafe.
Time and hard work later, Paul became something of a star with the SDC,
getting plum parts from the troupe's brilliant director, Graeme Murphy,
as well as doing more of his own choreography. He met his wife, Andrea
Toy, during these years, and they were married in 1987.
1992 put a most remarkable wrench in the works. Paul was asked to
contribute choreography for the debut work of an Australian director,
Baz Luhrmann. Baz, an old friend, offered him the lead in the phenomenal
Strictly Ballroom (1992). Under Luhrmann's direction, Paul's intensity took over the
screen and made him an overnight icon of sensuality.
Suddenly, things got busy. Paul was looking over movie offers,
choreographing a production of Jesus Christ, Superstar, and most
ambitiously, starting his own dance company: the Australian
Choreographic Ensemble (ACE). The vision for ACE was to promote
Australian choreographers and bring dance to more rural areas. All
this, plus juggling a family which now included two young daughters.
On the movie front, Paul did Back of Beyond, a serviceable ghost story
that received a lukewarm reception. Afraid of being typecast so early
in his film career, he turned down a part in Stephan Elliott's smash, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994).
He then accepted an offer that left him "scared sh**less": a $30
million dollar venture helmed by Garry Marshall, who had just come from the
stunning success of Pretty Woman (1990). Paul would co-star with Dana Delany, 'Rosie ODonnell',
and Dan Aykroyd. It must have seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Poor plotting and badly mismatched marketing led to a box-office flop.
Despite very good performances by the main cast, the failure of Exit to Eden (1994)
became a stone around the careers of the two young leads, Mercurio and
Delany.
While he did land the title role in the cable movie Joseph, for the
most part the movies that followed were low-profile, becoming more so
toward the end of the nineties. In 1997, Paul took the first of several
television roles, playing a regular character in the series Medivac (1996).
His passion for beer and his work as a Coopers spokesman paid off when
they bailed out the ailing ACE when government funding ran dry. Still,
after six years and some success, the troupe disbanded in 1998. The
inability to shake the Scott Hastings image may have been partly
responsible. Eight years later, Australian news still considers it
pithy to pun Strictly Ballroom (1992) in the title of every interview.
Recent years have found Paul still busy making locally-produced movies,
with the occasional trip to Los Angeles. In addition, he's spread his
talent to once again include the stage--but this time he's acting, not
dancing. He toured with A Passionate Woman at the end of 1999. Opting
recently to move to just outside Sydney rather than haul his family to
Los Angeles, where he is less typecast, may not have been the career
move his fans would have chosen. It is certainly the choice of a man
who has his priorities in order. Perhaps the near future will give Paul
a chance to open his brewpub and settle down to watch his three
daughters grow.
His fans hope not.