He’s best known as a record-smashing Paralympic and Grand Slam tennis star.
But author, business owner and disability advocate Dylan Alcott has now added yet another string to his heaving bow.
The former Australian of the Year has entered acting — and even has his sights set on Hollywood.
Stream the world’s best reality, entertainment and true crime shows for free on 7Bravo on 7plus >>
The 33-year-old says being on stage is something he has “always wanted to do”.
For Alcott, there are three clear reasons: Thriving off sharing stories, challenging himself, and, most importantly, ”ensuring people with disabilities are represented on stage and screen“.
“One in five of the world’s population is disabled, over 1.3 billion people (have) visible and invisible (disabilities). Less than one per cent of them are seen on our screens,” Alcott tells 7NEWS.com.au.
“Growing up, whenever I saw a movie with someone, a character with disabilities, it was an able-bodied person sitting in a wheelchair.
“I was like, ‘This sucks’. So I thought why not give it a crack?”
Alcott says he has been busy “working hard on it”, having acting lessons and landing himself an agent.
Fans can now look out for him in the upcoming season of the Australian TV series, Bump, and as the narrator in the new Sydney stage production of Rocky Horror.
“I’m very grateful for the industry for giving me a crack,” he says.
“Who knows where it’ll take me but, you know, I just really like working with like-minded people who want to promote inclusion.”
Alcott is not new to acting, having appeared in TV commercials, including for the ANZ bank and a new multi-media campaign for the sole trader tax automation tool, Hnry.
“The fact that the industry said yes, you know, people like Hnry, I never worked with people who aren’t backing my ethos and wanting to support what I’m all about,” he says.
“And I’m really lucky that people are getting behind me.”
Alcott laughs as he shares his surprise at how much “waiting around” there is as an actor.
“I come from a world where if I’m doing a commercial it’s built around me,” he says.
“But with the acting, you wait two hours and you get on set for five minutes and they have to reset — just how big it is, is what I’m trying to say.
“There are so many people on set, so many different things and everybody works together.”
“I love that energy.
“I’m really grateful for the roles that I’ve had so far and that people have got behind it and I’m really serious about it.”
Alcott says he has his sights set on trying to do projects “overseas” — one day.
“Hopefully, we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, I’m not too crap at it, we’ll see,” the sports star laughs.
Alcott calls himself a “busy boy”, juggling his new acting opportunities with a media career, two businesses and his charitable organisation, the Dylan Alcott Foundation.
“My main aim in life is to be happy and to enjoy my life,” he says.
As well as being the face of Hnry, Alcott is now a dedicated user of the platform.
“I struggled with (doing tax) as a sole trader,” he says.
“To be able to get it automated and then (be) left with the money that’s yours, it’s a really cool system.”
For more engaging celebrity content, visit 7Life on Facebook.
