Josh Heuston wears BOSS autumn/winter 2026 throughout, all price on application.
BOSS turtleneck; Heuston’s own jewellery (worn throughout).
ELLE: Can you tell us a little bit about Justin in Off Campus?
JOSH HEUSTON: Justin is a college rock star on campus and he’s stuck in a love triangle with Hannah and Garrett. He’s a sensitive guy who is shy about his music and he leads with his heart in a lot of ways. I think he’s quite misunderstood at first. He’s kind of got this strange mystique about him.
ELLE: You learnt to sing and play the guitar for this role …
JH: Yes! Before I got the part, I could play three basic chords on the guitar. For the audition process, I pretended that I could, more or less, play and sing. There’s a song called “Revelry” by Kings of Leon where most of the intro is just three bar chords that move up and down the neck. I stole that and then took the lyrics that they gave me and just put them together. I just faked it until I made it.
ELLE: Is singing something you want to pursue?
JH: I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out acting, to be honest. I’m going to master that one before I dive into singing. In a creative way, I find singing pretty therapeutic. When you’re singing, it’s just you and a microphone or an instrument, and you feel pretty naked. It’s nice.
THE AUSTRALIAN ACTOR’S RISE TO GLOBAL FAME HAS BEEN SWIFT AND WELL EARNED. NEXT, HE STARS IN NEW TELEVISION SHOW 'OFF CAMPUS'. EDITOR JESSICA BAILEY CAUGHT UP WITH HIM IN SYDNEY
PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANIEL GOODE
STYLED BY EWAN BELL
IS THAT GUY
Josh
Heuston
here’s a scene in the first episode of Josh Heuston’s new show, Off Campus — a television adaptation of Canadian author Elle Kennedy’s cult hockey romance novel series — where his character, Justin, is approached in a cafe by a nervous music
major named Hannah (played by Ella Bright). “No-one approaches anyone like that anymore,” Heuston tells ELLE. “There’s something special about meeting someone in person. You get that first interaction where you can’t stop looking at each other, or you just want to talk all night.”
Much to the delight of frenzied BookTokkers, Off Campus’ first season is set at a fictional university somewhere in Massachusetts, and explores the relationship between Hannah and popular hockey team captain Garrett (played by Belmont Cameli). The two pair up when Hannah agrees to tutor Garrett in exchange for making her crush, Justin, jealous. Whip-smart, witty and comical in ways only a college romance drama can be, its storyline triggers memories of the beloved 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You. “It does!” Heuston smiles during our interview. “Especially since the [show producers] have made Justin Australian. It gives a bit of 10 Things for sure … and if I could do 10 per cent of what [late Australian actor] Heath Ledger has done, that’s a great place to be in.”
Heuston is being modest. Rising to fame as the cool-but-complicated Dusty Reid in Heartbreak High, he soon made a name for himself globally as a sharp and ambitious royal named Constantine in the Dune: Prophecy series. (The next instalment will be released in November.) On the fashion front, and like fellow Aussie actors Chris Hemsworth and Jacob Elordi, Heuston has a longstanding relationship with BOSS, and has just returned home from Milan where he shot the house’s global Made to Measure campaign, one that will feature across flagship stores worldwide.
Ahead, the 29-year-old actor chats about his new show, his own time at uni and why plucking up the courage to speak to a crush in person is the way to go. If that fails, Heuston suggests becoming pen pals. Because just like his TV characters, Josh Heuston is every bit the heart-throb in real life.
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LEFT BOSS shirts, pants, ties, and belts. RIGHT BOSS jacket, shirt, pants, boots (worn throughout) and tie.
BOSS coat, jacket, shirt, turtleneck pants, tie, belt, and boots.
ELLE: What do you think it is about this young adult romance genre that has audiences hooked?
JH: Given our dating culture is so online today, it’s nice to see people actively pursue someone. I feel like people don’t necessarily live with their hearts on their sleeves anymore. Nowadays, and especially in Australia, you can go to a pub or a bar and people stand on other sides of the room and don’t even talk to people outside their group. And so to see someone pursuing someone else and living romantically and dangerously, it’s nice and refreshing.
ELLE: When we first meet Hannah, she is just so besotted with Justin. When you were at university, did you ever crush on anyone like that? And if so, how did you get their attention?
JH: Oh yes, of course I had crushes. How’d I get their attention? I don’t know. I don’t even know if I ever did. I think in college I was much more shy. I probably would have just had an awkward failed encounter of saying “hi”.
ELLE: How has this experience differed from Heartbreak High?
JH: In a weird way, it kind of feels like a graduation from Heartbreak, because I’ve gone from a high school drama to a college drama. It’s very similar in a lot of ways. But then I also think Justin is different to Dusty. Dusty’s a bit more of a dick. Justin, he’s just a nice guy.
LEFT BOSS jacket, pants, and belt. RIGHT BOSS shirt, pants, and boots.
ELLE: You studied a double degree in biomolecular science and commerce. How did the acting come about?
JH: I was working as a model at 17 or 18 years old. I continued that while I was at uni. Then I shot a music video and it had the tiniest bit of acting involved and I was like, What is this? I want to do this. I basically shifted my life and went down the acting path from there.
ELLE: What has it been like filming Dune: Prophecy in Budapest, Jordan and Spain?
JH: It’s been incredible. We filmed across nine months and at first it was jarring because I went from playing Justin on Off Campus in Vancouver to Constantine [in Dune: Prophecy] in Budapest, where the whole world is burning and everything’s fucked. Constantine’s a much older character now. He’s a leader in the military and he’s going through all these things. It’s just fun to be that guy again.
ELLE: Who are you closest to on set?
JH: I’m close with Sarah-Sofie [Boussnina], who plays Constantine’s sister, Ynez, and Shalom [Brune-Franklin], who plays Mikaela. Most of my scenes are with them this season. It’s just really, really fun. We’re like a little family now.
ELLE: What can we expect for November’s release?
JH: It’s just bigger in every way. There’s more space battles, there’s wars, there’s loves and losses and ups and downs.
ELLE: How are you managing the rise in fame and all that comes with it?
JH: I don’t really think about it like that. In my world, things have remained the same. I’ve still got the same group of friends. I’ve still got the same family because I guess that doesn’t really change [laughs]. I come home and everyone makes fun of me. And if my head ever inflates, everyone’s very quick to chop it down.
ELLE: What would you say is the big pipedream for you?
JH: I just want to keep telling the stories that I care about.
BOSS pants, and ties.
ELLE: Your style has become part of your public persona. We plucked BOSS’ autumn/winter 2026 collection straight off the runway for you for this shoot …
JH: I was at the BOSS show in Milan and I loved it. There’s a specific leather jacket that I took a photo of on the runway, and then we shot it in this ELLE Man shoot as well. I was trying to steal it on set, which I failed at [laughs]. BOSS and I have had a relationship for four years now and have worked together on heaps of different things — so much so that the brand is now ingrained in my style. And BOSS is always effortlessly classic.
ELLE: I feel that leather jacket is very Justin-coded, isn’t it?
JH: It is, it is.
ELLE: Who is the woman in your life who taught you the most about women?
JH: It’d be my mum. She’s taught me a lot about life. I have a very close relationship with her. I’m calling her five times a day being like, “What about this? What about that?”
ELLE: What’s something you envy about women?
JH: I admire women’s emotional vulnerability. I think a lot of men don’t really have that or feel comfortable having that. Maybe it’s an admiration as opposed to an envy.
ELLE: What does your grooming routine look like?
JH: I shower three times a day — in the morning, before I go out and then when I get home before bed. I have a pretty basic skincare routine: moisturiser, sunscreen. And then I always add a good cologne.
ELLE: And you have great hair …
JH: I think I just got lucky with genetics. It kind of grows like that, and I use wax. Sometimes if I’m travelling, I’ll just buy whatever wax is at 7-Eleven.
LEFT BOSS jacket, pants, belts, and shoes. RIGHT BOSS cardigan, shirt, pants, and tie.
ELLE: Are you a romantic? What is the most romantic thing you’ve done?
JH: Yes, I am pretty romantic. I kept a pen pal for a while — a girl I was talking to. We wrote letters and emails back and forth while I was travelling.
ELLE: Lastly, in Off Campus, Hannah plucks up the courage to chat to Justin in the cafe. What’s your advice to our readers who have been thinking about going up to a guy or girl … but are second guessing it?
JH: Just go for it. What have you got to lose, at the end of the day? If it doesn’t work, it probably wasn’t going to work anyway. I also feel like everyone always thinks about the worst-case scenario, but no-one ever thinks about the best-case scenario. What if it does work out and you hit it off? Whatever your dream is with the person you’re meant to be with, you could get that just by saying “Hey”.
Off Campus premieres on Prime Video on May 13. Visit boss.com.
“PEOPLE DON’T LIVE WITH THEIR HEARTS ON THEIR SLEEVES ANYMORE. TO SEE SOMEONE LIVING ROMANTICALLY AND DANGEROUSLY, IT’S REFRESHING”
– JOSH HEUSTON
“I ADMIRE WOMEN’S EMOTIONAL VULNERABILITY. I THINK A LOT OF MEN DON’T REALLY HAVE THAT OR FEEL COMFORTABLE HAVING THAT.”
– JOSH HEUSTON
PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANIEL GOODE
VIDEOGRAPHY BY BILL MANSFIELD
STYLED BY EWAN BELL
WORDS BY JESSICA BAILEY
GROOMING BY FERNNANDO MIRANDA AT ASSEMBLY AGENCY.
PRODUCTION BY NICOLA HANRATTY.
DANIEL GOODE IS REPRESENTED BY ARTIST GROUP.
Wearing boss.
This story appears in the june 2026 Issue of
