American Pie star shares incredible tie to historic Aussie icon
The film American Pie is celebrating 25 years since it first came out in cinemas, but one of the stars of the raunchy teen comedy has shared a little-known link he has to Australia's history.
Thomas Ian Nicholas starred as Kevin Myers in the 1999 flick, about a group of high school friends who vow to all lose their virginity by the time they graduate.
And that first film saw huge box office success, with Nicholas going on to star in another three sequels.
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Nicholas (L) starred in the 1999 film and three of its sequels. Universal Pictures
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While a lot of the original film's 18+ content would definitely fail the pub test by today's standards of what is and isn't acceptable on screen, it has still gone down in history as one of the most iconic teen comedies of its time.
"I'm very grateful for the success of the first film and all of the films and the recognition that it brings to my career and the doors it opens and that I get to make people happy," Nicholas told Today Extra.
But he revealed he almost didn't even audition after reading the script, which his agent told him "most people will probably hate".
"I thought it was complete smut from the opening scene, which was a little different than the one that you see in the movie and I threw it in the trash," he said.
"But they really wanted to see me and called again, so I learned a very valuable lesson - Don't judge a book (or script) by its cover, so I read through the whole script and realised there was a lot of heart in there and I of course went to the audition and the rest is history."
Nicholas thanked his Australian fans for the love and support he has received over the years and revealed he actually has a close tie to the land Down Under.
Nicholas said he threw the script in the bi after reading American Pie's opening scene. Today Extra
A 1873 prison portrait of Ned Kelly, who Nicholas found out he is a distant relative of. National Museum of Australia
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"I have family on the West Coast, in Fremantle and I learned I actually have lineage to Ned Kelly and someone sent me the documents to see the connection," he said.
"From Dad's brother's side, it was all connected from the cousins side, so because this person had heard their great-grandmother talking about my grandmother and her two sisters in Fremantle, I could actually prove it."
Hear more of Nicholas' chat with Today extra in the video above
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