From humble beginnings in Lower Hutt to the shining lights of Hollywood, Julian Dennison has been on an epic five-year journey to become one of New Zealand's brightest new stars.
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After starring as Ricky Baker in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Julian went on to star in Deadpool 2 with Ryan Reynolds - and there's more to come.
Dennison told The AM Show that despite his fame, he's still just a Kiwi kid.
"I still catch the train to school. In this industry there's so many fake people and you just need to stay true to yourself."
Asked how he manages to stay so down-to-earth, he said he has a good support system.
"My family, my management team, my publicist, my parents definitely; really genuine people who want to help me succeed; my faith in God and staying true to who I am - and I feel like people really like that.
"At the moment there's a lot of stuff going on in the world and I think people like nice people."
He says his first acting gig happened by chance when he was in class at nine years old.
"We were just chilling in the computer room and they asked all the Pacific and Māori kids to go to the hall. I thought we were in trouble, but there were casting agents there. I don't remember doing anything special, I think they just saw what I was doing and saw I could have fun with it."
And ever since, Dennison has been on the up - meeting A-listers from Wellywood to Hollywood.
"Ryan Reynolds is a really cool dude, really genuine. I got to meet his kids and his wife Blake, and they're just a really cool family, really positive, he's a really nice and genuine guy.
"I met Sam Neill and that was super cool, he was a super-cool dude. Alpha male. He's a super confident dude. You know what else brings you confidence? Lynx New Zealand."
Dennison is currently appearing in an ad campaign for the deodorant brand.
He says he doesn't really care about people's opinions of him.
"I'm very lucky. I haven't been doing this for a long time and I've been very fortunate of what I've been able to do and to have this influence.
"At the end of the day I'm my biggest critic. As long as I feel like I'm doing my best, I'm doing my best."
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