The Fixx frontman Cy Curnin hasn't done a great deal of film work, and his last role, as God in an independent New York production, has not seen the light of day. But he was happy to be part of Pas de Deux, a ballet short whose trailer is premiering exclusively below.
Pas de Deux features Curnin mock playing Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1 at a piano as a former dancer reflecting on a romance from his youth, with Kirsten Bloom Allen and Magnus Christoffersen portraying the younger couple. "As soon as I heard they'd be using that piece of music I said 'I'm in!'" Curnin tells Billboard. "It was such an easy thing to say yes."
And he didn't mind being cast as the "old" man, either. "I've just become a grandfather (last year) anyway, so I thought it was a gentle way of acknowledging it in an art form," says Curnin, 62. "I don't look that old; My beard's a little gray, so they didn't have to put any makeup on me. But I've still got the long hair and all that. At least I'm working, you know?"
Curnin says that off-camera he marveled at the balletic movements Allen and Christoffersen were executing under Jason O. Silva's direction. And he's happy if his involvement in Pas de Deux can help bring in viewers who might not be predisposed toward ballet. "I think Kirsten is trying to point out that ballet is an art form that's fading in the public eye," he notes, "but if you sort of reinvent it for the short attention span and put it into that world of social media, of short clips…Some art forms do need to get into the public eye through modern means. It may not be as good as sitting on a seat watching The Nutcracker for three hours and watching your daughter's face kind of light up, but it's a start."
Pas de Deux has been submitted to several film festivals, with a hoped-for premiere this spring. Curnin, meanwhile, will be on the road this year with the Fixx, which plays 75-100 shows this year, and has also recorded a new album — its first since 2012's Beautiful Friction — that the group hopes to release this year. Its '80s hits "One Thing Leads to Another" and "Saved By Zero," meanwhile, are part of an active Fidelity Investments ad campaign.
"We’ve been able to build a good touring career, which is really where we want to be at this point, and we've actually got a new generation of fans coming in," Curnin says. "You can look back and go, 'Wow, the music really was very original. It's holding up.' It's nice to see the new crop of quirky young music people coming in and they're up front and, like, 'Where are the shoulder pads?' 'We don't wear those anymore. You can, 'cause it's the first time for you, but I'm not wearing mine anymore.'"
