Paul Mercurio
Beloved Australian actor, dancer, TV presenter and foodie
Paul Mercurio is a beloved Australian actor, dancer, TV presenter and foodie. He is an impressive speaker who teaches audiences the importance of following passions and interests.
Starting his love of dance at the age of 9, Paul was Principal Dancer with the Sydney Dance Company by age 19 – a position he held for 10 years. During this time, he was commissioned to choreograph six works performed by the company.
Mercurio left the Sydney Dance Company to found the Australian Choreographic Ensemble which danced from 1992 to 1998, where he was the Director, Principal Dancer and Principal Choreographer.
Paul’s choreographic credits include more than thirty dance works for stage and TV – well actually 33 if you don’t include the TV commercials. He was awarded the Mo Award for Dance Performer of the year 1992. He contributed choreography on “Strictly Ballroom” and has also choreographed 4 other feature films, the last one being Will Smith’s mega blockbuster “I Robot” for which Paul was the movement consultant.
He was nominated in 2004 for a Helpmann award for his choreography for the musical “Annie Get Your Gun” but was pipped at the post by “The Producers”.
Paul then made has made a mark as an actor and presenter, being nominated for an AFI award for best actor – Strictly Ballroom and a Logie Award – most outstanding performance for Day of the Roses. He has appeared in fourteen US and Australian feature films as well as countless hours of television spanning the drama, comedy and lifestyle. Paul is well known for his time on Dancing with the Stars in Australia and also in the New Zealand version.
Now Paul shares his love and passion steering his career and journey into all things food. He has hosted two series of the food and travel series, 'The Food Trail' and 'Mercurio's Menu'. 'Mercurio’s Menu' has had significant success with a peak audience of over one million viewers and has been screened on free to air on channel Seven, on Foxtel and is beamed out to over 48 countries around the world.
In 2009 Paul released a bestselling cookbook called Mercurio's Menu, based on the recipes from series one and two of the show. Mercurio is not a chef and has never been trained. It's his love of food, cooking and brewing coupled with the opportunities he has had to travel the world sampling all the culinary wonders of the various places and cultures he has been that inspires him to continue to tell his story through the food that he creates.