Former Home and Away star Lincoln Younes lands role in US drama Grand Hotel
FOUR years after leaving Aussie soap Home And Away, Lincoln Younes has landed a prime time TV show in Hollywood — Grand Hotel — with former Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria at the helm.
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BEING in peak physical shape was the least Lincoln Younes could do for his big American break.
Not quite four years after leaving Aussie soap Home And Away, Younes has landed a prime time TV drama in Hollywood — Grand Hotel — with former Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria at the helm.
“I just wanted to give myself the best chance and get myself in the best condition for this role,” Younes tells BW Magazine.
“There’s a lot of things that are out of your control when you are in this industry but one thing I can control and be on top of is my fitness and health and being in the best state that I can to mould to whatever I need to.”
Fitness has always been a part of Younes’ life but you could say it helps that he is now in better shape than ever.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he says.
“(Grand Hotel) has got those elements in the show. A lot of it is very sexy and scandalous and very sleek so I just wanted to be in the best state I could.”
Of a scene in the pilot episode where his character Danny shows off his toned body swimming, he adds: “People always think it is more glamorous than it actually is. In reality, that scene where I am in the pool was almost hypothermic and we were in the pool for six hours and it was freezing. It is part and parcel of the job, you just try and make those scenes as grounded and realistic as possible.”
Younes, 26, played Casey Braxton on Home And Away from 2011 to 2014. His other TV credits include award-winning Foxtel series Tangle, as well as City Homicide and Love Child.
He’s also appeared in films such as The Wedding Party and the critically acclaimed Down Under.
“It has been a few years in the making,” he says of his Hollywood plans.
“It is always that thing of five years of working but all of a sudden you are an overnight success. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes but I am very grateful it has happened this early.
“I have a lot of peers and friends who are as talented, if not more talented and have been working a lot longer away at it and not been given the opportunity so I feel very grateful.”
Younes now lives in Los Angeles and will begin shooting the show in the next few weeks, with production to run through until the end of January. They’ll be filming mostly in LA but some scenes are shot in Miami.
Grand Hotel is based on Spanish series Gran Hotel and is set around the lives of staff and guests at a family-owned Miami hotel. No doubt the producers will hope for a similar success story to the Spanish original, set in 1900 and which aired on Netflix, dubbed the Spanish Downton Abbey.
It’s not the first time the popular Spanish series has been remade, with a Mexican version also produced.
It will air on US network ABC next year after being commissioned for a full series of 13 episodes from the pilot.
Actor Longoria, who admits she was a huge fan of the original, is executive producer and if her past with ABC is anything to go by Grand Hotel could prove another popular vehicle for her.
The network produced her breakout hit Desperate Housewives and she also produced Devious Maids, which aired for four seasons.
“It is kind of her baby so she was very involved,” Younes explains.
“She was on set every day, she was always there for moral support and very warm and giving, even though she was heavily pregnant at the time.”
The young Aussie’s role is central to the plot of the series, as his character, new employee Danny, falls in love with the family’s pampered daughter Alicia.
Looking ahead, Younes is striving for longevity, whatever work comes his way.
“I am just going to do everything I can to make the most of this opportunity,” he says.
“Looking past it I would obviously love to keep the momentum going. I would just love this to be the start of a lifelong career of work in Australia and the US, I would love to jump between and keep doing different work and good work.”
Originally published as Former Home and Away star Lincoln Younes lands role in US drama Grand Hotel
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