Dance Boss judge Sharni Vinson wants more time in Australia after 10 years in Hollywood
AFTER 10 years in Hollywood, Sharni Vinson has returned home for Channel 7’s Dance Boss — and now the star has dreams of spending even more time in Australia. Here’s why she came back.
Entertainment
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THERE’S no place like home. Just ask Sharni Vinson who, after a decade busting her chops in Hollywood, was desperate to return to Australia. Vinson’s wish came true with Channel 7 reaching out to the 35-year-old former Home and Away star to be a judge on Dance Boss.
The talent show takes Vinson back to her dance roots after a series of high octane action and horror movies.
“It was perfect timing as I’d just finished filming a television series (Gods and Secrets, which will premiere on Netflix in November),” the 35-year-old says.
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“Right before Christmas last year I started to think about coming home because it marked exactly 10 years that I had been living in America. I’d always told myself that if I happened to make it to 10 years in Hollywood then I was going to give myself a year off and come back to Australia.
“I needed to come home and see family. There is so much you miss out on in a decade. I’ve missed so many weddings and births — a lot.”
Sydneysider Vinson comes from a dance family. Her late grandmother Shirley was a prima ballerina and her mum Narelle was a professional tap dancer. Vinson studied ballet.
In 2004, she joined Home And Away as troubled teen Cassie Turner and was an immediate hit, earning a nomination for Most Popular New Talent at the 2006 Logie Awards.
“Everyone (in my family) grew up on stage and in musical theatre so I thought that was going to be my path until Home and Away came along,” Vinson says. “I could have easily gone the musical theatre route but Home and Away came up instead and put me into the film and television world.”
When Dance Boss came along, she says, “I fell in love with the idea of being around dance again. It was such a big part of my life growing up. It has definitely been something I’ve been missing after getting solidly into acting.
“To reconnect with that part of me — it is something that is inside me, the passion to want to get up and perform on stage. I was a born entertainer.”
By 2008, Vinson had left Seven’s soapie to follow in the footsteps of Chris Hemsworth, Melissa George and Isla Fisher and take on Hollywood.
Her breakout role came in dance movie Step Up 3D, but what came next was mostly action and horror: Blue Crush 2, You’re Next, Jackie Chan actioner Dragon Blade and guest parts on TV series CSI: NY, NCIS and Cold Case.
In Gods and Secrets Vinson will be seen alongside Jane Seymour and Denise Richards, playing a superhero called Speed — basically a female version of The Flash.
“I really get off on the adrenaline side of the job,” Vinson says. “Romantic comedies don’t interest me much because there is a lot of sitting around. Step Up 3D was the most physically demanding role that anybody could ever be thrown into … but so rewarding. I thought, ‘If I can do that I can do anything’.
“In action roles you’re constantly working with the stunt co-ordinator; there is always something to do. I get bored really easily.”
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There is no chance of Vinson getting bored on Dance Boss, which features 12 crews of workers — including the Construction Guys, the Printers, the Zookeepers and the Public Servants — stepping up for dance battles offering a $100,000 cash prize.
Dannii Minogue hosts, with Vinson joining Adam Garcia and Timomatic on the judging panel.
“Dance is always something that has brought out the best in me — it uplifts people’s spirits,” Vinson says. “I can sympathise with a lot of the contestants on the show. They may have in the past wanted to become dancers and they didn’t get their shot or follow that career path.
“I hadn’t met Dannii and I hadn’t met Adam, but I grew up with Dannii’s music and I went to see Adam in (the 2000 movie) Bootmen. I had known Timomatic for over 10 years so it was great to have a familiar face there.
“Dannii is brilliant. She is so natural and loveable up on stage. I know the teams really took to her. She has such likability.”
From now on, Vinson hopes to split her time between Australia and the US. There is even the prospect of becoming a dual citizen.
Appearing on Dance Boss has rekindled Vinson’s desire to do more dance — on stage or in the movies. The success of La La Land and The Greatest Showman has made musicals hot again.
“I would love to do a movie musical, that would be brilliant,” Vinson says. “I’m a trained singer. I’d love the opportunity to sing in a film. I love Broadway musicals. I really see myself fitting into that category. I’m not limiting myself to just action at all.”
WATCH: DANCE BOSS, CHANNEL 7, MONDAY-TUESDAY 7.30PM
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