The former Home and Away actor and The World’s Strictest Parents host is back in Australia after two-and -a-half years trying to get a break in the US.

After about 150 auditions, Whitehead finally got the break he had been hoping for – a part on the US version of the TV show Shameless and is about to start filming his first feature film.

In April 2013, after three-and-a-half-years on Home and Away, Whitehead’s character Liam Murphy jumped on his motorbike and rode off into the sunset – and off Australian TV screens – on a quest to find success in America. 

“This year’s been fantastic and it just feels like everything has stepped up a level. The hard work is paying off,” he said.

“It’s just a matter of putting in the time, whether it takes five, 10 or 15 years. Nothing good comes easy so you’ve got to keep on going.

“I’m just starting to book some work, which is great. It’s taken a little while.”

Whitehead has put in the hard yards on the audition circuit.

“It’s been a very humbling. It’s been a struggle at times. It’s been enlightening. It’s been a hell of a lot of fun,” he said.

From the first audition with the casting director, an actor might get a call back which means another audition with the casting director before meeting the director or writer/producer where you do another audition.

“If they like you from there you start doing the studio test or the network test. That’s when they’re down to their final three, four people.”

Then comes the final audition in front of about “20 suits” – the financial backers, writers, producers, directors and the show’s lead actors.

“I’ve got down to the final two or three a bunch of times and I’ve now learnt that you go into the room, you be yourself, do your best performance and walk out of there and forget about it,” Whitehead said.

“There is so much of it is out of your control. It might be that the other bloke’s got brown eyes or he looks more like the guy. 

“He might have done a better performance. It does come down to finding the right person.”

During pilot season, which runs from January to March, there might be seven to 10 auditions a week.

“There’ll be another pilot or movie script you’ve got to read or get down – 10 pages of dialogue overnight or if you get 48 hours that’s quite a luxury. You’ve really got to be on your game. That’s when it’s just crazy over there,” Whitehead said.

”If you get emotionally invested in every audition you can drive yourself absolutely crazy.”

After countless hours of auditions, Whitehead last year won a part in five episodes on Showtime’s Shameless which stars William H. Macy, Joan Cusack and Emmy Rossum.

“I actually didn’t get any scenes with William H. Macy but I did get to meet him on one of the readthroughs which was great,” Whitehead said.

Most of his scenes, which were filmed at Warner Bros studios, were with Emmy Rossum who plays Fiona on the show.

“That was amazing to get my first gig. To be on a US set,” he said.

“Usually when you are doing an audition you park outside in the car park and you have to walk through the gate and this day I could drive onto the lot ... I had a parking spot and I thought ‘wow’.

“After all the work you put in and all the gigs you’ve got really close to and you get a bit of work. It was a great feeling.”

Whitehead’s will also start filming on his first US feature in February. 

The film is a black comedy called Craftique, similar to This is Spinal Tap, Best In Show and Waiting for Guffman.

The heavily improvised film is based around an arts and craft trade show in New Orleans with the main characters trying to get a contract with a DIY television show. 

“I’m playing a Texas strip club owner and my wife is a dancer in the strip club. We have a daycare centre within the strip club, because I’m quite a shabby businessman. It’s a really funny script,” Whitehead said.

The independent film, which has a budget of $4 to $5 million, stars Danny Trejo and Larry Miller.

Whitehead is also set to return to Australian television screens next year as 1969 Bathurst winner Colin Bond in the Channel 10 mini-series about racing legend Peter Brock.

“We had a read through the other day. It’s a really great script and great cast,” he said.

“Growing up I always wanted to be a rally car driver. Colin Bond was a great touring car driver and a great rally car driver, so I’m very excited to be playing him. I’m secretly hoping it will be my launch into the racing world.”

However, it is motorcycles rather than cars that Whitehead has a passion for.

“If I had to pick a famous actor or a GP rider, I’d pick a GP rider. I’d rather be Valentino Rossi, or (Dani) Pedrosa, than Brad Pitt,” he said.

But for now he is enjoying being back in Australia, catching up with family and working on the family’s sheep and crop farm at Hawkesdale.

“After two-and-a-half years I’ve been missing Australia really. Getting out of LA and getting home and working is just the greatest thing. 

“When I was at school it was either the farm or music and I chose music.

“Working the farm with my brother is still very much in my blood. It’s the one place I can really come back and recharge and probably the one place I’m at my most happiest.”

Whitehead grew up in Hawkesdale, where he went to kinder. He went to school in Hamilton until year seven before finishing his schooling at Geelong Grammar. He then studied jazz at the Victorian College of the Arts. 

While Whitehead hasn’t been focusing on his music as much as he would like, he has been playing Americana and folk music with a band in the US. He has even played a couple of gigs at the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard.

Whitehead has also written a number of tracks but has yet to record them, something he was hoping to do before return to the US.

It was music that brought Axle to our TV screens in 2003 when he auditioned for Australian Idol.

He had just returned from a tour with a band in China and a friend talked him into trying out.

At 6am, he lined up alongside other hopefuls, including those dressed in bear suits.

“ I thought ‘no, I’m a professional musician, I don’t want to do this rubbish’,” he said.

But after 10 hours of waiting in line he was selected to go to Sydney and sing on TV.

“That was sort of my break. Then I got a gig hosting Video Hits.”

For a 24-year-old musician who was living off the small of an oily rag by making coffees and doing corporate and wedding gigs, “having a wage and being on TV was a big jump”, he said.

For three-and-a-half years Whitehead was a host of what was Australia’s flagship music show.

“We got to fly around the world and interview everyone from Beyonce and Oasis and Duran Duran, Justin Timberlake,” he said.

“That was a blast.”