Performing has always been part of Rob Mills’ life.

“I remember doing the lead role in my prep concert (at about age six) and playing in air guitar bands with my brothers. Music and performing are something I’ve always done. It’s not my first love; I always loved AFL footy, it was all I wanted to do as a kid, but I’ve always loved performing and singing, and I suppose I’m one of the lucky people who gets to do something they love.”

As a teenager Rob graduated from air guitar bands to the real thing.

“I was singing in bands with some of the guys I was going to school with. We sang a lot of Radioheads and Smashing Pumpkins, then I got into a few bands after that, and mainly did Top 40 and rock’n’roll.”

Rob had already been working steadily as a performer long before appearing on the first series of Australian Idol.

“I’d been in an acoustic cover band called the Megamen for three years solid, playing from Thursday to Sunday night, so for three years I was earning pretty good money as a 21-year-old. Then Idol came up. I just went along to the auditions for the experience. I’d auditioned for a cruise ship not long before then, but Idol made me aware of the possibility of making a bigger career out of this than just singing in a pub.”

While Rob didn’t win Idol in 2003, it seems that simply appearing on Reality TV talent shows can provide a valuable stepping stone.

“I think it gives you the platform, but at the same time after that there’s still a right of passage. You don’t just go on the show and then you’re successful. It took me years and years of hard work, acting lessons and singing lessons, and constantly critiquing my own work to see if it was any good, to get better.”

How does Rob reflect on his experience on Idol?

“To be honest, I’d probably go back and tell the young Mills to work a bit harder on his song selection, and keep working harder at performance. I got a little bit complacent and a little bit excited by the television show itself. I was fascinated about how the show was produced, so I was backstage a lot talking to the crew – the camera guys, the sound guys, the directors and the producers – not just the fact that it was a singing competition.

“But at the same time I’m really happy with the way it worked out. All the lessons that I learnt about those other skills have helped me in my career as a TV host as well.”

By 2005 Rob was hosting a short-lived hidden camera show on Network Ten, then other shows on Channel 9, before becoming co-host of late-night quiz show in 2007.

“That up-late game show was an amazing experience. It was live TV from midnight till four in the morning, so it was a great place to learn the ropes. Often people pay a lot of money to do film and TV presenting courses, but I was getting paid to learn on the job. The good thing, when you’re on at that hour, is you can make a few mistakes.”

Perhaps Rob’s highest profile break on TV to date was to be selected to host the new version of Young Talent Time in 2011.

“It was an honour to be asked by Network 10 and Johnny (Young) to host the show. I’m really proud of the show and what it did for the 13 weeks that we were on air. I’m just hoping that one day there might be another revival, though at this stage it doesn’t look like it.

“I had such a great time. One of the best things for me was the mentoring of the young kids, which I’ve really grown to love.”

How was the experience of stepping into such an iconic show?

“It was hugely daunting to step into Johnny Young’s shoes. He’s the only person in history to be inducted into both the Logie and ARIA halls of fame. He was a great mentor – he always had great ideas in the meetings during the week, and gave me a lot of feedback.”

Music Theatre entered the mix for Rob in 2005 when he auditioned for the Arena Spectacular production of Grease and was cast as Johnny Casino. A production of Hair in Perth came next, after a break to travel.

“I went overseas after Grease and saw a few shows in London including Avenue Q, We Will Rock You and Wicked. I really got the bug. When I got back, I was finding out from my manager when Wicked was coming. In the meantime she was finding out what other productions were coming up. She found out a production of Hair was happening in Perth. I got to play Claude, which was great because he’s such a fun, hippy role, but I also really enjoyed exploring the darker themes of my character. It was a great learning curve.”

Rob’s next taste of musical theatre was Wicked.

“Wicked auditioned over about three or four months. They like to drag it out in theatre, unlike TV, where you might do an audition and get it the next week.

“I’d worked really hard up until the audition with my acting coach and singing coach in Melbourne, just so I could be really prepared. The auditions were quite daunting. Just going into the room in one of my final auditions and seeing Lucy Durack dressed to look exactly like Glinda, from when I saw it in London. I remember thinking that’s the girl; she’s really going to get it.

“I found out later that apparently every time (I auditioned) there was a pile of photos on the table. Lisa, our director from New York, would put my photo aside straight away, as in knowing that I was going through, and they would try matching up people with me, which I didn’t know at the time. Every time I went in, I thought I wasn’t going to get through to the next audition. It gives you confidence. It was nice to know later on that Lisa really picked me out. One thing that I loved about the audition process was how she got the words out of me, or the emotion. Both Lisa and Kellie Dickerson wanted me to get it. You could tell that they just had such faith in me.”

The day Rob received the news about being cast in Wicked was a big one in more ways than one. He’d bought his first home, picked up the keys and his mum was there helping him move in when he got the news.

What did Rob love about Wicked?

“Getting to work with the creative team from New York. It was like doing a Broadway musical, but doing it here. Being in something so special. I just heard the other day that one in five people in Australia have seen it. That’s why it’s coming back. I love everything about the show.

“Then there’s the journey of Fiyero. At the time when you see Fiyero in the first act he’s a bit of a lad, a bit nonchalant, charming, but with no real direction in life. Before I got Wicked, and before I realised that’s what I wanted to do, I was sort of cruising through life. So the show was quite fitting for me at the time. His arc through the show for three hours was pretty much what I was going through in my own life. That’s one of the things I liked most about it, and if anything, it’s propelled me further to work harder. Fiyero finds out what he really wants to do in his life and goes after it, and that’s exactly what I’ve done as well. Sure, he ends up as a scarecrow with no brains, but that’s just a minor drawback.”

Now in Legally Blonde, Rob is again working with Wicked co-star Luck Durack.

“What a superstar that Lucy Durack is. She works harder than anyone I’ve ever met. No-one was more prepared on the first day of Wicked; no-one was more prepared the first day of Legally Blonde. For someone who has to carry the show, basically she’s only off stage about three times, for about 20 seconds each time, inLegally Blonde. Everyone admires her and she’s also one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, to boot. Her work ethic filters down into the whole group. She doesn’t chuck any tanties – she’s really professional. That makes everyone want to work harder and be at our best every time we go on that stage.

“She’s really fun, she likes to bake, and she brings in food for us. She’s always present – on stage as an actor, but always present as a human being as well. I really enjoy her company, and we’re becoming really good friends as well, I think.”

I realised at this stage that we’d skipped past how Rob came to be cast as Warner in Legally Blonde.

“That was a bit funny for me. I went in there for Emmett. I got the script for him, which is a little against my typecast I suppose, so I was really excited to go in and show the creative team from the West End. But they told me that I should just come back on Friday for Warner before I’d even opened my mouth. I thought, that’s a bit unfair; you haven’t even heard me sing yet. So they let me read one of the scenes, but then they said no, come back on Friday for Warner. So I had a couple of days to go over the Warner material, which I hadn’t even looked at, and ended up getting the part, which was fun.”

“I think Legally Blonde is the funnest show, and probably the best adaptation of a film to a musical ever written. It takes all the good bits from the movie and makes them even funnier, it chops out the bits that lag, and as a musical should, it has music where it needs it, and dialogue where it needs it.”

And playing Warner, a character who audiences don’t feel particularly sympathetic towards?

“I quite like the fact that he’s not the lovable lad I’ve played in the past. He’s a self-centred American jock, which is really fun to play. He reminds me of a few private school kids I used to see on the train when I was on my way to school.”

Between the Sydney and Brisbane seasons of Legally Blonde, Rob had an incredibly busy filming schedule for reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice.

“It’s a fantastic concept, and a fantastic social experiment, watching celebrities working together to make money for charity. I’ve enjoyed working with Peter Berner and one of my heroes as a kid was Dermott Brereton, a legend for the Hawks, my football team. Getting to know him has been pretty cool … and sporting legends like Dawn Fraser, Stephanie Rice and Jeff Fenech – some really incredible characters and great personalities. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of it. They’re called challenges for a reason, because it’s quite challenging trying to deal with everyone’s personalities. Already we’ve sold fish and chips, we’ve spruiked Tim Tams in Pitt Street Mall, we’ve taken photos and sold them at an art exhibition and we’ve just done a live ad at the Sydney Football Stadium at half-time in a Soccer game, all for charity. Each time it’s been extremely challenging, but extremely rewarding at the same time. I’m learning a lot about myself.”

Is there any one big thing that Rob has learned about himself during Celebrity Apprentice?

“I was project manager, which is basically having to take control of my team. I’m not a conventionally strong leader. I’ll step up if I have to, but it made me realize that I can do that, and how people work for me, and work out what their strengths are, and put them to their task. It was incredibly rewarding.”

And what tips does Rob have for young performers who’d like to follow in his footsteps?  

“The thing I’ve learnt as a performer and a singer is you’re always telling a story, whether it’s a pop song or a musical theatre piece. There is text in there that is to be conveyed and there’s definitely a message that you want to get across. It’s all about trying to convince that other person, whether it’s the audience or the person you’re singing about, that your message is true.”

Legally Blonde plays at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre from May 9.

Images (from top): Rob Mills checks out Stage Whispers; Rob Mills and Lucy Durack in Leglly Blonde (Photographer: Brian Geach); Glinda (Lucy Durack) and Fiyero (Rob Mills) & Fiyero (Rob Mills) and Elphaba (Amanda Harrison) in Wicked; Rob Mills as Warner and Lucy Durack as Elle in Legally Blonde (Photographer: Jeff Busby) and Rob Mills with his Grease co-star Gretel Scarlett (Photographer: Matt Watson).

Since this interview was first published in the March / April 2013 edition of Stage Whispers, Rob Mills has been cast as Danny Zuko in the new Australian production of Grease. Check out Rob’s video interview with David Spicer.

More Legally Blonde Reading

Interview with Lucy Durack

Interview with David Harris

Our sydney review

Melbourne season.

Elle's Legally Blonde Sorority Sisters

Australian cast announced

Interview with Producer Howard Panter

Musicals in Australia in 2013 and Beyond