An excerpt of an interview Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse) did for Complex Magazine was released earlier this week along with a photo shoot he did.
He admits that the first six years he spent in Los Angeles that the roles he took were for financial reasons than for creative ones. True Blood he says has allowed him the stability to have work and pick projects that he enjoys because he believes in them:
“I love the Jason Stackhouse character… But I also love stepping out of his shoes.Nothing could be more unappealing to me than playing characters like him over and over again. There are so many things on True Blood that I hadn’t seen on television before—a man getting raped by were-panthers or having priapism for several days. Every script that I read, I’m half-smiling, half-laughing, thinking, that was great!”
When it actually came to shooting those scenes, Kwanten says he had to put a lot of faith in creator Alan Ball and the writers to do so but he did it. And as for playing the character of Jason, he’s not based on former US President George W. Bush. In fact, Ryan says that as the character has evolved over the seasons, he’s come to realize that Jason makes the exact opposite choices that he himself would make.
But Ryan wasn’t always sure of the decisions to chose acting over another profession. A graduate of the University of Sydney, he debated be a lawyer or even a triathlete. But in the end he always came back to acting:
“I’ve had second guesses about choosing acting over business [Kwanten has a degree from the University of Sydney]. There was a time when I wanted to be a lawyer, or even a professional triathlete… But nothing could come close to the passion I have for acting. I was working on a television series while I was studying full-time. As the business and acting opportunities got bigger, I thought about which one I’d most regret not taking a chance on, and I felt like it was acting.”
Did Ryan make a good decision about acting? Tell me in the comments and be sure to check out the photos from the shoot below.
Source: Complex.com- “Interview: “True Blood” Star Ryan Kwanten Talks Career Regrets, Jason Stackhouse Pigeonholing, And Were-Panthers.”
Image Credits: Complex and Chris Shonting
