He and his family lived in Indonesia for 6 years before returning to Queensland where he grew up in Brisbane, attending St Peter's Lutheran College.

[citation needed] Atwell did some work with Channel 7 at the end of primary school and Children's TV for UNICEF, and also completed a short film made for television.

In year 11, with the help of teachers and other students, he formed a school-sponsored theatre company that produced plays such as Property of the Clan, All Stops Out and Dags.

[citation needed] He completed a film called Acting Out alongside Lara Cox, before taking up his most notable role of Kane Phillips in the soap opera Home and Away.

[8] After leaving Home and Away Atwell travelled to Dublin in 2013, where he was introduced to the producer of the Irish soap Fair City.