Hollywood star Thomas Ian Nicholas has revealed his very surprising connection to Australia.
The American actor, best known for playing Kevin Myers in the iconic sex comedy franchise American Pie, is heading Down Under to perform with his music group, The Thomas Ian Nicholas Band.
Thomas will show off his lesser-known musical talents alongside his bandmates as well as hosting a screening of the classic 1999 film which made him famous, and answering fans’ questions during a Q&A session.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia ahead of the tour, Thomas revealed that the country holds a special place in his heart as he has a very famous long-long Aussie relative.
He is related to the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly – arguably one of Australia’s most infamous bandits from the mid-19th century, who ran an ‘industrial-scale’ horse stealing operation in Victoria.
Thomas still has family in Western Australia and, while his tour won’t take him over to visit them, he does plan to head to the State Library of Victoria to view Kelly’s iconic armour.
Hollywood star Thomas Ian Nicholas has revealed his very surprising connection to Australia ahead of touring the country with his music group, The Thomas Ian Nicholas Band
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Thomas revealed that the country holds a special place in his heart as he has a very famous long-long Australian relative – notorious bushranger Ned Kelly
‘Yeah I’m a little bummed I couldn’t book something on the west coast where all my family is,’ he said.
‘I’ve got one cousin whose close to Melbourne who is going to come and see me when I’m there.
‘It will be my first time in Melbourne and I definitely plan on going to the library to see Ned Kelly’s armour since my great grandfather…was it great or great, great?
‘I can never remember how many it is, but he was Ned Kelly’s uncle.’
While Thomas is visiting Australia to tour his music, he first rose to global acclaim portraying Kevin Myers in the 1999 runaway hot American Pie.
He went on to reprise the role in the three subsequent theatrical American Pie releases, in what was to become a billion dollar film franchise.
Thomas starred alongside a stellar cast including Jason Biggs, Jennifer Coolidge, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Alyson Hannigan, and Seann William Scott.
The comedy told the age-old story of a group of teenagers trying to lose their virginity before college, and Thomas said he knew the film was destined for huge success.
Thomas has family who live in Western Australia and, while his tour won’t take him over there to visit them, he does plan to visit the State Library of Victoria to view Kelly’s iconic armour
‘It was in my contract,’ he joked. ‘Must do at least four films, maybe five, and it has to be a billion dollar franchise otherwise I won’t consider doing the first one.’
The film took cues from the raunchy sex comedies of the 1970s such as Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Porkies, and Animal House.
Though it later won him over whole-heartedly, Thomas wasn’t always convinced by the plot and initially threw the script in the trash, thinking it was smut.
The first scene, which didn’t make the final cut, initially saw Vicky (Tara Reid) instructing Kevin on ‘how to move his fingers’.
‘I’ll let you put the rest together with your mind,’ Thomas said of the moment.
‘I threw the script in the trash thinking it was just smut. I didn’t understand it was a modern-day Porkies, and I love Porkies.’
Thomas’ role was originally offered to his high-school friend Andrew Keegan, who turned it down to star alongside Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You.
‘They came back to me and once I read the script properly I saw all of the heart that existed in the characters. It wasn’t just a teen sex comedy,’ he said.
While Thomas is visiting Australia to tour his music, he first rose to global acclaim portraying Kevin Myers in the 1999 runaway hot American Pie (he is pictured with co-star Tara Reid)
Thomas starred alongside a stellar cast including Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy and Seann William Scott in the comedy
‘It was a real coming-of-age story that everyone could find someone to relate to, or know someone who was exactly like Stiffler.’
The film spawned three well-received sequels, and Thomas hinted there could still be a fifth more than 20 years on as he said a follow-up has recently been discussed.
He said his son Nolan River, who made his acting debut in M Night Shyamalan’s 2021 thriller Old, inadvertently got the ball rolling.
‘So the only truth I can share with you is because my son is following in my footsteps as an actor,’ he explained.
‘He starred in the M Night Shyamalan movie Old. And that was also a Universal film.
‘We were at the premiere, and the President and Chairwoman of Universal, didn’t realise that he was my kid.
‘They were like: ”Like, no way. Oh my gosh. Hey, by the way, we’re negotiating for American Pie 5” and this was the summer of 2021.’
However, Thomas added that his hopes were slightly dashed after writer Adam Herz told him he was unable to come to terms with the studio.
The film spawned three well-received sequels, and Thomas hinted there could still be a fifth more than 20 years on as he said a follow-up has recently been discussed
He added: ‘I guess the silver lining her is that Universal is circling around the idea. It’s a billion dollar franchise, why wouldn’t they revisit it, right?’
Thomas said he hoped the hotly-anticipated sequel to the Adam Sandler hit Happy Gilmore would help negotiations for a fifth American Pie.
‘If the tonality of Happy Gilmore 2 is accepted and successful, then we’ll be coming back into an era of broad comedy, which we haven’t had for a while,’ he said.
‘I think people are ready for some levity.’
