I like the Rolling Stones for karaoke. ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ is a great one.
I never wanted to go longer than five years off the stage. Not necessarily musicals, but just doing a play or something.
What I respect as far as in myself and in others is the spirit of just doing it. For better or worse, it may work and it may not, but I’m going to go for it. Ultimately I probably prefer to be respected for that than whether it works out or not, either winning or losing.
I’m always very nervous about the word ‘dancer’ next to my name because anyone who’s really trained in dance will go, ‘This guy’s fudging so badly.’
My kids are not that interested in my movie career, by the way. My son, in particular, never talks about it. He just wants me as his dad.
One of things I’d love to do one day is a Shakespeare with Trevor Nunn. I’ve done musicals with him, but never Shakespeare. There’s no one better.
Australians are coffee snobs. An influx of Italian immigrants after World War II ensured that – we probably had the word ‘cappuccino’ about 20 years before America. Cafe culture is really big for Aussies. We like to work hard, but we take our leisure time seriously.
I tended to favour the piano over the guitar because it stays in one place, which is what I like to do.
I’ve broken a cardinal rule of art, music, and career paths: actors are supposed to act, and musicians are supposed to music. That’s how it works. You don’t buy fish from a dentist, or ask a plumber for financial advice, so why listen to an actor’s music?
I can’t stand the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard!
Life has ups and it has downs. I don’t care who you are.
Unless you’re willing to fail miserably in the pursuit of your dreams, you’ll never make it.
Instead of setting goals, seek defining moments. Those are the real tests, because you have to be willing to fail in a pressure situation in front of other people.
When you’re NAT on the net, you’re NOT on the net.
The hunger will give you everything and it will take from you, everything. It will cost you your life, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it. But knowing this, of course, is what ultimately sets you free.
I work extremely hard doing what I love, mainly to ensure that I don’t have to work extremely hard doing what I hate.
You have to find your own shtick. A Picasso always looks like Picasso painted it. Hemingway always sounds like Hemingway. A Beethoven symphony always sounds like a Beethoven symphony. Part of being a master is learning how to sing in nobody else’s voice but your own.
Your idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing. The more amazing, the more people will click with your idea. The more people click with your idea, the more it will change the world.
If I meet someone at a bus stop, I want to really meet that person. I don’t want to be ‘Hugh Jackman, the famous actor.’
But anyone who’s done a musical knows; whether you’re dancing or not, physically it’s the most difficult thing you can do.