Photography by Mekhi Turner, Styling by *Raea Palmieri*

This article is taken from the May 2026 issue of The Artchive Magazine:

Josh Heuston loves a day stamped with a sunburn. The Sydney-born actor rides on the edge of adrenaline, right in the pocket of a wave that crests at fear, but breaks into excitement and impact that carries him forward. From his very first acting class to learning how to sing for his newest role as Justin Kohl in Prime Video’s Off Campus, he knows that whenever he’s thinking “What is happening?” he’s probably in the right place. And that thought crosses his mind a lot, whether it’s when he’s wearing a full stillsuit as Constantine Corrino in Dune: Prophecy or “playing pretend on steroids” while performing in a muscle tank and chain as Justin Kohl. But Heuston doesn’t mention a dive into the deep end without also relishing in the rush of learning how to swim. And whether it’s premonition or his competitive nature, he knows there is a version of himself ahead who is already making record time.

Hey Josh! How are you doing? I know you must be exhausted!

JH: I don't know up from down or left from right, but the press tour has been fun. We are in Brazil right now for a screening.

Exciting! I watched all of the Off Campus screeners in one night. I absolutely love it!

JH: Thank you for that. I'm really, really happy with it.

I was reading that you have a certain intuition about roles. You just know when something is for you. Did you have that feeling for Off Campus?

JH: Yeah, absolutely. It was a Catch-22 because I knew I would have to fight for it in terms of music training and ability. But everything else surrounding the role was perfect for me. After I got through the first round of auditions, I was like, “I've got this one.”

Does the instinct come from you personally connecting to a character, or is it a non-descript gut instinct?

JH: Yeah, it's just a gut instinct. The character is part of that, because if I felt I couldn’t play a character, that feeling wouldn’t kick in. When a certain role or story pops up, I’ll think, “I know how to tell this.”

For each role, you create a backstory journal for your character from the earliest memory up until the script. Can you tell me about characterizing Justin outside of the script?

JH: The process makes the character feel like a real person. Everyone you meet hasn't just appeared at that moment. They have a story that dictates their every decision. In the script, Justin only references his dad once. He never references his mum. So I created a backstory detailing commitment issues or feelings of abandonment from his mum. I think that would then spill into his love life and his music. He's also Australian, so his childhood would be different from everyone else there. I thought, “What does that mean? Is that why he doesn't play sports at school?”

Do you usually fill an entire notebook?

JH: It changes with every character. [The backstory] for my role as Constantine in Dune: Prophecy is probably the longest because there are different laws, planets, and military training. For Justin, I would be in the middle of episode three, for example, and realize I didn’t have any backstory for a specific storyline. Then I would reopen and go back in.

If you could create a similar journal for yourself, what would you write down as your earliest memory?

JH: I always go back to memories of being on the beach or memories with my mum. I think of summer days with family or holidays because that’s when everyone is really together.

vintage t-shirt HANES; jeans by LEVI’S
jacket by C2H4

I love the Thanksgiving episode in the show. Do you have any family holiday traditions?

JH: We try to spend the holiday on the beach somewhere. When we were younger, we used to go camping. But now we go to the beach, sit there, drink, and spend the day. You come home sunburnt, and it’s very nostalgic in a way. We also watch Love Actually every year. Most of the time, everyone just falls asleep because we’ve baked in the sun the whole day.

Back to Off Campus, you have said in the past that a project excites you when it makes you nervous. What made you nervous about playing Justin?

JH: The music aspect was definitely the scary part. When I signed on and booked the role, I didn't think I was going to sing and write as many songs as I did. I performed eight songs in the show. Even if they take bits and pieces, I still performed the whole song. There was that feeling of, “Can I be good enough to perform all these songs the entire time?” And if I wasn’t good enough, it would come out anyway. That’s the risky part. Stepping into a beloved world was scary, too. Justin is very different in the book, so whether that translates and people are happy with it is another story.

I personally really liked the change. While watching the show, I was very surprised to learn that you aren’t actually a musician. What was the process like, essentially starting from scratch?

JH: Thank you. I knew the basic three chords that everyone can do on the guitar—the chords you memorise as a teenager during that angsty period when you’re trying to impress someone. But I couldn't really play anything. The singing part was a prerequisite for the audition. I basically lied and said I could do it, and hoped for the best. I sent in the self-tape, but I didn't send the music. I just pretended it wasn't a thing. While this was happening, I got asked to audition for Tangled. I had one or two weeks of singing lessons. The audition song had two lines of lyrics, but there was no music attached. I was like, “Well, I'm definitely not good enough to keep myself in rhythm by just singing two lines out of the gate without an instrument.” I took the intro chords from Kings of Leon's “Revelry” because the lyrics are angsty. So I sang a few lines of the audition song with the Kings of Leon intro chords. Then they said, “Oh, no, it needs to be a minute long.” I created a new one, hoped it was a minute, and sent it off. They were like, “Great, fly to LA and do it in front of us.” I was like, “Fuck. Okay.” [laughs] Luckily, it all went to plan. I did most of the hard songs in the first month of filming. I had three or four months of singing practice by the time we got there.

How did you feel doing the audition in person? Even you telling that story is making me nervous!

JH: I was just having a panic attack before doing it! [laughs] The thing is, there’s no way out of it. That’s what I like. Once you sign on, you have to figure it out. I just hope the future version of me will have done the work to pull it off and give it my best shot. Otherwise, we’re both fucked, really!

You did such a good job though, genuinely.

JH: I appreciate that a lot.

Something that really interests me about Justin is that the audience is supposed to see him through Hannah’s lens; In some ways, he exists as a fantasy for the viewer, too.

JH: Justin is like the spirit of the campus because he’s always spoken about, but he's only there sometimes and then just disappears into the wind. He's such a focus of Hannah and Garrett’s relationship. If Hannah could just go up to him at the beginning, there wouldn’t be a plot or deal. So it had to be built in that he’s this presence that isn’t safe to approach. But also, once a character does talk to Justin, he's actually really nice. That was also a choice. I didn't want him to come across as an egotistical douchebag. Some of the hockey boys already have that ego and playboy quality. For Hannah to be so infatuated, it had to be a swing in the opposite direction of the hockey boy she dated when she was younger. She wanted the sensitive artist.

It makes a lot of sense that her “type” would be that sensitive artist, too. I want to go back to when you first started acting. After you got a part in a music video, you signed up for a ton of acting classes. What do you remember about your first acting classes?

JH: They sucked…but they were also great. I'm super competitive. If I'm not good at something, I have to get good at it. Even with the music, if I was not playing the chords or piano right or singing in the register that I wanted, I was like, “Oh, fuck's sake!” That just means I’ll do it for eight hours until I get it that day. I didn’t come into acting classes having done drama or anything. Everyone in my family has a normal job. In my first acting class, we weren’t even supposed to memorize the lines. They just gave the pages, and I just had to do it…in front of them. I was like, "What?” I had no idea what to do. Other people were going before me, and I was just mimicking them. It was terrifying. I was up there sweating bullets. [laughs] But after, I was like, “That felt good, in some way.” I felt the same way I did in that music video.

We were talking about fantasy versus reality before. In terms of acting, how would you describe how reality has lived up to the original fantasy? Is there anything you were surprised by once you entered the industry?

JH: Reality is less glamorous. We could be sitting in a school base in a dark, old, abandoned classroom, which is why we can use it. You have to wait around a lot. The idea is “hurry up and wait.” You might be there for twelve hours, but on screen for two. An episode of The Studio shows this accurately. Some things are better than I thought they would be.

What is better than you thought it would be?

JH: The lifestyle on set. At times it’s crazy, but other times, it’s a really well-oiled machine. You go over your marks, say your line, and go home. But sometimes things happen, and the crew is like, “How the fuck should we fix that?” When you break it down, you’re just playing pretend with a bunch of people and deciding to record it with really expensive cameras. At times it’s silly, but it’s also the best job in the world.

“Why am I holding a sword in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon?”

JH: [laughs]With this project, I went from playing a band gig for Off Campus to being in a full stillsuit in Arrakis for Dune: Prophecy. I'm like, "What am I doing? What's happening? What the fuck is this?” I went from Canada to Budapest, which is such a jump. I'm literally just playing dress up on steroids. [laughs]

“Dress up on steroids”—the dream! Justin is the rival in Off Campus. If you could name a “rival” in acting, something you want to conquer, what is it?

JH: I hate watching myself in anything ever. It has nothing to do with how proud I am of the project. Even when we were watching the first two episodes of Off Campus at the LA premiere, and I came on screen singing, I was sinking into my manager’s shoulder. I was like, “I need to get out of this room!” So the rival is my own head noise. But then I come out, and I’m like, “Oh, that was pretty good.”

When you're watching yourself, is it hard for you to see anything but yourself playing a character?

JH: I’m also picking apart every single aspect of my performance. But I’m also like, “I remember I was hungry on that day,” or I see the take they picked and might be surprised by it. There are so many things to go in a loop about.And everyone hates hearing their own voice. It’s the double whammy of also seeing myself on screen, and being like, “Oh, that hurts.” But I love what we made. I feel like if I sat down and thought, “I can’t wait to watch myself again,” that would be kind of crazy. It’s like recording your own voice so you can hear yourself talk. Maybe some people like that, I’m not going to rain on that parade…[laughs]

tank top and t-shirt by AITORGOIKOETXEA;
pants by NEW VANITY

But maybe we’ll drizzle on that parade just a little bit! [laughs] To close, what are you feeling most excited about at the moment?

JH: At this very moment, in this hotel room, they have fresh coconuts that they give you all the time. It comes in a bamboo goblet. It’s not important, but I’m excited for that. Outside of that, I'm excited for everyone to see the show. Sorry about the coconut tangent. [laughs]

No, don’t apologize, go enjoy your coconuts! I know people are going to love the show. Hopefully, you can rest a little bit and relax by the pool!

JH: Thank you very much!

Photography: Mekhi Turner

Interview: Tessa Swantek

Grooming: Thea Istenes at Exclusive Artists using AVEDA..

Stylist: Raea Palmieri

This story features in Issue 2 of The Artchive Magazine which is on sale on Early June 2026. Pre-order here.

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