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Hit soap saved British star

For Kyle Pryor, landing a role on Home and Away wasn't just another job to add to his resume - it saved him.

After moving to New Zealand in 2006, the English actor later sold everything he owned on a whim and travelled to Sydney to explore opportunities in Australia, staying on his friend's floor and walking to auditions.

But just before finding out he had scored a part on the hit Seven soap, Pryor had been ready to give up on his dreams of stardom.

"It got to that point where I was doing a lot of auditions and not much work was coming in," he explains to Access All Areas.

"I was about to book a flight back to the UK and that was when I got saved by Home and Away. It was like it was meant to be."

Having made his debut in the series this week, Pryor plays Nate Cooper, an ambitious doctor from the city who has been posted against his will to Summer Bay Hospital.

While Pryor is keen to keep Cooper's arrival shrouded in secrecy, he reveals the character is involved in a case of mistaken identity.

"Some of the other characters on the show think he is someone that he is not and he finds that entertaining for a while so he has no problem stringing people along," Pryor says.

With a history performing martial arts, stunts and action- heavy roles in projects such as Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and Spartacus: War or the Damned, Pryor's role on Home and Away is a far cry from what he is used to.

He says filling the boots of Dr Cooper has taken some adjustment.

"It's funny because I have a very strong grounding in the physical aspect of TV and film," Pryor says.

"A lot of the things I have done in the past have been period-based or fantasy but this is more naturalistic so I have to get used to playing a normal guy."

But Pryor jokes he may find a way to weave in his martial arts training somehow.

"I am not too sure about a ninja doctor but you never know, I'll keep my fingers crossed."