0/5

Shane Bourne will be brilliant at Logies says Steve Curry

Former AFI Awards host Steve Curry says Logies host Shane Bourne will have the respect of the toughest room in the biz.

This Sunday night when Shane Bourne tackles the tricky role of Logies host, one who won’t be envying him is former AFI Awards host Actor Steve Curry.

He knows what it’s like to entertain one of the toughest of showbiz rooms. But he thinks Bourne will fare just fine.

“I think Bournie will be brilliant,” he says. “I think you need the blanket respect that someone like Shaun Micallef got, or Denton got. The people who have done well have nothing but respect across the board.”

It is Bourne’s first time hosting TV’s “night of nights” but the actor, who has two AFI Awards to his name, has already been warmly received as a good choice.

Curry hosted the 2008 AFIs but has no desire to front another awards night.

“I did the AFIs because I wanted to see if I could do it and have fun. It went well but now I have no interest in doing it again,” he says.

“Now with Twitter it’s on for young and old. It’s a free-for-all about who is going to be the first to make a horrible, negative comment.”

However while hosting is off the menu, he is more than happy to appear as a Presenter on Sunday and is hoping he might get to present the Graham Kennedy award.

“You can get up and say a couple of cheap jokes and get off. But hosting can be a bit of a poisoned chalice.

“Certain hosts in the last few years have been much maligned, and in certain cases not unfairly so. But it’s one of those avenues I don’t really have any interest in going down again because to be frank I don’t really like appearing as myself.”

Curry prefers to work in a role, behind the mask of another character.

Next month he is set to appear in Showcase’s anticipated Cloudstreet miniseries, which for his relatively-youthful years becomes one of many quality titles on his CV.

In the last 10 years Curry has appeared in such projects as The King, :30 Seconds, The Informant, False Witness, Wilfred and The Librarians.

He doesn’t knock back much work but there are a few kinds of offers that don’t quite fit.

“There’s a lot of Singing Bees and things as a guest or hosting, which I don’t really do,” he says.

He also doesn’t expect to be popping up in series television anytime soon. His last drama series was 2005’s The Secret Life of Us.

“I don’t denigrate any of those shows but I’ve been fortunate that work has come my way that has been a bit more diverse.

“My aim is to stay working as an actor but in this country you don’t really get a great deal of say in that.

“Since The Castle fifteen years ago I’ve been fortunate to have a bit of choice, or as much as you can get in this country. Changi came up which was a gift from the Gods and as a result of those sorts of jobs I haven’t really needed to go into series television.

“But watch this space, who knows?”

While one rumoured project for Nine is no more, he does have a pilot coming up for Channel Seven.

“I’m doing a pilot for a travel show with Dave Lawson which for some stupid reason Matt Saville has agreed to direct.

“I got him on a weak day I think,” he smiles.

Cloudstreet premieres on Showcase at 8:30pm on May 22nd.

4 Responses

  1. When I briefly heard Nine mention who the Logies presenter was I didn’t hear Bourne I heard Warne….thank goodness it’s not Shane Warne…I was concerned for a bit!!

  2. Secret Life was just brilliant tv when SC was in it.It was a great cast then.
    Shane Bourne is one of those guys that laughs at himself when he tells jokes & that just puts me off really,but my nightmare is that as per usual they roll out the two presenters & try to do stand up & it always falls flat.Can they not just present the award & leave the comedy to the host? Or the half drunken recipient?

Leave a Reply