P r o f i l e 

(Taken from media 1992 ) It is said to believe  in most magazines that Les Hill was born at 6:30pm on August 1st 1973 at Paddington Womens Hospital Sydney.  He lived with his parents in his Grandparents house in Sydney, spending his time playing in the paddock next door with his best friend Jeff Mariani pretending to be Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. "We used to re-act the film.  I was never Darth Vader, i never played the baddies. I was always the hero." However even TV stars have to attend school. Les recalls he had a brilliant first day while most of his classmates were reduced to tears. "There were building blocks there and i didn't have building blocks. I went seeya Mum and ran in. Everyone else was crying and i just sat down with these blocks. The teachers always thought i was lazy and i don't think they liked me because i rarely failed an exam but i never studied and i always talked!" He also adds in a different view. Despite his class lessons, you could say he was an outdoor type. "I was a sports freak.  Anything i could play i would. Cricket Hockey everything.  It was to prove to the next guy that i was better than him.  It was a competition thing. I started out in team sports but i found that it was extremely boring because everyone else kept messing up! So i started taking single sports boxing and judo. I loved playing Hockey.  My uncle and i designed these shin pads that were made of this thin hard metal with padding around them, all taped up.  Anyone who hit my shin pads usually cracked their stick!" Yet he didn't get bitten by the so-called acting bug until much later on. In fact, the very first thing he wanted to be was an archaeologist. "The  Indiana Jones film probably sparked it off. When i was about 8 i studied ancient history with my Auntie.  Ancient Egypt and Greek mythology."  He also adds about his schooling. "I left school without any qualifications.

 I had a lot of time off so i didn't fill the school curriculum. If it was me I'd make it compulsory for
teachers to have qualifications
in psychology so they could understand that
children are very vulnerable.  They're just like pieces
of clay and are moulded by their experience at school.
I missed out on an education and i regret that now.
Maybe if i'd been understood more i would have played  truant less"
 
 

Despite all the subjects and interests, one particular time in his
life he  almost drowned.  "It was
in a swimming pool they brought me back."

He says he remembers nothing.  "Its just a story
i've been told when i was younger. I don't even know how old i was."
At 7 Les decided that he wanted to be a star.  "I got into acting
in the first place because of this show called The Gong Show.  I was
about 7 and i wanted to go on this programme with a song i'd made up
about the The  Bogie Man.  It was really stupid."  Les didn't make it on the show.
He was 14 when he went for his first acting audition.  He'd seen an
advert in a newspaper for "possible film and  T V work."
"My Mother brought it home and i called the number, it was a casting
agency, i joined and it all started there.  I mimed in a 45 second commercial for Decore,
which is shampoo.  It was quite revealing commercial, you could see all the way
down the side of my leg in profile; you could see the side of my buttock if you like."
 
 

He also played an ill teenager on A Country Practice and General Practice in Australia.
He appeared in a film called Flirting (Which also starred Nicole Kidman). "It was the
first film that i ever worked on and i made a bit of an appearance!  I had to
walk naked into this shower at Sydney Cricket ground, and shower with a bunch
of men. It took one take and i got out of there quick!"
Then came Home and Away.  He went for his
first audition was re-called and then told he'd got the part.
"The first day on set was a bit intimidating.  I'd seen  these people occasionally
on TV before. It was a weird feeling, but i got through it fine.
You learn allot from people.  You're thrown into a crowd and you
have to pretend that a stranger is your mum another is your dad.
You have to pretend to be close to people who you've never seen before".
Of course Home and Away came and it was the break he had been waiting for.
"I didn't know what to expect.  Before that i was
on the soap GP, which was the last thing i did for television and i thought, this is as hard it gets."

 Then came H&A.
Les moved to London (UK) for 2 years, and hogged the TV screens,
on popular channels like BBC1/ ITV.  There were times when Les would
be seen on both channels at the same time.  He made many appearances
in magazine interviews, photo shoots, and also staring in Christmas Pantomime.  He travelled
back and forth to LA to also cast in Baywatch.
Les has done since co-directed. "I really want to get into directing.  I'll be  shadowing a major
West End director so i can see how its done".
Les returns to Australia, and works successfully undertaking acting roles for example  Water
Rats an Australian Cop series which was broadcasted on Channel 5 (UK).  And Pete Bentleys
The Beast shown twice on C5 UK.
"Ultimately i want happiness.  Its more important than anything else.  I don't know what
i'll be doing in ten years time,
i want to keep acting."
To this day Les is still acting and also directing.
 
 

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