From Home and Away to Hollywood: Bec Hewitt’s huge new career move

With her kids growing up fast, Woman’s Day can reveal Bec has left husband Lleyton Hewitt holding the fort at home to film her first movie, with a plan to break into Hollywood after sidelining her acting career to be at the tennis champion’s side.

“It’s very different to what I’ve done before,” revealed Bec, in a short teaser for her new project.

The former teen star is said to have shocked Lleyton with her brave decision to relaunch her career, and finally put herself first after devoting the past 18 years of her life to being a mum and wife.

ENTICING SCRIPT

Bec is currently in Hervey Bay on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast filming a role in the new Aussie thriller 13 Summers, which also stars Home And Away’s Georgie Parker, Wolf Creek’s Nathan Phillips and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist actress Hannah Levien.

“We’ve got a really, really great cast who have all done a lot between them,” says director Tam Sainsbury, who fell in love with the script about two couples caught up in a mystery after a backpacker draws them into a twisted web of lies, deceit and revenge.

“My character is a real estate agent,” confirms 39-year-old Bec, who says she’s revelling in the opportunity to act again.

“I don’t want to give too much away. It’s a very minimal cast, which is something you don’t see every day but that’s because it’s set mainly in this location. I love it! The crew is so lovely. I’m having a really good experience.”

Bec’s reignited passion could become a nightmare for Lleyton, 41, who has relied on Bec, 39, to take charge of raising, Mia 17, Cruz, 14, and Ava, 12, while he has pursued his tennis career and, more recently, his demanding role as Australia’s Davis Cup captain.

Indeed, industry sources confirm “it’s now or never” for Bec to make a move to Hollywood. The annual “pilot season” is underway in Tinseltown, where actors, agents, managers and casting directors come together to find the next crop of stars.

While a trip to LA will come as a blow to Lleyton, insiders say he understands that she gave up everything to support him while he was on the tennis circuit and the family travelled the world, and it’s one of the reasons he splashed out $4 million on a palatial home at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast last year.

WATCH: Bec and Lleyton Hewitt’s daughter Ava’s performance on Dancing With The Stars. Article continues after video.

MOVIE STAR IN THE MAKING

While sources insist the busy family – who now have a home in Sydney after relocating from Melbourne – love spending time on the Gold Coast, it also allows Bec to chase her dream of becoming a movie star after years of being a devoted stay-at-home mum.

The film industry is booming, and having a home at Burleigh Heads puts Bec in the ideal spot to take advantage of the opportunities with more and more films slated to be produced on the Gold Coast in the next two years.

Bec has had to look on enviously while her former Home And Away colleagues, including superstar Chris Hemsworth, have gone on to live their Hollywood dreams, and with her 40th birthday fast approaching, she wants to seize the moment.

She’s also been very open about the fact that she never made a conscious decision to retire from acting, but rather chose to put her career on hold.

But with Ava about to start high school, Cruz, a bona fide junior tennis champion, on target to follow in his dad’s footsteps on the tennis circuit and Mia pursuing her own modelling and acting career, the time is finally right for Bec to put herself first.

And she has Lleyton’s full support, although the tennis champ is hoping her dream can come true on the Gold Coast instead of Hollywood, as his Davis Cup commitments could turn Bec’s dream into a marriage nightmare.