Celebrity Interview - Kylie Minogue - Comments

Kylie Minogue

Poster: H! Society 10/07/2008

FROM SOAP STAR TO SMOULDERING SIREN – WTH SOME PERSONAL TRAGEDY ALONG THE WAY – KYLIE MINOGUE HAS ALWAYS MANAGED TO REMAIN TRUE TO HER DOWN-TO-EARTH AUSTRALIAN ROOTS… NOW SHE IS ONCE AGAIN WOOING AUDIENCES ON HER KYLIEX2008 TOUR INTERVIEW BYJAMES WATFORD/FAMOUS

You’ve had such an incredible career… Yes, I mean from when I started doing interviews and people would ask me what will you be doing in five years time, what will you be doing in 10 years time, I could never, I couldn’t answer that, and now I have celebrated 20 years. Which is wonderful… but in general I am always looking forward. I am always looking to that which I haven’t done.

Do you ever stop to think how you became so popular? Yeah, I never thought any of this would happen. It wasn’t even a wild dream, yet somehow the opportunities just keep coming and I don’t know why. But even though I’ve had the most amazing chances I’ll never take it for granted, because it’s such a fickle industry and anything could happen.

Did you always want to become a pop star?No, when I left school I wanted to act, because I’d caught the bug after doing some acting when I was about nine, or 10. Also, I didn’t know what else I could do. But I was horribly realistic too and thought to myself: “There are more out of work actors than working actors so the first big hurdle is to get an agent”, which I did – despite getting my photos done in the back yard, by my brother, because I didn’t have any money! Also, just in case, I signed up for the dole because I thought, “Who knows if I’m going get work? It could be six months before I get a job.” But I never got a cheque, because I got Neighbours straight away!

Was it as effortless as that? Not really. I was lucky, because I was only meant to be there for between one to 12 weeks, but I ended up being there for two and a half years!

When did you decide to become a singer? Well, when I worked on (Australian children’s TV show) The Henderson Kids I earned enough money to have singing lessons and do a demo tape, of three songs, when I was 16. That was so scary, and I was so nervous that I cried in the studio!

Was it a wrench leaving Neighbours? Yeah. I remember, it must have taken me six months to decide to leave. And I kept thinking, “Why am I leaving the number one TV show again?” But I couldn’t keep doing acting and singing at the same time.

Is music your first love? Actually, I’d say acting is. But it’s something I have to learn again, from scratch, because I’ve realised – after an impressive list of duds – that I can’t just have two to three months off from recording and say, “Okay, I’ll go do a film”, which is what I’ve done in the past. Now I realise that I need to take the time to re-learn acting and re-educate myself. I think I have the potential (to be a good actor), but it definitely won’t be realised until I meet the right people and have the right project. A lot of my work has been like that: I don’t do well on my own. I mean, I like to mastermind things, but I need other people to help me realise my dreams.

Why do you think you are still so popular, iconic even? Honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s because people have seen me seen growing up in front of their eyes so there’s this sense of knowing me! And even though I don’t really know them, it’s beautiful because I meet people and they say, “I bought your very first single, and I still have it” or “I’ve followed you for 12 years and you’ve helped me though some bad times.” But, without knowing it, they’ve affected me as well, because they’ve allowed me to still be here and have these opportunities, especially by turning a blind eye when I’ve made mistakes!

Even though you are an icon you are still perceived as the girl next door… Yeah, it’s funny but people still see me as the girl next door, or a sister figure, even though I’ve gone through all these different incarnations. But now everything seems to have come full circle: I’m still seen as the girl next door. Sure, I can assume the glamorous or sexy role when I perform, do a video or photo shoot, but there’s still a part of me which allows people to feel that they can approach me in the street and go, “Alright Kyles, how are things?”

That’s quite unusual, isn’t it? It is, but I think it’s because I’m hopelessly honest, which sometimes causes me trouble. But I’m sure it’s the reason why my audience are so loyal and why if I’m doing something that really isn’t me; it doesn’t quite work. I can’t pull the wool over their eyes; they just don’t buy into it.

Have you resisted being a pop queen in the past? Not really. But before then I was trying to run away from that sound, image and people’s perception of me just being that. Now I’m happy to be that, because I think people understand they can’t pigeonhole me as just that, anymore. Also, it was overwhelmingly apparent with every record company I talked to that that’s what they wanted.

What’s been the best collaboration you’ve done? The Pet Shop Boys song In Denial was great, because not only was it the Pet Shop Boys, but Craig Armstrong did the strings for it too. Also, the subject matter for the song – about a daughter parenting her father and saying, “It’s okay, I don’t mind if you’re gay, I still love you”, was great.

You’ve said before that you are very shy. Is that true? Yeah, believe it or not, I can be. I’ve got two very different sides to my personality. I need the glamour, the glitter, the show – all of that. But I also need the most simplistic of things – peace and quiet, not talking to anyone for days, camping in a tent, or going snowboarding.

If you are shy, why are you happy appearing in skimpy outfits? I don’t know. Some people make such a big deal about getting your gear off, but I’m pretty easy going with that. I think I’ve done that on numerous occasions! Perhaps it’s because I’m Australian and we’re quite relaxed about that kind of thing? I don’t think I’ve ever turned up to a photo shoot and just stripped off though. It would be something that happens, which I might think is a good idea at the time. That’s what happened the time I stripped for the cover of Australian Style. I didn’t know they wanted to go that far, but when they suggested it I wanted to know what that would be like. That’s the problem with me: it’s really easy to get me because you just have to dangle a carrot of some description and I’m too inquisitive! I wanted to know what the outcome of that would be, so I was open to trying whatever they wanted to try. So there I was, near to starkers, being body painted to look like some American Indian!

Are you embarrassed about that now? No, I’m actually more embarrassed about my photos from the ‘80s, when I had frizzy hair! But I think everyone’s got embarrassing photos from their past. Unfortunately, mine are still around to taunt me. But if I could’ve burnt, or buried, them I would have. And for all those people who give me a hard time, I’d say, “Alright, let’s get our passport photos out and show me some pictures of you 10 years ago!”

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