One-on-one with Hercules Star Liam McIntyre

Liam McIntyre is a busy man. The Aussie actor is fresh off the back of a role in US smash-hit TV show Spartacus, he’s wrapped shooting his first big feature Hercules: The Legend Begins – due out early next year – and he’s just been named as the face of Lynx’s latest campaign.

“It’s an exciting life at the moment,” says McIntyre who is based in LA but currently visiting Sydney. “It’s nice and sunny here in Sydney and I’ve just got back from a couple of hectic weeks of travelling and filming.”

But any downtime is pretty rare. Since he first arrived on the acting scene almost by accident, the 31-year-old has landed on his feet – especially odd, considering he never figured life as a movie star was on the cards. “I never wanted to be an actor – it was actually pretty low on my list,” he says. “I was pretty good at commerce, so I did that as a university degree. Then I went to Ireland for a year and got tricked into acting – and I never looked back.”

As is all but obligatory for any aspiring Aussie actor, McIntyre landed a role on soapie Neighbours – although he was only there for a single day. “I almost avoided the cliché that every Australian actor starts on Neighbours or Home and Away, but not quite. Though there’s nothing to be ashamed of – I was just super excited to have a job.”

From there, he set his sights on the US, after finding substantial acting roles here in Australia were pretty thin on the ground. “I looked at who was getting cast here and the people who look like me were already in jobs,” he says. “It’s often pretty hard to break into this market because there are only so many roles around.”

So McIntyre landed in LA and began knocking on doors. “I must have sent off $600 worth of headshots and show reels to random agents,” he recalls. “I’m sure most of them just threw them out, except for two guys and one of them is still my agent today.”

Soon after, he landed his big break as the title character in hugely popular US TV show Spartacus. “I felt like I could finally call myself an actor and that it could actually be my career, which was incredibly exciting,” he says. “With the Lynx campaign we’re doing now, it’s about knowing yourself and being a complete man, and that was the first time I really felt comfortable in who I am; I found the person I was meant to be.”

But McIntyre was as surprised as anyone to be named the new face of grooming giant Lynx. “It was really unexpected because I got a phone call from this brand I use everyday, and they were talking about being their new ambassador,” he says.

“But how could I possibly say no? Not all ads are great and not all brands are worth putting your name behind, so it was exciting to find out their campaign was about telling a story.

“It’s about being the complete man and, as they say in the ad, showing her what you’re made of,” he continues. “It’s about demonstrating other facets of a man that cane be attractive, as opposed to just being a guy with a six pack and a square jaw.”

Although these days McIntyre looks every bit the movie star, apparently it wasn’t always the case. “I never used to be a stylish kid,” he explains. “But that’s what I like about the campaign – Lynx sent me some research and turns out girls like guys who are into computers slightly more than guys who go to the gym a lot; and they like guys who can cook and have more to them than just looks. If I’d known that as a kid I would have felt a lot better about myself.”

So how is he in the kitchen? “Thanks to Spartacus, I haven’t had to do it in a while,” he admits. "But I do a great breakfast and I can cook a really good steak – in that way I guess am the quintessential Aussie man.”

As for style tips, McIntyre says it’s about knowing what looks good on you. “For me it’s all about fit,” he says. “Not just the way clothes are cut, but the way they match your personality. If an outfit fits your body type and it fits your personality, it's just going to look good on you.”

Clearly McIntyre’s doing something right – he’s soon to tie the knot with fiancée Aussie singer and actress Erin Hasin, and says being attractive is just about being true to who you are.

“Anything that improves you as a person is going to help you with the opposite sex,” he says. “It’s about knowing yourself and really embracing who you are. I don’t know why people hide from that sometimes.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Hercules: The Legend Begins is due out on January 30, 2014.