Strictly Ballroom is an enduring 1990s hit - but a follow-up is off the cards.
Strictly Ballroom, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Paul Mercurio and Tara Morice, is one of the best films of the 90s, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88% and a devoted fanbase 1992 directorial debut was a critical success as well as an enduring cult hit, taking place in the deeply unserious yet repressive world of Australian ballroom dancing, where nothing is as important as dancing the right steps.filmmaker tells the tale of frustrated rule-breaking ballroom star Scott Hastings and hapless beginner Fran as they partner up and shake up the status quo, much to the alarm of everyone around them.
And it’s that final scene that still has audiences cheering, crying and whooping every time; the moment defiant Scott slides across the dance floor on his knees before launching into the film’s climactic paso doble with Fran. What follows — a rebellion against ballroom convention, a roaring crowd and that famous slow clap climax against the backdrop of ludicrous officials trying to take them down — remains one of the most beloved endings in film history.
For Scott Hastings star Paul Mercurio, however, the scene that helped turn Strictly Ballroom into a 1990s classic wasn’t as carefully choreographed as it looks. Mercurio brought to life the frustrated but brilliant ballroom dancer Scott Hastings in the 1992 film Mercurio explains the move wasn’t originally part of the film at all, but that he would regularly throw himself across the floor during rehearsals simply because he enjoyed it.
‘I used to do knee slides everywhere, just because I loved it, just for fun,’ he says. ‘And then somehow Baz was like, “Why don’t you do a knee slider? ”By the time Luhrmann cast him as Scott Hastings, Mercurio, who was 29 when the film came out, had already spent a decade as a principal dancer with the Sydney Dance Company.
Strictly Ballroom would become both Luhrmann and Mercurio’s feature film debuts and launch them both into an entirely different league.
‘I can’t dance anymore. You know, my body’s done and dusted in terms of injury and I haven’t danced professionally since 2004. Also starring Tara Morice as Fran, Bill Hunter as the Donald Trump-esque head of the Australian Dance Federation, and Pat Thomson as Scott’s overbearing mother, the movie would go on to become the first instalment in Luhrmann’s celebrated Red Curtain Trilogy, later joined by Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!.
In a very Baz Luhrmann style, it was soundtracked by a string of unforgettable tracks, from Love Is In The Air to Time After Time, helping cement its status as a joyous crowd-pleaser. And here in the UK, it also helped inspire one of the biggest television hits of the past two decades:.
He was even asked to be a judge on Strictly when it launched over 20 years ago, but he wasn’t able to due to work commitments in Australia. Strictly Ballroom is lurid, camp, glitzy, trashy and everything in-between The film’s incredible finale dance is one of the best dance scenes in film history Part of the film’s lasting appeal, Mercurio believes, is that its central conflict still feels familiar.
While Strictly Ballroom is ostensibly about dance, beneath the sequins and garish make-up lies a clash between image and authenticity, represented by the glitzy, status-obsessed ballroom world and the earthy warmth of Fran’s Spanish family.
‘There’s this element of wannabe famous people and people who think they’re high fashion and high-end, and yet they’re not. There’s always an alternate sort of universe.
‘The ballroom world thought they were fantastic and well-groomed and smart and sexy and all those things, but it was very surface. ’saying the best all-time movie dance scenes, and Strictly Ballroom is only in there at number five or something? That should be number one,’ Mercurio notes. When we discover Dirty Dancing occupies the top spot after a quick search, he slips briefly back into defiant Scott Hastings mode.
Mercurio is now a politician in Australia, having enjoyed a varied acting career since Strictly Ballroom ‘But Dirty Dancing is all about that lift – I get it, I don’t mind really. I think being in the top 10 is brilliant.
’ In a world where it seems like half of Hollywood is based on remakes, reboots and sequels popping up decades after the original, it begs the question: would he return for a sequel if Luhrmann picked up the ‘I’d say, “Hey thanks Baz, but it’s a bit late! ”’ he laughs, noting that he is now a 63-year-old man well past his dancing days.
‘I can’t dance anymore. You know, my body’s done and dusted in terms of injury and I haven’t danced professionally since 2004.
‘I’ve gone on and been doing other things to make a living and as a dancer, like any professional athlete, there’s a timeline on being at your peak. ‘I’ve often thought what would they do as a sequel? And I thought, well, maybe Scott and Fran get married and open a fish and chip shop and then someone across the road opens a fish and chip shop and there’s this whole thing about a chip-off, I don’t know.
’ Strictly Ballroom is back with a new 4K restoration to enthrall existing fans and encourage a fresh generation to watch and enjoy the glitzy chaos Since retiring from professional dance, Mercurio has enjoyed a varied career spanning acting, television and politics. He starred in films including Exit to Eden and Hunting For Shadows, took the lead in the Emmy-winning series The Bible: Joseph, and currently represents the electorate of Hastings in Victoria as a member of the Australian Labor Party.
But it’s Strictly Ballroom that brings him the most constant adoration, and he’s still struck by the affection audiences still have for the film. You only have to spend a few minutes online to find fans dissecting scenes, sharing memories and attending celebratory dress-up events inspired by the movie to see how loved it is to this day.
Although Strictly Ballroom turned him into a household name almost overnight, thanks in no small part to his dancing talent and heartthrob status as Scott Hastings, Mercurio admits fame itself never held much appeal.for being a dancer here and around the world, and then of course Strictly Ballroom took that up a massive notch. ’‘There’s nothing in it.
If you’re famous because you invented something that saved the world or a rocket that took you to Mars, that kind of seems worthwhile.
‘But I guess I was famous because I made people want to dance and I made them laugh, so that makes me feel pretty good,’ he concedes. Mercurio says he is ‘so lucky’ to still get such adoration from fans for his debut film role Still, he remains ‘humbled and grateful to have had that opportunity, and that can never be taken away.
’ Mercurio may soon find himself back in the spotlight and with a new batch of devoted fans, with Strictly Ballroom returning to cinemas and arriving in a new 4K restoration for a fresh generation of viewers.
‘I’ll give them 20 bucks each,’ he jokes when asked how to encourage a new generation to go and see it. Is Doctor Who cancelled? BBC reveals future plans after Russell T Davies 'says goodbye'Jamie Laing under fire after trying to have sex with wife weeks after birth ‘It’s funny, people sort of resist it, and sometimes they resist things because sometimes they don’t want to admit they might enjoy something.
‘And dancing and theatre, arts and musicals and things like that, people are like, oh, I don’t think I’m gonna like it, so I’m not going to give it a go. But it’s important to be open-minded, embrace diversity in all its forms. If you think you might not like something, all the more reason to sit down and watch it, because you never know, you might just walk away.
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