‘Out of control’: Confronting truth behind Sharni Vinson’s big Hollywood move

Exclusive: Sharni Vinson was cast in one of the biggest shows on Australian TV, and later the most successful dance franchise on film. But there’s a confronting truth behind her Hollywood move.

“I was naive,” the now 42-year-old confessed to nine.com.au. Vinson soon learned living in the spotlight was not all it promised to be.

The Aussie actress moved to LA in 2008 at the height of her career. Just two days after wrapping her role as Cassie Turner on Home & Away, the then 24-year-old was on the plane to chase her dreams.

Vinson had only been living in LA for 12 months when she landed her first feature film, the lead role in hit dance franchise Step Up 3D.

It was during the chemistry read she met her “future partner” Twilight star Kellan Lutz (now ex). She never expected their relationship to “blow up” the way it did.

“He was one of the boys who auditioned for the lead role but didn’t end up booking it,” she revealed. “We ended up dating for a couple of years.”

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“But I didn’t know dating a fellow actor would be such a big deal.”

Soon came the moment she vowed to “stay out of the public eye”. At least when it came to her personal life.

“There would be paparazzi out the front of his house when we’re just trying to get coffee, they’d be out in front of my house waiting for us to go to the beach, hiding in the park,” she recalled. “It became very intrusive.”

“I didn’t know it would get so crazy,” she said. “I was a bit naive to how the world worked.”

“I hated the whole media storm of people writing things and making things up because 99.9 per cent of the time, it’s absolute made-up rubbish.”

Outside the relationship, Vinson found the experience “terrible”.

“So since then, I have stayed away from dating actors or any name people can focus on,” she revealed. “It just got out of control. It just wasn’t my thing.”

At least she could focus on dancing and acting.

Step Up 3, released in 2010 and directed by Jon M. Chu (who went on to direct Wicked), grossed a reported US$159.2 million worldwide ($227.97 million). It became the highest grossing film in the franchise.

Immediately after, Vinson was asked to lead 2011 surfing sequel Blue Crush 2 – the original made famous by Kate Bosworth and Michelle Rodriguez.

“That was one of the best jobs I have ever done, it was an incredible experience,” Vinson beamed, looking back at the project she filmed in coastal South Africa.

But, producers couldn’t keep Vinson away from the water.

Soon after she was back in Australia to film 2012 thriller Bait 3D, where she reunited with Home & Away star Lincoln Lewis.

“That was a very crazy shoot because it was again, a very wet movie,” she laughed. “And jeez the animatronic sharks looked incredible.”

Following the highly successful 2013 horror You’re Next, which has grown a huge cult following in the States, Vinson officially moved back to Australia in 2018.

She was promised three seasons of new reality series Dance Boss hosted by Dannii Minogue. The show was cancelled after just one season.

But as COVID hit Australia shores, Vinson realised: “Damn, I actually moved back at the most perfect time.”

And while Vinson lives a relatively private life in Sydney, the actress didn’t disappear “for the last seven years”. Far from it, she spent the last seven years filming superhero Netflix series, The Guardians of Justice.

Funnily enough, it stars ex Kellan Lutz and Step Up 3 co-star Alyson Stoner, despite not sharing any scenes.

Vinson began filming the series in 2015, a satire on the DC superhero universe, and didn’t wrap the show until 2022.

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“It took us seven years because we use seven different types of animation, we had composers from all around the world, we had shifts in cast members, rewrites and COVID in the middle of it,” she explained.

“That’s a big chunk of time you didn’t see. It looks like someone’s not working, but really you’re working behind the scenes.”

The passion project, which Vinson co-executive produced, was picked up by both the Cannes International Series Festival and Netflix in 2002.

“That was a dream to walk those red steps at the Cannes Film Festival,” she said.

Right now, Vinson is living a different kind of dream.

“I really feel like I came in at the most perfect time,” she said looking back at her Home & Away ‘golden years’, a time that also launched the careers of Chris Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, Isla Fisher and Tammin Sursok to name a few.

“But the industry hasn’t been the same since,” she admitted.

“At the moment, I’m very, very happy being back in Australia and spending time with my family because that’s something that was taken away from me for the 11 years I was in the States,” she said.

“I’m very close with my family. It’s almost making up for lost time.”

“I definitely spend a lot of my days doing Pilates, yoga and keeping fit. But I think that’s because my whole philosophy is ‘stay ready’,” she explained.

“You really do have to be a point mentally and physically where you are ready to just drop everything.”

Whether that’s flying to New York to film a dance movie for five months, or to South Africa to film a surf flick with 48 hours notice.

“Because when those calls come in, you never know what they’re going to be.”