Dad always said, 'Get a degree and do something on your own before you start movies.' He always kept me grounded, telling me the realities of the business and the struggles even the legends had to go through.
It wasn't until people started asking me what my plans were for the future - if I would go to college or go pro - that it really hit me what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to go pro and try to be in Wimbledon.
I had really bad grades in high school and didn't want to go to college, and my dad said, 'Why don't you move to L.A. or New York and pursue music? You've always been good at it.' It was the first thing that made sense to me and... It was the right move.
I was always pushed to do that much more, and in the long run that made me more of an MMA fighter. My mom always told me that if I let it go to the judges, I'd lost. There was no way I was going to win a decision, so I had to find ways to finish the fight fast.
In spite of the fact of my dad telling me that if I did well, I could go to the military, I said, 'No, I want to go to college.'
I was tempted my junior year to go out of college and forgo my eligibility. I had broken several world records. I did have a lot of people telling me that I should go pro.
It took me a year to make the decision to go pro and skip college and give up that.
I made a very concerted decision to go to drama school in the United States. But I did have the opportunity to go to Britain's Central School of Speech and Drama, and my dad and I had a few tense words about that. He wanted me to go to British drama school.
I've always been scared of somebody telling me what to do with my music. What if a great acting opportunity came up, and they were like, "No. You have to go tour and open up for this band," that I'm just not that crazy about? I made a decision a long time ago that I'm doing it because I love it, because it's fun. If I break even, that's a good thing.
I just kept telling myself that ultimately, the money that my grandparents had put away to go into my college fund, that they were investing for me to go to school and get this education, it had to be worth something.
My mom always made me believe that people with only talent didn't go very far. Hard work was what made things possible.
I see God as my heavenly father, like my earthly father, as loving and kind. Yes, he disciplined me, he helped me make good decisions, but I knew my dad was always there for me. If I made a mistake, I wouldn't run from my dad, I'd go to him.
We didn't know how it was going to go but it was always going to be hard for me to go straight from Melbourne into Manchester City's first team. It was always the plan for me to go on loan.
I made the decision to go on to college and major in drama and see where it would take me.
When I was a kid and Christmas was coming up, my dad would ask me what I wanted, and I always said a motorbike. I kept asking for one, and he said it was too dangerous and bought me a go-kart instead.
I wanted to go pro, but having the option to go to college was important for me.