Ryan Kwanten

Ryan Kwanten is on one of my favorite TV Shows. True Blood.

I'm a little less in love with that show then I was a few weeks ago.

Because....

A) It's been overshadowed in my heart by another Vampire story.

B) I wasn't pleased with the season finale. I'm worried it's going to end up like Nip/Tuck...have two amazing first seasons, and then turn into total crap.

On True Blood, Kwanten has a southern accent. When I would watch him, he'd remind me so much of someone I used to know. Who? I didn't know. I figured it was someone I knew in high school or college; but I couldn't figure out who exactly it was.

One day I watched Kwanten on YouTube. I wanted to see what he was like as an Australian. And yeah....not hard to guess, but of course, I found him much more appealing as an Aussie. I decided maybe I might have a very mild crush on him. (mild crush= I find him appealing, but I'm not having fantasies or anything. Mild crushes though can always grow into big crushes).

Then sometime later, Tim and I were watching Bill Maher. They showed a photo of George W. Bush.

Guess who Bush looked like?

Ryan Kwanten in True Blood! I then realized it hadn't been an old classmate that Kwanten reminded me of. He reminded me of our ex-president.

Shit.

Well, of course any elements of a crush quickly vanished.

I just thought of something though. I wonder if the Bush element is purposeful at all. Maybe Kwanten used Bush as a model for the role. I mean the physical resemblance is there, but I think it goes deeper than that.

Anyway, I guess I should start my research.

Baby Ryan was born on 28 November 1976. When that mild crush first appeared, I was very relieved to see he was born only four years after me. Lately, the objects of my mild crushes are embarrassingly young. I mean it's not embarrassing for them....more for me. I need to grow up and crush on people like.... Pierce Bronson.

I think Obama is pretty sexy, and he's older than me.

No. I need an Australian.

Hugo Weaving! That would work. And he's way older than me.

Back to Kwanten. He was born in Sydney. He has Belgian ancestors.

It seems his career blossomed in 1997. He starred in Home and Away as a lifeguard. He was on the show until 2004. He was adored by his fans. He became a sex symbol.

There's some contradictory information here. In one place, Lord Wiki says Kwanten was on Home and Away until 2004. In another place, he says Kwanten quit in 2002. Maybe IMDb will clear that up. I'll consult them later.

Actually, Lord Wiki's post is really short. I guess I'll go to IMDb now.

His first TV appearance was in A Country Practice. He guest-starred on a two part episode in 1992. Kwanten would have been about sixteen then.

In 1994, Kwanten had a part in a movie called Signal One. It was directed by Rod Stewart. But I just checked. It's not Rod Stewart the singer guy.

Kwanten was featured in two episodes of G.P. One was in 1993, and the other was in 1994. I'm guessing the episodes were probably close together though. Maybe one was in December 1993, and the other was in January 1994. Or maybe I'm totally wrong.

I'm going to skip over some stuff. Sorry.

I'll stop in 1995. He did a series called Echo Point. I can't tell if this was one of those miniseries, or a series that failed and disappeared. It looks like it was on for only one year.

YouTube has some stuff from Echo Point, but I'm not sure if Kwanten will be in it.

Hey! That's Becky! From McLeod's Daughters! She's another person I've had a mild crush on! She's so damn adorable.

In 1997, Kwanten did twenty-six episodes of Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon That's a lot of episodes. It's a fairly substantial part. Well, the show actually lasted twenty-six episodes. So, Kwanten was in every episode. It looks like he was one of the main stars. Most of the cast seems to have Asian names. It looks like it's some kind of fantasy show involving Asian mythology.

It was a Saturday morning kid's show. It sounds good. It's about a sister and brother who travel to different worlds. It sounds a bit like Sliders; and there was an earlier show like that. I think it was called something like Other World.

Ah. Here it is on TV.com It was called Otherworld.

Spellbinder was filmed partly in China, so Kwanten got to do some traveling. That would probably be exciting.

Here's some scenes from the show. Kwanten appears in a blue shirt at around 3:46. He looks so different...very young. You know who he reminds me of? The older brother on The Wonder Years.

IMDb puts Kwanten's Home and Away years between 1998 and 2002.

He was only in sixteen episodes. Really? That sure doesn't seem like a lot. Am I missing something here?

Oh. I think I've cleared up the 2004 thing. Lord Wiki has an entry on Kwanten's character...Vinnie Patterson. The character (played by a different actor) made a guest appearance in 2004. I guess maybe they needed him for a funeral or something. I'm just assuming it had to be a case where it wouldn't make sense for his character NOT to be there.

Here's some scenes with Kwanten on the show. The picture quality is not so great, and Kwanten still reminds me of The Wonder Years guy.

In 2002, Kwanten made the move that a lot of Australian actors make. He came to America.

His first American appearance was a TV movie called The Junction Boys. It's about a coach at Texas A and M University. I have a friend that went there. She was a very dedicated and spirited fan of her school.

Oh wow. This is interesting. The trivia page says it was filmed mostly in Australia. Ah. So maybe Kwanten didn't move before this movie. It is an American movie though. I wonder why they went to Australia to film it. Most of the characters are played by Australians using fake Texas accents. That's pretty funny.

I guess Kwanten was still in Australia in 2003. He did a movie called Liquid Bridge. He was the star. He plays a surfer whose goals are hindered by his father who had been seriously injured in a surfing accident.

Part of the movie was filmed in Manly....one of our favorite places in Sydney.

Okay, I think THIS show might have been Kwanten's first in America. It was called The Handler. It was filmed in Los Angeles. There were only sixteen episodes. Kwanten appeared in one of them.
Around that same time, he also appeared in the TV show Tru Calling. This starred Eliza Dushka from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ah. A vampire connection!

I'm guessing 2003 was rough for Kwanten. He was in a new country. I'm guessing he struggled somewhat to find work.

In 2004, he was in a movie called American Brown. It looks like a small independent thing. Kwanten is listed fairly low in the credits, so I doubt he had a huge role.

Here's the trailer for the film. Maybe Kwanten will be in it. Oh! He IS in the trailer...immediately. Maybe he does have a big role. He has that Texas accent again.

I think he's actually the star of the movie.

I'm still seeing Wonder Years brother, and I'm not seeing much of George W. Bush yet.

Also in 2004, we have Summerland. It lasted for twenty-six episodes, and it looks like Kwanten was one of the stars. It was created by Lori Loughlin from Full House. And she starred in it.

Well, this is exciting. I just started watching a scene on YouTube. The show is American, but Kwanten has an Australian accent. An Australian playing an Australian on American TV. That's a novel concept.

Okay, in this show I'm starting to see a little bit of Bush. And that surprised me. I would expect that only when he's doing the Southern accent.

In 2006, Kwanten was in a horse movie called Flicka. That sounds vaguely familar to me. I haven't seen it. I don't usually do horse movies. I've never been much of a horse-girl. I'm more of a shark girl. Although I did go through a dolphin stage once.

Part of Flicka was filmed in Wyoming. I'd like to go there someday.

Youtube has some bloopers from the film. Maybe Kwanten will be in it. Yeah. He's in it. He has a pretty big part starting at 1:35. I don't really get what's so funny though.

In 2007, Kwanten starred in a horror movie called Dead Silence. It was about a ventriloquist. I actually sort of remember that. I mean I never saw it, but I might have seen the trailer for it.

Speaking of horror movies, last night I saw the last 20-30 minutes of Freddy Vs. Jason. It was actually somewhat entertaining. I thought it was a little rude that they left Michael Myers out of it though.

Dead Silence was made by the guy who does the Saw Movies. I've never seen any of those. Are they any good? Oh, the guy has a collaborator for the Saw movies, and this Dead Silence thing. And the collaborator is Australian. I'll add him to my list.

Here's the trailer for Dead Silence. Yeah. I think I've seen that. It looks interesting, but not something I'd rush out to see.

Kwanten did a few guest star appearances on TV. I won't go into that.

He did a movie with The Six Sense's little sick ghost girl. This was called Don't Fade Away. It's about a music manager person who has to return home to take care of his dying father. Here's the trailer.

Beau Bridges plays the dad. I liked him when he was on Desperate Housewives. That was a beautiful episode.

Okay. NOW we get to the show I love. True Blood. It's brilliant...or at least it was brilliant until the last twenty minutes of the last season finale. There's a lot of argument out there about which is better...True Blood or Twilight. I personally love both. I saw the movie Twilight first. I will say I liked the TV show of True Blood MUCH better. Then I read the Twilight books. I probably like the books as much as I like the True Blood TV show. Now I just have to read the novels that True Blood is based on, and make that comparison.

There's some interesting similarities between the two stories....I mean besides the fact that they're both about vampires. I'm not sure if these similarities are coincidences, or if one creative person accidentally copied the other creative person.


I just checked my bookshelf (of books I soon plan to read) Charlene Harris' first Sookie Stackhouse novel was published in 2001. Stephanie Meyer didn't have the dream that inspired her Twilight novels until 2003. Meyer claims to not be a vampire-fiction fan. So I'm going to believe she didn't read the Stackhouse novel.

I'd like to believe it is all a coincidence.

I like to believe writers like Meyers, Harris, and Rowling are channeling stories from some other world that us earthlings all need to hear. Kind of like there are flood and virgin birth stories in various world religions.

Anyway, here are some of the similarities/coincidences that I've noticed.

A) Both Twilight and True Blood involve a character who can hear the thoughts of others. The characters in each fall in love with an individual whose mind they can't read. In Twilight, it's a vampire with the power. In True Blood, it's a human.

B) Both stories have a love triangle between a human, a vampire, and a shapeshifter.

C) Both stories involve a human with supernatural friends. In each of the stories, this human is not quite like other humans. There's something special and powerful about her.

D) In both stories there seems to be animosity between the shapeshifters and vampires.


Ryan Kwanten (no, I didn't forget about him) plays the brother of Sookie Stackhouse...True Blood's mind reader. She's in a relationship with a vampire. Kwanten himself goes on all kinds of adventures...including joining an anti-vampire church.

Here's a Kwanten scene in True Blood.

And here's another scene that he's in. It's one of my favorite scenes in the show, and features my favorite character. Godric. I am RARELY a love (or crush) at first site person. But when Godric first appeared on that show, my little heart stopped. Okay, and this is an example of me wanting to rob the cradle. The actor who plays Godric was born in 1989. Shit. That's horrible. He might not even be twenty yet. Okay, but in my defense....the character he plays is thousands of years old.

The vampire in the scene, with the Elvis accent, is British in real life. I love all these fake accents. Anna Paquin is especially delicious.

Godric (who actually doesn't appear until 2:48) in the video is a lot like the character of Carlyle in Twilight. See? More similarities....

This post is so long. It's already past two o'clock. And I haven't even really talked about Kwanten much. Should I say oh well...oops. Good-bye. Or should I continue?

I guess I should continue.

As for upcoming projects, Kwanten will be in that animated movie I've mentioned in other posts. Guardians of Ga'Hoole. A bunch of Australian people are in it. It's based on a series of books...actually written by an American. I'm not sure why the movie has so many Australians in it. Well, it was filmed in Australia. That might explain why.

Kwanten is also going to be in an upcoming Australian project called Griff the Invisible.

Here's an interview about Kwanten in Women's Health. I'm not sure if it's American, or Australian.

He's asked about the difference between American and Australian women. He says, Australian women tend to tell it like it is—even if it's the brutal, honest truth. I think American women usually break it to you a little easier. There's a softer side to them.


Well, that's not something I've observed. Maybe American women are nicer to him because he's Australian, and that's different and exciting. The first time we went to Australia, I thought Australians were SO incredibly friendly. My Australian friend said when she lived in America, Americans were so friendly. I finally concluded that we each might have gotten special attention because we came from elsewhere.

Kwanten says the biggest mistake women do in dating is they say I love you way too early. Oops. Is that what I do wrong?

I'm joking. Although I don't think it matters much when it is said. If the feeling is mutual, the words are delightful. If the feelings aren't very mutual, the words are awkward and painful. Two people might fall in love on the first date. The words won't hurt them then. Although I'm sure that's rare.

Kwanten says his most embarrassing dating moment was when he went to go pick a girl up at her house. Her father answered. Kwanten forgot the girl's name. Oops. That story makes me feel better because something like that actually happened to me this morning. I was going to share the story with you guys, but it is really really awful. And I don't want to lose any love. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to tell it.

Kwanten works out a lot. He doesn't do much dieting....loves chocolate. He's good at Scrabble.

Here's an interview with Kwanten at the Emmy's. He looks SO different here...and kind of in a good way. He reminds me of some other actor. I can't think of who. Maybe Charlie on Lost?

Well, here's some celebrity gossip from NY Daily News. Apparently, Lindsay Lohan has a crush on Kwanten. Would she feel differently if she noticed his resemblance to George W. Bush?

Oh! Speaking of celebrity gossip...Here's another Twilight and True Blood coincidence. With both of these, the actors portraying the human-vampire couple fell in love in real life.

On that note, I'm going to quit. If I keep going, I have a feeling it's mostly going to be celebrity gossip stuff. Too much of that isn't good for our health. Right?

Let's be honest here. This post was really just a good excuse for me to talk about my vampire obsessions. Really. How often can I combine my Australia and Vampire obsession? I got to take advantage of the rare opportunities.