Ryan Christian Kwanten (born 28 November 1976) is an Australian actor and producer. He played

Vinnie Patterson Vincent "Vinnie" Patterson is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Ryan Kwanten. He made his first on screen appearance on 14 July 1997 and departed on 1 March 2002. Development In 1999, Vinnie was d ...

from 1997 to 2002 in the Australian

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

''. After his stint ended, he joined the American

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

series '' Summerland'', portraying Jay Robertson. From 2008 to 2014, he played

Jason Stackhouse Jason Stackhouse is a fictional character from ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'' book series by author Charlaine Harris. Introduced in the first novel, ''Dead Until Dark'', Jason is Sookie Stackhouse's older brother and road crew supervisor for ...

in ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

''. From 2018 to 2019 he produced and starred in the

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

series ''

The Oath The Oath may refer to: Books * ''The Oath'' (Wiesel novel), a 1973 novel by Elie Wiesel * ''The Oath'' (Peretti novel), a 1995 novel by Frank E. Peretti * '' The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court'', a 2012 book by Jeffrey Toobin ...

'' as Steve Hammond. In 2021 he starred in season one of the

horror drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

Them Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...

'' as George Bell.

Early life

Kwanten was born one of three brothers in

Terrigal Terrigal is a coastal town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located east of Gosford on the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the local government area. History Terrigal was first settled in 1826 by European Settler John Gray, ...

, New South Wales. The boys were raised by mother Kris, a Lifeline op shop coordinator, and father Eddie Kwanten, a worker at

NSW Maritime NSW Maritime, the trading name of Maritime Authority of New South Wales, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia responsible for marine safety, regulation of commercial and recreational boating and oversight of port operatio ...

. Eddie is

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

. Ryan's brothers are Mitchell, a musician, and Lloyd, a doctor. Ryan attended St Paul's Catholic College in Manly and later earned a degree in commerce from

The University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Career

Kwanten began acting on the television shows ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

'', '' Hey Dad..!'' and '' Spellbinder''. In 1997, he joined the cast of the Australian soap opera ''

'', playing

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED first a ...

Vinnie Patterson. He eventually chose to leave the series in 2002, shortly after his character married and became a father. Kwanten had previously guest starred on the serial as Robbie Taylor in 1994. Moving to the United States, Kwanten was cast as Jay Robertson in '' Summerland'' (2004–05). He appeared in the films ''

Flicka ''Flicka'' is a 2006 American family adventure drama film loosely based on the 1941 children's novel '' My Friend Flicka'' by Mary O'Hara. The film is directed by Michael Mayer and written by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner. The novel had pr ...

'' (2006), with

Maria Bello Maria Elena Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress and writer. Her film roles include '' Permanent Midnight'' (1998), '' Payback'' (1999), '' Coyote Ugly'' (2000), ''The Cooler'' (2003), '' A History of Violence'' (2005), '' The Mumm ...

Alison Lohman Alison Marion Lohman (born September 18, 1979) is an American former actress. Born in Palm Springs, California, she began her career with small roles in short and independent films. Lohman headlined the drama film '' White Oleander'' (2002), wh ...

and

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

, and ''

Dead Silence ''Dead Silence'' is a 2007 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. The film stars Ryan Kwanten as Jamie Ashen, a young widower returning to his hometown to search for answers to his wife's death. I ...

'' (2007), a horror film in which he played the leading role, Jamie Ashen. Kwanten appeared in a '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' episode that aired on 2 December 2008, in which he portrayed Dominic Pruitt, a US

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

Master Sergeant accused of raping and murdering a pregnant fellow Marine. In 2009, he starred in the film ''

Don't Fade Away ''Don't Fade Away'' is a 2011 coming-of-age drama film starring Mischa Barton and Ryan Kwanten. The film was produced by Origin Entertainment Group and was shot in Los Angeles and North Carolina. It was released on DVD in Australia on April 6, 2 ...

'' with

Mischa Barton Mischa Anne Marsden Barton (born 24 January 1986) is a British-American film, television, and stage actress. She began her career on the stage, appearing in Tony Kushner's ''Slavs!'' and took the lead in James Lapine's '' Twelve Dreams'' at Ne ...

and

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was a ...

. In 2010, Kwanten voiced the role of Kludd in the animated-epic film '' Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole'', although he was originally set to voice the film's protagonist Sorren before the role went to

Jim Sturgess James Anthony Sturgess''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 16 May 1978) is an English actor and singer-songwriter. His first major role was as Jude in the musical romance drama film ''Acro ...

. Kwanten played the role of

in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

'', based on

Charlaine Harris Charlaine Harris Schulz (born November 25, 1951) is an American author who specializes in Mystery fiction, mysteries. She is best known for her book series ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', which was adapted as the TV series ''True Blood''. The ...

's ''

The Southern Vampire Mysteries ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', also known as ''The True Blood Novels'' and ''The Sookie Stackhouse Novels'', is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris. The first installment, ''Dead Until Dark'' (2001), won the Ant ...

'' series of novels, which aired from 2008 until 2014. In 2010 he starred in the psychological thriller '' Red Hill'', which was directed by Patrick Hughes. He won a lead role in the 2013 Joe Lynch comedy-horror film ''

Knights of Badassdom ''Knights of Badassdom'' is a 2013 American comedy horror film, directed by Joe Lynch, written by Kevin Dreyfuss and Matt Wall. It stars Ryan Kwanten, Steve Zahn, Summer Glau, and Peter Dinklage. Plot In a forest, a group of friends are partic ...

'' along with

Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include ''Reality Bites'' (1994), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken Li ...

, Summer Glau and

Peter Dinklage Peter Hayden Dinklage (; born June 11, 1969) is an American film, television and stage actor. He received international recognition for portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which he ...

. In October 2010, it was announced that Kwanten will play

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

in an upcoming, yet-to-be-titled biopic, to be directed by Brad Anderson. In 2012, he appeared in Joe Penna's video "Dual Action". In 2013, Kwanten played

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

character "Venom" in the short film ''

Truth in Journalism Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, ...

'' and portrayed Conall in the 2014 action adventure film '' Northmen: A Viking Saga''. In 2015, Kwanten voiced the role of Blinky Bill, a koala in ''

Blinky Bill the Movie ''Blinky Bill the Movie'' is a 2015 Australian computer-animated adventure comedy film based on the Blinky Bill character, an anthropomorphic koala created by Dorothy Wall for a children's book series in 1933. The film was produced by Flyin ...

'' alongside

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in '' Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), '' A Knight's Tale ''(2001), '' Th ...

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...

Robin McLeavy Robin McLeavy (born 19 June 1981) is an Australian actress. Early life McLeavy is from Sydney, Australia. She graduated from NIDA in 2004. Career McLeavy starred as Lola Stone in the critically acclaimed Australian horror film, '' The Loved ...

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in ''Van Helsing'', Dilios in ''300'' and ...

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

Deborah Mailman Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman played the character Kelly Lewis on the Australian television series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and Cherie Butterfield in the Australian c ...

, and

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film prod ...

. In 2019, Kwanten was a series regular in the second season of

Blumhouse Television Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum. It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as ''Paranormal Activity'', ''Insidio ...

and

Facebook Watch Facebook Watch is a video on demand service operated by American company Meta Platforms (previously named Facebook, Inc.). The company announced the service in August 2017 and was available to all U.S. users that month. Facebook Watch's original ...

's '' Sacred Lies: The Singing Bones'', playing the character of Peter Wolfe, an

inmate A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

and the estranged father of the series'

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, Elsie, played by Jordan Alexander. The series takes inspiration from a

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

as well as real-life murder cases. From 2018-2019 he produced and starred in the

series ''

'' as Steve Hammond. His most recent roles include '' 2067'', an Australian-American science fiction film in which he plays Jude Mathers and 2021's ''

'', as

milkman Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk. This service typically delivers milk in bottles or cartons directly to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a cow ...

George Bell.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
From vampires to superheroes: Ryan Kwanten talks 'Griff the Invisible
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwanten, Ryan 1976 births 20th-century Australian male actors 21st-century Australian male actors Australian expatriate male actors in the United States Australian male film actors Australian male voice actors Australian male soap opera actors Australian male television actors Australian people of Dutch descent Living people Male actors from Sydney University of Sydney alumni Australian male child actors Blinky Bill