Just Luke Who’s Back,2002

Jul 21, 2002

The Sun Article; 2002

Just Luke who’s back

FORMER pop heart-throb Luke Goss is finally making fans scream and faint again – ten years after making and spending a £12million fortune.

But this time the ex-Bros sex symbol has them swooning in the aisles over his gory film role as a terrifying vampire in US box office smash Blade II.

Luke was the original pop idol whose pretty-boy good looks earned him fame and fortune beyond his wildest dreams.

With twin brother Matt, he earned millions from hits such as When Will I Be Famous? in the 80s and 90s.

But rampant spending and bad business decisions turned it all sour and Bros ended up figures of ridicule and in debt.

But now Luke could well be rich and famous all over again — with a starring role in the horror flick Blade II opposite action star Wesley Snipes.

Luke said: “Success is definitely sweeter the second time around. I am older, wiser and I appreciate it. I’ve worked extremely hard to get here.

“To truly know success, I think you really have to flirt feverishly with failure. Now I have been to both places.

“Bros is in the past. It was an incredible time in my life and although it was hard when it all disappeared, I wouldn’t change a thing — I don’t regret anything.”

Blade II is the culmination of ten years’ hard graft for Luke.
The £40million blockbuster — which is No1 in the US movie charts — opened here last Friday and is expected to be a UK smash.

Luke, 33, has also filmed Zigzag — another big-budget Hollywood movie starring Wesley Snipes, which comes out later this year.

Not bad for a former pop icon who was held in contempt by many who were jealous of his massive wealth and openly gleeful at his subsequent fall from grace.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun at a luxury hotel on LA’s Sunset Strip, the ex-drummer looks every inch the movie star.
Luke said: “One thing people back in Britain don’t know is that I’ve never stopped working since Bros.

“I’ve been working as an actor for twice as long as I was in Bros but until now I was always known only as part of Bros.

“But I feel so at home as an actor. I love to play a character. I never liked the fame of being me. I was never comfortable with the madness of pop fame.

“It was a dream come true to make a Hollywood movie and I am now in talks to play other lead roles. Studio heads have been asking for meetings.

“Top directors have called to say they loved my role. And after Blade II, I will appear with Wesley Snipes again in Zigzag.”

Luke knows he may be on the verge of making it big — again — but it doesn’t faze him. Now he says he’ll know what to do with his new-found fame — and it won’t end in tears and acrimony like before.

From 1988 to 1992 Luke, Matt and guitarist Craig Logan were one of the top pop acts in the world.

With their ripped jeans and trademark Grolsch bottletops on their shoes, they made ten Top 20 hit singles, one quadruple-platinum album and two other Top 20 albums and sold out arenas in the UK and US.

Luke and Matt couldn’t walk anywhere without a team of bodyguards to fend off hoards of screaming girls.

And in an era of huge spending, the boys spent more than most — millions went on clothes, cars and homes.

But the public turned on Bros when poor management and sibling rivalry signalled the end of the band.

They were humiliated in the Press and jeered at in the street — with builders following them to thrust tenners in their faces.

Luke said: “I don’t know why some people got so nasty. It was the kind of animosity usually reserved for mass murderers.

I never killed anybody. I didn’t take it to heart, though, or I never would have survived. “We were the first young ‘money’ band.

People are used to it now but back then people thought, ‘You spoiled bastards. You cocky gits, who do you think you are?’

“I am very proud of my time in Bros — but it is not a true ambassador of who I am. I was surprised at all the mayhem, the adulation of millions of fans. You have to remember, I was just a kid.

“At 19 we were just hit with overnight fame. I never really wanted the fame and adulation – which is why I was called Mr Angry, as I never smiled properly. But that wasn’t arrogance – it was fear.

“I was the one who couldn’t sleep the night before our first signing at HMV because I thought no one would show up.
“In fact it was mental. There were thousands and thousands of fans there and I really couldn’t believe it.

“I don’t want to talk about the exact amount of money we made or lost but lets just say that we signed a deal that meant the more money we made, the more we owed.
“At the end, it was time to get out.

“But whatever people thought of us, I was a working class boy from South East London. I’m still working class — and I have never stopped working.”

After Bros split, Luke formed another band and started his own record label because no one would give him a deal. He also wrote his autobiography, which helped pay off the debts, but nothing gelled — except acting.

“For the past decade he’s been on the way up again, painstakingly learning his craft, determined to get it right this time the hard way — touring with theatre companies and taking bit parts on British TV.

He had modest success as Danny in the West End production of Grease for a couple of years — playing at first to packed houses of former die-hard Bros fans.

Luke still calls London his home — he lives part-time there with his wife Shirley Lewis, who is also his manager.

“But three years ago he went to Hollywood to try his luck.
He said: “I came to the US with as much ambition as I could muster.

I auditioned for this and that and tried to be patient — as I have been for years since Bros.

“If you set yourself up for too much desire — and with too much ego — you are heading for a fall.

“So I kept my head down and worked as hard as I could. Landing the part in Blade II was a real breakthrough.

“I feel ready to embrace whatever comes along. No one can say I haven’t had a go.”

In the movie — filmed mainly in Prague in the Czech Republic — Luke plays Nomak, leader of super-vampires called the Reapers, who are the sworn enemy of comic-book hero Blade — played by Snipes.

Luke is barely recognisable in a mask of heavy make-up, which took four hours each day to apply. He also had to get into peak physical condition for the strenuous fight scenes in the demanding role.

He said: “They wanted me down to five per cent body fat because they knew I’d have to be fit.

“I don’t want to reveal what I got paid but getting to this point has taken a lot of financial commitment so I needed a healthy pay-back.”

Although coy about his earnings from Blade II, the high-profile role will have paid well — particularly as he also gets a percentage of the film’s merchandising rights — and this is just the start.

High praise from Blade II director Guillermo del Toro suggests Luke could well be a hit in Hollywood.

He believes Luke played Nomak perfectly, adding: “I think he brings a nobility and a strength to the character that was amazing.

“He holds his own against Wesley Snipes — and that’s not something to be taken lightly because Wesley is a life force.”

Luke may not get the heroic roles, though. In Zigzag he will again star as a baddie, the sleazy owner of a strip joint — but things are looking up for him.

As well as his movie success, he has patched up his differences with Matt, who also went to live in LA after Bros, where he is a musician.

Luke said: “Back when we were in the band together there were times when it was tough.

“I could never work with my brother again but he’s my brother and I love him, so of course we get along fine now.
“I think we fell out because family and business do not mix well.

“I can understand what Liam and Noel Gallagher go through when I see reports of them fighting.

“It is very hard not to spar with a sibling when you are making something and being creative together.

“I really like Oasis and I think they bring a certain mischief back to rock and roll that is very entertaining.

“But I would say to them, ‘Don’t forget during the rows what it is that makes you special, besides being brothers — and that is your music.’

“I hope they don’t let anything else get in the way of that.”
For himself, Luke is far happier now as an actor than he ever was as a pop idol — and he says the best is yet to come.

He said: “The future looks bright again. I am very happy with the choices I have made in my life.

“And if fame comes again — I’ll be ready this time.”