Creativity Quote by Colin Hay

There’s a sly double move in Colin Hay’s line: he admits the ego without pretending it isn’t there, then punctures it before you can. That’s musician self-awareness at its best, especially from someone whose career has oscillated between stadium-sized visibility and the quieter afterlife of cult admiration. The “great fun” isn’t just about acting; it’s about permission. A “good piece of writing” lets him borrow an identity with receipts, stepping into a narrative that already has emotional architecture. He’s talking about craft, but also about refuge: the work is a mask that somehow tells the truth more cleanly than everyday sincerity.

“Tell a story that needs to be told” signals a specific kind of performer ethics. Hay isn’t romanticizing fame; he’s framing performance as service, not confession. The phrase “make some kind of connection” lands like a modesty clause, yet it’s the real thesis: music and acting are both contact sports, and the win condition is recognition in a stranger’s face.

Then comes the punchline: “I’ve always fancied myself as a leading man” followed by the deflationary “but.” That’s not false humility; it’s an indictment of how “leading man” is assigned. Hay knows charisma isn’t just talent, it’s a role cast by an industry with a narrow template. The subtext is tender and a little bruised: he can inhabit anyone on the page, but he can’t quite convince the world to grant him the central slot in his own story.