Liam Hall was all set to study aeronautical engineering after leaving Marist College in Canberra, when he started to think there was another road for him to follow.
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He was involved in gymnastics at school and contemporary dance and circus skills outside of school, and the creative urge was starting to take over.
''At Marist, it was a great education, it was very academic, and I have no regrets about that, I loved it,'' he said.
''But the creative side felt right. I just knew in my final years of school I wasn't going to be one of those people who jumped into university for the sake of it. I really took a risk and I really believe this is who I am and what I'm meant to be doing, and it brings me a lot of joy.''
And what he is doing now is working as a model and actor with a growing portfolio, living in Sydney but also travelling to Los Angeles to further his career.
In the latest development, Hall, 24, is returning to his home town as the special runway guest at Fashfest, the fashion extravaganza that will run in Canberra from April 30 to May 3.
''I feel quite honoured, actually,'' he said.
''I was more than happy to volunteer my time as someone who grew up in Canberra. And I think what they're doing is absolutely fabulous. It's fantastic to see the success that they're having. I'm really excited to be a part of it.''
Hall grew up in the Tuggeranong suburb of Richardson enjoying a ''very normal childhood'', the oldest of four children of David, ex-military who worked for Defence, and Debbie, a preschool teacher.
After leaving school, he was approached by photographers in Canberra, who urged him to start modelling.
In 2011, he left Canberra on his motorbike with ''a couple of things in a backpack'' to try his luck in Sydney and ended up signing with a top agency, Priscilla's Model Management.
He has since modelled for David Jones, Ben Sherman, Fitness First, Bonds, Van Heusen, Calvin Klein and The Men's Shop, as well as appearing at Mercedes Benz fashion week. He did a commercial for Liptons iced tea and a Cleo magazine spread for Toyota Yaris.
His acting began in 2012 when he completed a course in performing arts at the Brent Street Studio, studying singing, dancing and acting - ''working on the whole triple threat''.
''In my graduation performance, I was approached by some fellows from an acting agency and they suggested I do some screen acting. Pretty much two weeks after that I was able to secure the role of Ryan on the Camp show,'' he said.
Camp was a comedy about campers and counsellors set at a lakeside summer camp, made in Australia for the American network NBC. It starred Australian actors Rachel Griffiths and Rodger Corser and the first series screened in the US, but was not renewed.
It hasn't deterred Hall from continuing his acting.
''You've got to keep plugging away,'' he said. ''There are always opportunities coming up. I'm planning to head back over to LA around October. In the meantime there are a few projects in Australia that I hope to audition for, but I guess time will tell. But I feel that this is all building towards something.''
And no matter if he is in Sydney or LA, Hall is a proud champion of Canberra.
''A lot of people when they ask me 'Where are you from?' and I say, 'Canberra', they sort of laugh and say, 'Oh, that's interesting, I wouldn't have picked it'. I always tell them it's a great little city, very beautiful. It's a young and developing city. But it has that sense of you always running into people you know and it has that homely network, and everyone supports each other. I think it has a really great vibe.''
