Paul Mercurio

Did you know?!

1. A role that slipped away

   Early in his film career, Mercurio worried about being typecast, so he declined the part of Adam Whitely in the 1994 movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Guy Pearce took the role instead.

2. A role that slipped away

   Mercurio served as a judge on Dancing with the Stars in Australia until August 2008, when the panel dropped him because he was deemed "too nice" for television.

3. 

   First role

   Mercurio's first film part came in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom, and it brought him an Australian Film Institute Award nomination in 1993. He also served as a choreographer on that film.

4. A role that slipped away

   Baz Luhrmann showed interest in casting Mercurio in Moulin Rouge, but after failed attempts to reach Luhrmann directly, Mercurio learned from the production company that the movie had no role for him.

5. Early training

   Mercurio studied at the Australian Ballet School after graduating high school, traveling from Perth to Melbourne on the Indian Pacific train to begin his training.

6. A first

   Mercurio was Principal Dancer with the Sydney Dance Company by age 19 in 1982, a position he held for ten years, and during that time the company commissioned him to choreograph six works.