FLAUNT'S EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL FEATURE ON NATHAN DILLON  "you could say i'm like dorothy except i got it backwards, i want to go home to oz." New faces arrive in Hollywood every single day, some of them get one starring role and make it big, others spend years climbing the ladder but then there's the thousands of hopefuls who never really get anywhere. Fortunately, however, that hasn't been the case for Nathan Dillon who first appeared on our television screens in 2004 as fresh faced Bradin Westerly in "Summerland" just a few months after imigrating with his family from Australia. Dillon, who actually got his first taste of acting when he appeared in Australian soap opera, "Home and Away", has impressed us with his roles in "Alpha Dog" and "Cloverfield" and I was lucky enough to interview him after he took part in our latest photoshoot. So, Nathan, it's great to finally be able to have an interview you, you're one of my top rising stars, tell me, how did you get into acting in the first place? Thanks, but I'm really nothing special. I guess I started because my dad used to do theatre and stuff back home before he met my mom and I thought it would be cool to try it out. I ended up joining a youth drama group that went on near my home in Sydney and the casting directors from Home and Away popped in one day. We weren't told that they were scouting for new talent or anything like that but about a month after they visited, they asked me to come to an audition and that was pretty much that. Although Home and Away doesn't air here, I heard that it's pretty high profile in Australia, what was your character like? I played Seb Miller and personality wise, he wasn't all that different from Bradin who I played in Summerland but his life was a little different. Seb's mom was dying of lukaemia when he first arrived in Summer Bay, which is where Home and Away is set and he was searching for his grandfather who turned out to be the principal of the local school.
	You left Home and Away in 2004 when your mom decided to move to California to be with her new husband, how did the bosses take your decision to leave? Well, they threw me off a cliff while I held onto a hood of a car and my character was left in a wheelchair for life so I guess they didn't take it too well? Nah, I'm kidding they were pretty understanding about it. I had to stay behind for a while so that they could write a decent exit for me because Seb was quite popular with the fans and they were sad to see me go but they understood I had to be with my family. You've been working pretty hard since you first arrived here, do you have any regrets about moving with your family? Yes and no, I love the opportunities I've had, because I know I wouldn't have had them back home and the people that I've met since being here and I love that I've stayed close to my mom and sister because I think my dad would have wanted that. But at the same time, I was eighteen when I left OZ, I had a life there, friends and a girlfriend. My little boy was born there and I always wanted my kid(s) to be raised in OZ just like I was but instead he's being raised in a different city every week. Part of me just wants to go back there and make a home for my son. I guess you could say I'm like Dorothy except I got it backwards, I want to go home to Oz. I forgot you have a son with actress turned singer Elizabeth Varney, what's his name? Do you see him much? His name's Max, he's three years old and he's a really great kid which makes me ashamed to say that I don't see him anywhere near as often as I should. Me and his Elizabeth both have very different work commitments that tend to keep us quite a bit of distance apart from each other. I'm sorry to hear that but your projects must keep you busy. You've really caught Hollywood's attention since your role in Alpha Dog, how did that come about? It almost didn't to be honest, I went to the audition they took one look at me and even though I changed a lot toward the end of Summerland and began to look my grown up, they thought I was too young for the role. They said I didn't look right, they said I looked too young but they let me read anyway and thought I was capable. The director told me to grow some facial hair and hit the gym a little more often and they'd give me the part. I think that was when people realized I wasn't the boy from Summerland anymore, I was a grown up actor.
	I know you've got a few projects in the works right now, care to tell us a bit about them? Well, I've got two films coming up that I haven't started filming yet, one is called The Roommate and the other is called The Last Song. I've also recently completed the pilot for a new television show called The Vampire Diaries which is going to air this fall on The CW and is about two vampire brothers, one that's evil and one that's not and I play Stefan but I won't say whether he's good or not. Oh so it's a bit of a mystery then! A bit like your love life because the media has been trying to get to the bottom of it since your days on Summerland. Are you dating anybody? Maxwell's mother perhaps? I'm not really a big fan of questions like this to be honest with you but on the subject of Max's mother, I'm not in a relationship with Elizabeth and haven't been since I was eighteen, we're still good friends though and Max was just a really great thing that happened to me. I won't say anything else because at the end of the day, I do this job because I like to act, not because I want fame or for my every relationship to be publicized in magazines or online. That's understandable.. So, before we finish off can you tell me what your plans or hopes for the future are? I hope to continue acting, definitely and maybe try my hand at directing or script writing. I'd also like to spend some time with my son and get to know him as he grows up. I'd like to travel a bit, have a home in Australia as well as here and I'd like to settle down someday too, but not for a good while yet.. I'm still pretty young. Sounds like you've got a lot of plans for the future! Have you written any scripts yet? Yeah, a couple. Mostly love stories and comedy. It's kind of a hobby of mine along with playing guitar and song writing. But I've not really looked into doing any of those things professionally. I don't know if I ever will because a lot of the stuff is pretty personal to me, especially songs I've written but I guess only time will tell. return to nathan-daily.net