It’s been three years since Scott Lee landed his breakthrough role in Home And Away as brooding teen Hunter King.
In that time, Hunter has been on quite a journey – as has Scott. And it’s one the rising young star wouldn’t change for anything in the world.
‘Hunter was my first big part,’ he says.
‘I’ll always have such fond memories of my time. I still pinch myself every day that I had this awesome opportunity.’
With Hunter this week farewelling the Bay for Vietnam to live with his Summer Bay family Zac, Evie and Matt, Scott has also packed his bags – and he’s Hollywood-bound.
‘This trip will be a shorter one, just to check out LA, and then next year I’ll definitely jump into pilot season there, because that starts in January,’ he says. ‘I feel very excited. No-one knows me over there. If I do have any nerves, they’re excited ones.’
And Scott is sure to have the backing of one of his friends, Raechelle Banno, who played his on-off love interest Olivia.
‘We finished up on the show at a very similar time, so we’re now taking the next step in our careers simultaneously,’ he says.
Indeed, Scott will be meeting up not only with Raechelle when he arrives in Los Angeles, but also with another of his former Home And Away castmates.
‘Raechelle will be there for the majority of my trip – and Matt Little, who played VJ, and I have found a place together in LA and I’m so excited about that,’ he enthuses.
‘Matt and I were actually housemates for two years in North Sydney when he was on the show. We’re best mates and he’s already been in LA for a while, so he’s going to show me around.’
As for his favourite Hunter storylines, Scott says there have been many stand-outs.
‘When his real dad came onto the scene, I found that challenging as there was a lot of emotional stuff,’ he says.
‘This latest storyline with Christina (Jessica Clarke) has also been very challenging and I really wanted to do a good job and send my character off the right way.’
Viewers may not have realised that, at 26, Scott is seven years older than his on-screen character.
‘Hunter has been a bit emotional at times – he can be a bit of a hothead who lashes out a little, and I think that’s part of him being a teenager,’ he says, adding with a laugh, ‘Whereas, I’d be thinking “Oh really? I’m yelling again?” But I think that was the 26-year-old talking. And it was fun doing all of that.’
As a parting gift, Scott reveals he snared a souvenir from the set before saying his final goodbye.
‘I actually did,’ he reveals. ‘My character wore this denim vest all the time at the beginning, and I hated it to start with, but over time I grew to love it. So I took that home and it’s safely at my parents’ house now.’
For the full story, and more Home And Away exclusives, see this weeks issue of New Idea – on sale now!
