“I’d fake date someone to get his attention too. IDC, IDC.”
This was the only note I managed to write down while watching Off Campus, Prime Video’s extremely bingeable, sexy adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s bestselling hockey-romance books following the relationships and sex lives of the students at Briar U. I’m usually not one to give into the hype, but it’s hard to ignore a show that’s been dominating my FYP and has been playing on nearly every other girl’s phone on the train for the last few months. It reportedly pulled in 36 million viewers in its first 12 days of streaming, making it Prime Video’s third-largest debut series ever.
The first season revolves around Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), a shy music composition major who enters a fake relationship with the university’s star hockey player, Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) in order to attract the attention of her crush, musician Justin Kohl. He’s a brooding, tattooed, vaguely Byronic type whose sheer presence is so commanding our brainy protagonist can’t even be near him, resigning herself to steamy fantasies of late-night hook ups in her dorm and on top of a piano.
Justin is played by 29-year-old Australian model-turned-actor Josh Heuston, who, following his breakout role as Constantine Corrino on HBO’s Dune: Prophecy, has built a career out of being game for just about anything, from managing a demanding shooting schedule that required him to bounce from Canada to Budapest in the same week to performing his own stunts in Sean Byrne’s brutal survival-horror movie Dangerous Animals. So when the opportunity to audition for Off Campus presented itself, Heuston decided to lie about his musical abilities first and figure it out later.
‘Dangerous Animals’ • Photo: Shudder.
“I could play the basic campfire song chords that I feel like everyone knows,” he told Rolling Stone AU/NZ in May. “Then I learnt Kings of Leon’s ‘Revelry’ and performed that for the audition and I guess they liked it.”
Once he got the part, he took guitar, piano, and singing lessons throughout filming to convincingly pull off Justin’s live performances, including a cover of Ariana Grande’s “Into You.”
“That was the first song A.) I recorded in the studio and then B.) sung as well, live and [on] the guitar,” said Heuston, reflecting on the scene. “It’s Ariana Grande…you have to deliver.”
Heuston’s willingness to take on any challenge might just be one of his sexiest qualities, but it’s also impressive considering that he spent most of his childhood too shy to even think about pursuing acting in the first place. A self-proclaimed “nerd,” Heuston grew up in “a very supportive and enriching environment” in Western Sydney with his mother, a psychologist, and two younger sisters, spending most of his time working, studying, and playing World of Warcraft. Shortly after graduating from high school, he was scouted by a modeling agent while waiting tables.
“I was on this path, and then all of a sudden someone opens the door and there’s a new one,” he told Flaunt Magazine. “It was basically the blinders on, going straight ahead.”
He’d model for Fendi, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton before taking his first acting gig in 2017, a music video for Australian electric duo SUPER CRUEL where he played a photographer exploring an abandoned building with other equally beautiful hipster types. The experience inspired him to take “every single night acting class” he could find while pursuing a double degree in biomolecular science and commerce. He’d land his first major role in the 2021 Australian teen-mystery series, Dive Club, followed by roles in Heartbreak High and Bali 2002 in 2022, Dune: Prophecy in 2024, and of course, Off Campus earlier this year.
‘Dune: Prophecy’ • Photo: HBO.
The modeling-to-acting pipeline is hardly new–if anything, it’s almost expected at this point–but Heuston brings something special to each of his performances. Yes, he has the looks–light green eyes set between long, dark lashes, a razor-sharp jawline, a body sculpted by years of MMA training–and a commanding presence, qualities that come in handy playing everything from a hedonistic space prince trying to live up to his father’s expectations to an enigmatic college musician caught in a love triangle. But it’s his sensitivity that makes him such an interesting actor–something he credits, in part, to growing up around women, but also to his childhood shyness.
“I’ve been actively pursuing roles that I find scary or intimidating, but then also understanding that whatever role comes to me is also the role that I’m supposed to play, I can’t always force it in any direction,” he told Body+Soul. “As I’ve gotten older, the shyness has turned into more of a superpower….I spend a lot of time alone, especially when I’m filming on location, so I’m left with a choice to either do the work on myself, or let it consume me.”
In late May, Off Campus showrunner Louisa Levy confirmed that Heuston wouldn’t be reprising his role as Justin in season 2. At the time of writing this, the actor told Us Weekly that he hopes “Justin finds love and continues to be happy while writing music.”
But there’s plenty more from Heuston to look forward to. He recently starred alongside Obsession’s Inde Navarrette in Sombr’s music video for “My Body Isn’t Ready” playing a pretentious artist. And if Heuston’s career has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t predict his next move.
Off Campus is streaming on Prime Video.
