Getting started

There are many aspiring actresses and tennis players around the world.

For Bec and Lleyton to be successful in their chosen fields, they started committed to their profession at a young age.
Here is their comments on how they got started.

Bec

As a little girl I was very chatty and outgoing. My mum says we’d hop on a train and by the end of the trip I’d have the whole carriage talking to me!

I began dance classes when I was three and it was actually my dance teacher who suggested to my Mum to put me into an agency.

So one day, at the age of five, Mum and I hopped onto a train and headed into the city where I auditioned for my first agency (Joan Gibson Agency), where I performed a song and dance for them and was accepted to join. It went from there and before I knew it I was going to castings and had shot my first television commercial – “My Little Pony” for the USA.

I continued with my dancing and later on joined a performing arts school, where I also took singing and drama classes as well. I absolutely loved it and it’s great to help build your confidence.

When I was 14 I was lucky enough to get an audition for Home & Away. I was so thrilled to play a regular character on the show, Hayley Smith – a troubled teenager.

Being part of such a popular television program at such a young age, I learned how to juggle school with a busy shooting schedule, the discipline you need to be properly prepared and learn your lines, how it all works – behind the scenes and best of all great writing material which I could play around with.

Lleyton

I first picked up a racket at age 5 when my mum and dad were playing social tennis at a local Adelaide club called Seaside Tennis Club. It was here that I commenced tennis lessons in a group environment..

The following year, I started having private one on one lessons with Peter Smith at the Denman Tennis Club which consisted of an hour session every week.

When I was 10 I was playing a lot of aussie rules football and tennis. I got invited to try out for the state development squad, which I made. That’s when I started training a lot more.

I represented Australia in junior teams from the age of 13 and had to make the tough choice to give up footy to concentrate more on tennis.

I continued working with Peter Smith throughout that time cause he was the best coach for me. He was still my coach when I qualified for the Australian Open at 15 and won the Australian Men’s Hardcourt in Adelaide when I was 16.