He's known to get his groove on in his music videos, but starring in New Zealand's first multi-million dollar hip-hop film presented a whole new set of challenges for former Bay resident Stan Walker.

The Kiwi singer has a leading role in 'Born to Dance', directed by Outrageous Fortune's Tammy Davis, in which he was required to learn hip-hop choreography from internationally renowned dancer Parris Goebel.

'Dancing is not in my background, so I was like a fish out of water,” he says with a laugh. 'I honest to god was the only one in the film that's not a dancer, but I felt good because at the same time, I'm also the only one who had acted before, so it balanced out.”

Describing the training sessions as 'seven hours of confusion, hard work, sweat, and a sore body”, Stan admits he found muscles he had never worked before in learning and performing the mind-blowing choreography.

But he also calls being part of the film 'one of the most incredible experiences”, and when he embarks on his Australian tour next month, he'll certainly have a few new moves to accompany his award-winning hits.

When The Weekend Sun spoke with Stan, he and a few of the cast had just returned from the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film was screened prior to the New Zealand premiere this Wednesday.

The reception was overwhelming, and Stan says if the Kiwi reaction matches it, it will be an emotional evening.

'It was such a buzz to be watching our film on the other side of the world and for the crowd to be so engaged,” he explains. 'They were emotionally invested in the film when it started, which was really cool.

'For a dance film, I think we've done an incredible job. The dancing is a given, but it's also a beautiful story. For the first time, I feel like NZ is telling a positive story without any dark undertones! We're representing hope, dreams and new beginnings.”

Australia-based Stan has relished the opportunity to do more New Zealand based projects - as well as filming, he was also a judge on 'The X Factor NZ' earlier this year - but with his family in Australia, he's looking forward to heading back this week.

'I haven't seen my family in so long, I can't wait to see all my nephews and nieces,” he says. 'It's going to be good. I'm feeling a little homesick!”

It was a big week for Stan, as he also won a prestigious Silver Scroll, the APRA Maioha Award, with Vince Harder and Troy Kingi for ‘Aotearoa'. Written a year ago for Maori Langunage Week, it's Stan's first song in his native language, Te Reo, and he insists this is the award he's most proud of.

'We wrote it in English first and then got this woman, an elder, to translate. She used the old tongue in some of the words. It was a buzz to be able to do that.

'For me to be recognised for my song-writing, that's a big deal. People think I'm a pop artist so I must get all my songs written, but I work hard on my craft and write all my songs. People sometimes look down on pop artists as we do things on a commercial level.”

'Born to Dance' is out now in cinemas.