Most actors auditioning to play a musician would probably make sure they can, you know, actually play an instrument of some description first. Australian actor Josh Heuston took a slightly different approach.<\/p>\n
Before landing the role of Justin Kohl in Prime Video\u2019s wildly popular new series Off Campus, Heuston couldn\u2019t really play guitar or sing. Minor detail, right? After scoring the part, though, the actor threw himself into a crash course in both \u2013 learning on the fly to bring the aspiring musician to life onscreen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could play the basic campfire song chords that I feel like everyone knows,\u201d he told\u00a0Rolling Stone AU\/NZ in a new interview. \u201cBut that was it. Then I learnt Kings of Leon\u2019s \u2018Revelry\u2019 and performed that for the audition and I guess they liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watching the series now, it\u2019s hard to believe Heuston wasn\u2019t already a seasoned musician. But according to the actor, pulling off Justin\u2019s live performance scenes took months of intense practice behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was lucky enough to have an amazing music team around me the entire time and just drilled as many hours as I could,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had Michael, my guitar teacher, in my apartment maybe every day after set or before set. Same as my singing coach Rosie. We just did as much as we possibly could to get good enough to then try and perform and make it look natural.\u201d<\/p>\n
That commitment even extended to rehearsing the physicality of performing, with Heuston obsessively filming himself to make sure he looked believable on stage.\u00a0\u201cI have so many videos on my phone of me playing, but without anything plugged in, just singing into a stick to try and make it look natural when I was on stage,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n
And the singing? That was another skill entirely. \u201cCouldn\u2019t sing! Like maybe you\u2019d catch me singing in the shower, that\u2019s as far as it would go,\u201d Heuston admitted.<\/p>\n