Spy: Meet the new Shortland Street heart-throb

Mattias Inwood plays Dr Tom Griffiths in Shortland Street.

Get ready Shorty fans — sexy, suave Dr Tom Griffiths is swooping in to charm the women of Ferndale, but watch out; he is set to leave a trail of collateral damage in his wake.

Don't tell actor Mattias Inwood he is about to be a bad boy heart-throb. He would far prefer to simply be called the new guy on the block.

Inwood is a casting coup for Shortland Street — in 2017 he starred in the US series Will, playing a young William Shakespeare. The show was a hit with fans but didn't get renewed for a second season. He followed that up by working on Aussie series Tidelands with acclaimed director Toa Fraser.

"Will was shot in Wales over a seven-month period and was easily one of the best experiences of my life, a lot of fun was had in Cardiff over that time with a pretty amazing group of people," Inwood tells Spy.

"After that I went to Brisbane to work alongside Toa Fraser and Hoodlum, filming in the most amazing locations around Queensland. Great scenery, great people."

Mattias Inwood is heading to Shortland Street.

Inwood, 32, grew up in Wānaka and was 8 when he started in theatre and pretty much knew it was what he wanted to do. In 2015 he graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts at Toi Whakaari in Wellington. That same year he scored his first role on Shannara Chronicles, which was filmed in NZ. That led him to LA and various spots around the world pursuing "this crazy profession".

"Acting is always something I have enjoyed, but never really thought it could be a career — still don't sometimes. It's a feast-or-famine industry, so when it's good, it's really good. The rest of the time it can be pretty soul-crushing. It's not for the faint-hearted and often requires another job on the side to keep you moving."

Now he's firmly back in NZ, Shortland Street provides a welcome stability for the actor and he says he finds a peace being home, that he hasn't felt anywhere else in the world.

He enjoys planting himself at his favourite spot, Archie Cafe in Ponsonby.

Inwood's Shorty character mirrors his own career, having returned from Australia. He is a childhood buddy of Nurse Maeve Mullens, played by Jess Sayer, and he proudly boasts that he was the first and only boy she has ever kissed. He is an anaesthetist with a ruthless streak when it comes to women, which stems from his own troubled upbringing.