H20 adds Luke to mix for new series

MEET the latest heart-throb of the hit TV series H20: Just Add Water -- and he's all ours. Nerang's Luke Mitchell has joined the cast of the Channel Ten series and yesterday he was filming beach scenes for season three at Miami beach.

The 23-year-old plays Will Benjamin, a strong, athletic free diver who has spent his life travelling the world with his family on a small yacht. Luke's character is a shy and reserved non-conformist 17-year-old who has a passionate love of water and marine life.

"There are definitely some parallels between myself and the character," said Luke. "I do love the ocean, having grown up on the Gold Coast, and I'm a very passionate and determined person." As a kid Luke dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player and, from the age of six, trained hard.

Even after completing Year 12 at Nerang State High School, sport was his life. However, Luke had a complete change of heart. "Tennis was all I had and I wanted to try different things," he said. "I found myself in a private acting class one day and I really enjoyed it.

"I just discovered that I could do it, even though I never took drama at school." Luke took acting classes and worked on various student films for some extra cash. He tried amateur theatre at Tugun, scored a role in an independently produced feature film and worked with an entertainment company at Luna Park in Melbourne.

However, his big break came when he was cast as bad boy Chris Knight in Neighbours. The gig lasted only two months, but it was enough to get the attention of the producers of H20. Halfway through last year, Luke auditioned with Cariba Heine (Rikki) and Indiana Evans (Bella) -- he even had his swimming ability tested.

"They had a camera at the bottom of the pool filming and I was told to dolphin kick towards the cameras and not look like I was struggling, which wasn't easy," he said. "I wasn't sure about the swimming part, but I had a good vibe."

The first 13 episodes of the 26-part series