“I lied. Everything you’ve seen is true,” Josh Heuston admits when we sit down to talk about his role in Off Campus.
The TV series is the latest book-to-TV adaptation to hit Prime Video, and within a week, it’s already skyrocketed to become the platform’s number one show worldwide.
On Tuesday morning, Heuston, the Aussie who stars in the series as Justin Kohl, shared the little white lie he told during the audition process – and the panic that ensued when he landed the role.
Watch the video above.
Everything I’d heard about Heuston ahead of our chat suggested he was a pretty nice guy. But I was wondering if maybe this newfound level of fame had gone to his head.
Spoiler alert: it most definitely had not.
As soon as he walks in the room, he individually greets everyone involved in the shoot, making sure to get their names and introduce himself – an act that might sound small, but one I’ve seen very few, if any, celebrities do.
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Despite the huge morning he’s already had, he’s eager to get stuck into our interview. And when I start by asking him why he lied to get the Off Campus role, he doesn’t seem worried. Instead, he laughs.
Heuston readily admits he lied about his musical ability; when he auditioned, he had none. Then, when he eventually landed the part of a college rockstar, he “completely freaked out”.
“I essentially faked it ’til I made it. When I finally booked the role, the panic set in of me being like, ‘I have to learn how to sing’,” he laughs.
“There’s an acoustic scene sitting on a bed – the classic ‘let me sing at you’ Ken thing – and I had to do all of that.”
He had about three months to prepare for the shoot, and credits the success to his music team. Having watched the show myself, I never would have known Heuston wasn’t already a musician. So, it’s clear the training paid off.
But for fans of the Off Campus book series, which the show is based on, it might come as a shock Heuston had to learn to sing for the role.
In the novels, his character Justin Kohl is a football player, but in the series, he’s as a brooding musician.
He tells me the change was made to give the main love interest, Hannah Wells, something she couldn’t get from the third point of the central love triangle, star hockey player Garrett Graham.
While the feedback on the change has been shockingly positive from a fandom fiercely protective of the novels they love so much, Heuston admits he was a little worried about the reaction ahead of the show’s release.
“I feel like coming into anything with an existing IP or fan base, there is that level of trust that you’re given by the audience, and pressure, because all these people have grown up with these books,” he explains.
“They’ve been out for now, I think, for 10-15 years … the world that Elle Kennedy [the author of the Off Campus series] has built is deep. So there’s nerves, but also at some point, you’ve kind of just got to put on the blinders and give it a crack.
“At first I was like, ‘Oh god, everyone’s going to come for me’. But no, the feedback’s been really positive.”
Heuston is no stranger to working on projects based on existing IP. He starred in the 2022 remake of Heartbreak High, and he’s currently preparing for the second season of Dune Prophecy, a series based on a prequel to the Dune novels.
And, if online rumours are anything to go by, he might not be done yet.
For months now, there’s been speculation Heuston could be set to star in the upcoming adaptation of the hit fantasy series Fourth Wing.
He’s been spotted reading the novels, he’s added a dragon emoji to his social bios, he’s followed the series’ author Rebecca Yarros on socials, and he’s even publicly made a few comments that could hint at a potential upcoming casting announcement.
During his press tour for Off Campus, Heuston has been relentlessly hounded with questions asking him to reveal whether or not he is going to appear in the series.
Questions he obviously cannot answer, whether it be because of an iron-clad NDA or the simple result of not actually knowing the answer.
So, as much as I didn’t want the interview to take a bad turn by bothering the star with yet another Fourth Wing question, I’d simply be a bad journalist if I didn’t ask the question fans want answered.
As soon as I start broaching the subject of rumours of another book-to-TV adaptation, I can see Heuston trying to keep his face from dropping. A member of his team in the corner even puts their head in their hands – understandably, at this point, sick of the subject.
But the vibe in the room shifts when I finish asking the question.
Heuston seems at least somewhat pleasantly surprised when he’s not asked about whether he will appear in the series, but rather how it feels to have an entire fandom divided over which character he embodies while collectively gunning for him to appear in the show.
“I think, obviously, it’s a polarising thing, [but] it’s nice for people to want to see me in something else,” he says.
“But I like anything fantasy, I love that world. I grew up watching Lord of the Rings and playing World of Warcraft, and all that sort of stuff.
“And dragons make stories cool, especially if you can ride them. That’s what they say on the internet.”
Of course, the last part of that quote is said with a smirk. Whether it be a knowing smirk or the face of a man who can’t avoid the rumours, so he’s instead decided to lean in for a bit of fun, only time will tell.
But for now, if you need a fix of Heuston on your screen, you’ll simply have to watch Off Campus.
If you’re wondering exactly what the show is about, let me paraphrase Heuston’s description.
Essentially, it’s a passionate college drama centred around a love triangle with a girl at one point, a sports star at another, and a musician at the third.
“And in the middle, there’s sex,” he adds. “And love!”
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