Terence Lewis is undoubted one of the most famous choreographers we have in the industry. But, not many would know that there was a time when he had aspirations to become an actor. Recently, in an interview, Terence revealed that 25 years ago, he was offered a dance based film, but just before the shoot he was replaced with a star kid.
He said, “Around 25 years ago, I had just finished my college and I was slowly getting offers for modelling. I also did some music videos, and a director of a music video was making a dance-based film. So, he said, ‘I really think you were great in this music video and you will be a great fit for this film of mine’. I auditioned for it, and later on, just before the shoot, he called me up and said, ‘so sorry I have to go with somebody else’. So, that somebody else was from the industry, a star kid. I wouldn’t say a star kid, but he is somebody from the industry. At that time I didn’t know what nepotism was!”
He further added, “Fortunately, at that time my dance thing was doing well. I was sad for a few days, but my dancing institute was there, so I had to work on it a lot. Fortunately, I had a second talent that was supporting me, and for me, financial stability was coming from there (dancing) only. So, I realised that instead of going here and there, and asking for work, let me just focus on what I have. I told myself, leave the dream of acting, focus on dance, and become financially stable because more important for me right now. I didn’t have a backing of a father who would say, ‘do whatever you want, we will support you’.”
Terence became a household name after he started judging the reality show Dance India Dance. While he is a great choreographer, he is undoubtedly one of the most loved dance show judges on the television.
