In his short time in Hollywood, Lincoln Younes has learnt at least one crucial thing – never assume anything.
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The hunky former Home and Away star almost missed his audition for saucy new US series Grand Hotel. And while he says he gave it his best shot, Lincoln was convinced he hadn’t landed the part.
“I took a few risks in that audition and I left it not really holding onto the role,” Lincoln, 27, tells New Idea from Los Angeles. “But a couple of days later, I got a phone call saying I got it and could I fly to Miami? You bet.”
In Grand Hotel, which is based on the soapy Spanish drama, Gran Hotel, Lincoln plays Danny, a new waiter at Miami’s Riviera Grand Hotel, a family owned operation. The series is executive produced by former Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and airs in the US on the ABC network. The show is very much Eva’s baby with the star also directing an episode and appearing in a small but crucial role. “She was very involved,” Lincoln says of Eva. “And she was very passionate, which was a blessing.”
The role is a huge break for the Aussie, who has been taken under the wing of Eva herself.
“She started off as my boss and she became a bit of a mentor and now she’s a close friend, which is such a wonderful present I wasn’t expecting,” Lincoln enthuses. “She is one of the kindest, most generous human beings you could ever meet.”
Lincoln was by her side last year when Eva received her Hollywood Walk of Fame star. The young actor was especially impressed to see how she treated people on the set of Grand Hotel, whether they were there for one day or for the whole shoot. Clearly, he was impressed by how down-to-earth she was. “Eva proves you can have fame and still be the same human being you were,” he says. “I find her quite inspiring and I find her actions more impactful than her words.”
The pilot episode of Grand Hotel was shot on location at Miami’s iconic Fontainebleau Hotel – once frequented by crooner Frank Sinatra.
However, the rest of the series was filmed on a purpose-built set in LA which, according to Lincoln, “looked identical to the actual hotel” only “two-thirds the size”.
Working in LA means Lincoln does get to occasionally catch up with some of his ex-pat Aussie friends who now call the showbiz city home – such as his old mate, Stephen Peacocke, who played Lincoln’s on-screen brother in Channel Seven’s Home and Away.
He had a bone to pick with his former castmate. Stephen had jokingly told New Idea he was getting sick of seeing Lincoln’s toned torso on a billboard advertising Grand Hotel.
“I caught up with him the other day and I had to tell him, ‘That’s not my torso on that billboard,’” Lincoln laughs. “And he was like, ‘What? It’s not?’ He’s wonderfully supportive. It got me excited seeing an old familiar face.”
In the deliciously sexy Grand Hotel, Lincoln’s character Danny may be the hired help, but he’s more than he seems. Complicating things is a
frisson of sexual tension between Danny and Alicia (Denyse Tontz), the hotel owner’s daughter.
Before long, Danny is sans shirt – something he has in common with Lincoln’s Home and Away character Casey Braxton. Fortunately, Lincoln’s committed to working out in order to look his best on screen.
“The character is quite physically proficient, so I wanted to be as fit and ready as I could,” he says.
When it comes to dating, Lincoln maintains he is very much single, having broken up with his long-term girlfriend Amy Ruffle in 2017. “I’m very focused on work and doing the best I can,” he says. “I’m enjoying summer in LA and all the prospects that brings.”
Thrilled his friends and family in Australia can now see the series he’s been working on for the
past year, Lincoln is hopeful his latest gig can give him a foothold in Hollywood.
“There’s never any real logic to how these things go, but if I had a wish it would just be to continually surprise myself and audiences,” he says. “That’s kind of the aim.”
For more, see this week’s New Idea – out now
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