Dylan goes to Hollywood

By Jade Lawton
TAKE a close look at Dylan Russell – because next year, he could be on your TV.
The 17-year-old Nar Nar Goon resident was one of 11 of Australia’s brightest stars sent to Los Angeles for the Hollywood Immersive program, which included two weeks of workshops under top acting coach Margie Haber.
Dylan has just returned from the US but is already planning to return for January’s hotly-contested ‘pilot season’, when thousands of actors audition for parts in the latest TV shows.
And the Beaconhills College student is no acting amateur – he has already toured Europe with a musical theatre troupe and played Fydeka in the Cardinia Performing Arts Company’s recent showing of Fiddler on the Roof.
“We did programs with dialect coaches, producers, and agents,” he said.
Dylan, who lists Will Smith as his favourite actor, got to talk to A-lister Eva Mendes about how she broke in to the business, and met Ghostbusters director Mark Steven Johnson.
After 10 days of work, the group spent two days sight-seeing around Los Angeles.
“We saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s house, and the house of a girl off The Hills, the Playboy Mansion and we went to Universal Studios,” he said.
“But I was most excited about seeing Dr Phil’s house, that was pretty cool. I want to be an actor but psychology is my back-up.”
Dylan, who is already signed locally with Bayside Casting and Modelling, said he planned to apply for the National Institute of Dramatic Art when he finished his Year 12 studies this year.
“I really want to get into film and television. I’m open to doing a sitcom or drama,” he said.
Dylan thanked Lilly Dawson from Lilly Dawson Casting, Kellie Langmaid from Bayside Casting and Modelling and Margie Haber Audition Techniques for helping him achieve his goals.
He said Los Angeles was ‘quite a bit’ different to his hometown of Nar Nar Goon.
“It’s very commercial, and very fast-paced,” he said.