If there's one thing Boy George doesn't like, it's being called two-faced.
Born on June 14, 1961, the Culture Club singer, 62, is a Gemini, and people often mischaracterize those born under the star sign as indecisive liars, among other less-than-flattering stereotypes.
"Let me tell you something: People always say Geminis are two-faced. That's so wrong. That's bulls---, bulls---, bulls---," he tells TODAY.com in a sit-down interview.
"This is what we are: We're able to see both sides of everything," he clarifies. "We're nature's fixers. We want to fix everyone. And we're kind.
"And the two-faced thing — people get it so wrong," he says, explaining that it's not indecisiveness that governs the twins, but rather Geminis' desire to truly understand both sides of any given situation.
"We're quite good at doing the right thing. So, actually, that can seem like we're flippity-floppity, but we're not. So, when people call me two-faced, I get very annoyed."
It's important to Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd, that people get him right, given that throughout his decadeslong career he's sometimes gotten a bad rap.
"I have a reputation. (But) it's something I choose not to live up to," he says. "It's fun, because people think I'm going to be really difficult. People get scared of me."
At one time, he concedes that it might have been warranted. "I think when I was younger, I was very governed by my moods more," he explains.
"In the old days, when I was doing a concert, I'd get ratty for no reason. I would let things annoy me. Impatient. I don't know what it is — it's just whatever. It's the human condition."
But with age has come wisdom: "As I've got older, I have a little more control over how I feel about things. I talk to myself a lot, I'm a great believer in affirmations and talking myself through."
Returning to Broadway in 'Moulin Rouge!'
Boy George says the shift in his perspective has been beneficial in preparing for his return to Broadway in "Moulin Rouge! The Musical," in which he'll take the stage as Harold Zidler, emcee of the show, beginning in February 2024.
The Tony-winning show marks Boy George's first time back on the New York theater scene since his three-month stint in "Taboo," a musical produced by Rosie O'Donnell, back in 2003-2004.
"Which was amazing, I have to say. But it was a difficult time because the critics were harsh and it was Rosie O'Donnell and it was a crazy time," he tells TODAY.com. "But it was a crazy time that I would never take back because it was amazing. Everything about it was amazing. Being on Broadway was amazing."
Even so, the experience at times was less than ideal.
"When I first did the show, everyone used to say to me (that) I should have been off-Broadway. And I said, 'Well, I'm off it now,'" he recalls with a laugh.
At the moment, he's playing Captain Hook, or a "baddie" as he calls it, in "Peter Pan," a stage version of the classic children’s tale that's currently touring in England.
During the interactive performance, kids are given “cannonballs” to lob at the villainous Captain Hook that are really just beach balls.
Boy George says he loves it.
“This little kid was so sweet. He came and threw the ball at me. Then I got him back with a ball. And then I put my hook out to shake his hand and he came and shook my hook,” he says with a laugh.
“It was just such a sweetness because kids see through it,” he says of kids' uncanny knack to size people up without much preamble. “They know if you’re good or bad, they totally know."
Fortunately, they seem to like him: “There’s nothing worse than a kid crying when you meet them, right?”
When he himself was a kid, Boy George says he almost always preferred hanging out with adults because they tended to be the most interesting people in the room.
"I was always in the kitchen with my mom's friends, eavesdropping on their gossip. And I liked older people," he tells TODAY.com.
Now that he's an adult, he says he has a different perspective on life.
"(David) Bowie always used to say that as you get older, you become the person you're meant to be, unless something happens and you take a detour," he explains.
"But, I think life is about growing into who you really are. Fame is an interesting thing because it distorts your view of who you are and it distorts other people’s view of who you are.
"And I think if you’re lucky, you get to a place where you work it out for yourself, who you are and what you want to be, and that’s the luxury of aging,” he says.
'I'm still that, honey'
In hindsight, Boy George says that it's more than just a little ironic that he's considered an '80s icon given that he's really a child of the '70s at heart.
"I'm a '70s kid who somehow got mixed up in the '80s. I don't know how that happened, but I am so '70s. The '70s was my favorite decade for fashion, for music, for everything," he says.
Yet, for an entire generation, he remains the face of the 1980s, along with being a trailblazer in fashion, music and androgyny at a time when self-expression and sexual freedom had yet to gain a solid foothold in pop culture.
Releasing a string of hits including "Karma Chameleon," "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and "Miss Me Blind," Culture Club defined the decade and catapulted Boy George and the rest of the band into stardom.
Reflecting on that period of his life, Boy George says that while he was a "brave thinker" and definitely put himself "out there" in terms of how he felt about himself at the time, in retrospect he wishes he had had more control over his thought process.
"As I've gotten older, I can accept who I am now. This moment. Not this week even — just this moment. And that's all you can ever be. I think just knowing that is very helpful. Like, this is who I am today and this is what I've got to work with and get on with it rather than distracting yourself on past and future," he explains.
But escaping the past isn't always easy, especially given that for many people he will forever be linked to an era gone by.
"People talk to me in past context. 'You were this' and 'you were that,'" he says. "And I'm like, 'I AM that. I'm still that, honey.'"
The next chapter
In addition to preparing for his upcoming stint on Broadway, Boy George has also just released a new memoir appropriately titled "Karma," a nod to one of his most popular songs.
The autobiography reflects on the highlights and lowlights of his long career along with a look back at the music and songs that made him famous, some of which were inspired from passing conversations.
"Some of my favorite lyrics have just come out of people's mouths. People say the weirdest things," he tells TODAY.com, before referencing the Beatles' famous song "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."
"Paul McCartney heard someone in the marketplace saying that and that's a great hook. And that happens all the time."
Boy George doesn't say which of his songs have been inspired by overheard remarks, but says it's not uncommon to borrow snippets of them for his music.
"I've got a lot of great friends and often have conversations. Somebody might tell something about their relationship and I'll be like, 'That's a great line.'"
It's likely that some of his new songs will incorporate one or two of those lines when he takes his band We Are Brando on the road post-"Moulin Rouge!"
"I'm excited about doing something different," he says of the project. "I want to do a different type of show. I'd like to do a show that changes every night."
For now, however, he's focused on "Moulin Rouge!"
"There's something really nice about being part of a team. You have to work with everyone that's there and you can't really let your ego get in the way. So, yeah, it's going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it."
