On Home and Away, he was Darren Nasser, a swarthy detective investigating a chemical attack at the Summer Bay Surf Club.
Since his time in The Bay, actor Julian Maroun has appeared in a range of other popular TV series, including acclaimed political drama Total Control and the comedy Aftertaste.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Home and Away actor’s Down syndrome brother learns Zumba.
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He is soon to be seen in the upcoming movie The Correspondent, the story of Australian journalist Peter Greste who was jailed in Egypt on trumped-up terrorism charges.
But it’s not the film and television roles that Maroun considers his most important.
Away from the screen, the 30-year-old Sydney actor has assumed responsibilities for his brother Luke, who was born with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.
The pair is inseparable, with 27-year-old Luke now even a celebrity in his own right — his myriad of achievements highlighted on social media.
With Maroun and his finacée Elise playing a pivotal role in Luke’s care, the young adult has made incredible strides despite his twin conditions, which primarily impact his speech and movement.
He is now able to communicate in a simple way, and not only walks more easily but also engages in regular dance classes.
Recently, the WWE fan even took his first plane rides, after the American professional wrestling association invited him as a special guest to its Elimination Chamber event in Perth.
And at the Sydney cafe where he is a regular with his big brother, Luke affectionately offers other patrons a cheery high five and tells them that, since just the day before, “I missed you”.
Luke’s ability to live a fuller and more sociable life wasn’t always a given.
“It was very scary at the time,” Maroun says of the uncertainty his parents felt when his brother was born.
“We didn’t know if he was going to adapt normally as a baby and if he was even going to make it past a certain age.
“There are a lot of health complications associated with his condition.
“As an adult now, he is able to speak and communicate, and to walk with a fitted leg splint, but he still has the capacity to move freely despite his physical limitations.”
But Maroun says his younger brother has proven more about what he can than can’t do.
“He’s shown how many glass ceilings he’s willing to break, and how much he’s willing to learn and expand and evolve,” Maroun says proudly.
“I’m seeing him do things that a lot of the professionals told us with some certainty that he would never be able to do — including dance, engaging in multi-sentence conversations with people, and just gaining a large amount of independence.”
The changes have largely come about since Maroun assumed a more active role in Luke’s care; before the start of COVID, he had been singularly cared for by the brothers’ parents.
During lockdowns, Maroun and Elise welcomed Luke into their “bubble”, as he began to spend more time away from the home he had always known.
“It’s been hard for my parents to let go of many of the more nuanced aspects of Luke’s care, particularly because caring for him is so comprehensive — it’s always been their life,” Maroun says.
“There are so many little things we might take for granted that they’ve had to focus and work through with him since he was a very young child and still, to this day, as an adult.
“There‘s the small things — like having to cut food up a certain way or having to understand and listen very closely to what he’s trying to say and decipher what he’s trying to communicate — to personal care, and assisting him completing daily tasks.
“It’s a constant supervision, given the difficulties of communication and physical limitations that he has.
“It can feel like a full-time thing, but I guess I don’t know any different because that’s what we’ve done my whole life, and we’ve all done so happily.”
Since gaining a greater sense of independence, Luke has blossomed.
His progress is now the subject of his own Instagram, lukemaroun, in which he is seen smiling and laughing as he engages in activities such as helping Elise cook.
In one time-lapsed video, put together over 12 months, Luke is seen going from ‘concrete feet’ at a group Zumba class to tearing up the floor.
Over on Maroun’s Instagram, the actor often uses the hashtag #homiewithanextrachromie, a respectful social media way of referring to people with Down syndrome, in which people are born with an extra chromosome.
“I started seeing him and Elise going for walks together, and preparing food together and doing dance classes,” Maroun says.
“And it became a very, very, very gradual progression where Luke was able to maintain a healthier weight, and we were able to implement a meal prep service so he had consistency with his eating, which was really beneficial.
“I started noticing how he was just improving, not only physically and emotionally and mentally, but also that he was developing an enormous amount of confidence and a willingness to try new things.”
Maroun describes the relationship between him, Luke and Elise as a “family among ourselves, like a triumvirate”.
“Luke has improved immensely thanks to the support of Elise,” Maroun says.
“She’s brings so much strength, and it’s this ability of hers to nurture and care that’s allowed us to develop and grow together as a unit.
“It’s definitely a unit now and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Although Luke’s care is Maroun’s main priority, he is equally passionate about his acting career.
He is especially proud of his role as Detective Darren Nasser on Home and Away, being the first character with a Middle Eastern background to have appeared on the popular Channel 7 drama.
Maroun had just returned from a year in Los Angeles when early COVID prompted lockdowns “and it felt as if the industry was going to disappear”.
“Then all of a sudden I was on Home and Away, which was incredible because for so long it was just considered a place where you wouldn’t really see anyone of Middle Eastern descent,” he says.
“I found myself playing this great character, someone who wasn’t a villain but there to solve a crime.
“I really, really, really enjoyed that. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had as an actor.”
Since Home and Away, Maroun has played an array of roles in primarily Foxtel, ABC and SBS productions.
But one of his first parts was in the 2018 Foxtel drama series Fighting Season, about Australian soldiers trying to adjust to life after returning from Afghanistan.
In that series, he was able to secure an extras role for Luke.
“It was a really fun experience and really exemplified just how much the industry is changing and becoming more open and accessible,” he says.
“He was able to do a TV commercial in 2022 and it was a really special experience watching just how much he loved the entire process.”
Maroun is always looking for new ways to foster opportunities for social growth for his brother, and often takes Luke to red carpet events and other functions — where the brothers are considered somewhat of a package.
“I plan to continue to take Luke with me wherever I go, for as long as he wants to do it, and to be able to open doors for us to do this and live this dream out together,” Maroun says.
“I’d love for Luke to become able to book his own appointments and appear on his own shows and appear in his own segments as an entity in and of himself.
“And I see the way he loves his Instagram and the way other people love to interact with what he’s doing.”
‘Incredibly lucky’
Maroun is working on a short film based around his and Luke’s experiences together, a project he says is “going to be wonderful”.
“I truly believe that what Luke has to offer is miles ahead of anything that I ever could, so I can’t wait to see him be able to be a personality in and of himself,” Maroun says.
“One thing that I want to articulate is that as beautiful and as amazing as this lived experience is, I recognise that we’re incredibly lucky to have each other.
“As a family, my parents, sister, and I have always held Luke at the core of all we do.”
Maroun also hopes that, in general, people with different abilities can be more widely seen in film and on television.
“I think a lot about some of the environments and other situations that people with similar disabilities or situations to Luke might be in,” he says.
“It’s a massive dream and goal of mine to continue to try and better the circumstances wherever I can, and to be involved in progressing the space for people with disabilities in whatever capacity I’m able to.”
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