Paul Mercurio

Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, choreographer, dancer, TV presenter and politician. Mercurio is best known for his lead role in the 1992 film Strictly Ballroom and his role as a judge on the TV series Dancing with the Stars.

He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2022, representing the electorate of Hastings.

Early life

Mercurio was born in Swan Hill, Victoria in March 1963; his father was an American character actor and boxer Gus Mercurio. Paul began ballet at nine. When his parents separated in 1969, he moved to Perth, Western Australia, with his mother, where he grew up in housing commission properties. He attended John Curtin Senior High School, now known as John Curtin College of the Arts, where there is a theatre named after him. He credits his theatre arts teacher for inspiring him to follow his dream. Mercurio focused on acting during his high school years but after he graduated, he caught the Indian Pacific train from Perth back to Melbourne where he studied at the Australian Ballet School.

By the age of 19 in 1982, he was Principal Dancer with the Sydney Dance Company—a position he held for ten years. During this time, he was commissioned to choreograph six works performed by the company.

Entertainment career

Feature films Mercurio made his film debut in Baz Luhrmann's breakout film Strictly Ballroom, receiving an Australian Film Institute Award nomination in 1993. Mercurio was a choreographer on the film. For his performance in Strictly Ballroom, Mercurio was also nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1992, losing to Russell Crowe. Flamenco dancer Antonio Vargas, the actor who played Fran's father, also choreographed scenes in the film.

Mercurio's other film credits include: Exit to Eden, Back of Beyond, Così, Red Ribbon Blues, Welcome to Woop Woop, The Dark Planet, The First 9½ Weeks, Kick and Sydney – A Story of a City. He starred, wrote, choreographed, produced and directed the short film Spilt Milk. Most recently, Mercurio has taken roles in independent films, such as Hunting for Shadows and A Silent Agreement with director Davo Hardy.

In 2019, Mercurio appeared in a supporting role as Sal in Promised (2019), a film directed and co-produced by Nick Conidi, and starring Tina Arena, Antoniette Iesue and Daniel Berini. The film was released in Australia on 24 October 2019.

Baz Luhrmann expressed some interest in using Mercurio in Moulin Rouge to Mercurio's agent, but after a series of failed attempts to speak to Luhrmann personally, Mercurio found out that there was no role for him in the movie via the production company. He has not appeared in any other Luhrmann films and only appears briefly in Disc 4 of Red Curtain Trilogy as a pixelated image.

Concerned about being typecast early on in his film career, Mercurio turned down the role of Adam Whitely (which instead went to Guy Pearce), in the 1994 film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Television Mercurio made his TV debut in a documentary on his life called Life's Burning Desire in 1992. He starred in the lead role of Joseph in the Emmy Award-winning US TV mini-series The Bible: Joseph in 1995. Later, he joined the ensemble cast for the 1998 miniseries drama The Day of the Roses, depicting the 1977 Granville railway disaster, for which he received a Logie nomination. Throughout the 1990s, Mercurio guest-starred in Australian TV shows including Blue Heelers, All Saints, Murder Call, Medivac, Heartbreak High and Water Rats.

Mercurio was a judge on the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars until August 2008, when he was dropped from the judging panel because he was deemed "too nice" for television. He was also a judge on the New Zealand version. From 2008 to 2010 he hosted a series called Mercurio's Menu where he travelled Australia, cooking in different locations.

Dance and choreography From 1982 until 1992, Mercurio toured with Sydney Dance Company both nationally and internationally, performing as a principal dancer and choreographing. After leaving the Sydney Dance Company, Mercurio founded the Australian Choreographic Ensemble in 1992, where he was the Director, Principal Dancer and Principal Choreographer until 1998.

Mercurio continues to dance and choreograph professionally. He has worked as a choreographer on five films, including Strictly Ballroom and the Will Smith movie I, Robot. He has choreographed an American TV campaign for Coca-Cola, the Harry M. Miller production of Jesus Christ Superstar and Annie Get Your Gun as well as numerous other stage productions. In January 2004, he appeared on stage in The Full Monty.

In 2009, Mercurio released a cookbook called Mercurio's Menu, based on his TV series, as well as “Cooking with Beer”, which were both best-sellers. In 2015, he released a third cookbook, “Kitchen Mojo”.

Mercurio was preselected as the Labor candidate for the district of Hastings in December 2021. The Hastings district covers the eastern Mornington Peninsula and French Island. While Hastings was won by the Liberal Party at the 2018 Victorian state election, an electoral redistribution meant that the seat notionally favoured Labor by a margin of 0.01 percent. Neale Burgess, MP for Hastings since 2006, did not contest the 2022 state election, with Briony Hutton selected as the Liberal candidate for the seat. On 2 December, ABC election analyst Antony Green called the seat of Hastings for Mercurio. Mercurio's win triggered a March 2023 by-election in Watson ward.

Mercurio announced in 2025 that funding would be granted through the state budget for bus upgrades in the Mornington Peninsula, including the creation of a new route that would run across the peninsula from Hastings to Mornington. The service commenced running as Route 886 on 5 July 2026, with Mercurio boarding the inaugural service. It is the first regular cross-peninsula public transport service since the closure of the Mornington railway line to commuter traffic in 1981.

Personal life Mercurio has been married to his wife Andrea (who was a ballerina with The Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company) since 1987, and together they have three children: Emily, Elise and Erin. The oldest is a stage manager, the middle is a musical theatre actor and writer, and the youngest is a vet nurse and performs as a pop singer.

He appeared on the Australian version of the television show Who Do You Think You Are? in 2012, in which he discovered that his grandfather was a member of the Milwaukee division of Cosa Nostra (the Sicilian mafia) in the 1950s. Mercurio has reflected on this legacy in subsequent interviews and spoken about the effect it has had on his father, and his relationship with his father.

In 2000, Mercurio's brother Michael took his own life in his early 30s.

In December 2022, Mercurio was hospitalised with complications from atrial fibrillation following his election win.

Credits

Film

As actor Year Title Role Notes 1985 Boxes TV movie 1992 Strictly Ballroom Scott Hastings Feature film 1994 Exit to Eden Elliot Slater Feature film 1995 Joseph Joseph Miniseries 1995 Back of Beyond Tom McGregor Feature film 1996 Cosi Mental Patient (uncredited) Feature film 1996 Red Ribbon Blues Troy Feature film 1996 Spilt Milk Short film 1996 Museum of Love Charlie Short film 1997 Welcome to Woop Woop Midget Feature film 1997 Dark Planet Hawke Feature film 1998 The First 9½ Weeks Matt Wade Direct-to-video film 1999 Kick David Knight Feature film 1999 Sydney – A Story of a City Archaeologist Marco Short film 2001 The Finder Leo Natoli TV movie 2003 Code 11-14 Carl Reese TV movie 2007 Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance Self Feature film 2016 Hunting for Shadows James Beasley Feature film 2017 A Silent Agreement Gareth Donahue Feature film 2019 Promised Sal Feature film

As choreographer/crew Year Title Role Notes 1992 Strictly Ballroom Additional Choreography Feature film 1996 Spilt Milk Writer / Choreographer / Produced / Director Short film 1999 Kick Choreographer Feature film 2002 Garage Days Choreographer Feature film 2004 I, Robot Movement Consultant Feature film

Television

As actor Year Title Role