True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten: Jason’s Life is Very Much on the Line in Season 4

We’re two episodes into True Blood season 4, Truebies, and something huge was revealed about Jason Stackhouse’s future in last night’s “You Smell Like Dinner“. (If you haven’t watched it yet, then definitely don’t read any further.) The man behind Jason, Ryan Kwanten, revealed that Jason’s life is “very much on the line” in the “brutal and dirty” season 4, and after witnessing the painful werepanther attack Jason suffered through, we see why. Bookies were anticipating this story line, and we have to say that we really like how creator Alan Ball incorporated it into the show, but is it going to go the way it goes in the book or will Ball throw in a few twists? Don’t expect Kwanten to give any specific spoilers, since he (and all the cast) have been sworn to secrecy. However, he did give a few details about his alter ego, as well as talk about his workout schedule, unsuccessfully avoiding drama, and a bloody altercation with a shark in a short interview with New York Magazine.

There has and always will be a lot of talk surrounding Kwanten’s amazing physique, and many assume that in order to play Jason, that is what you have to look like. But, no, that’s actually not the case. Kwanten admits that he doesn’t have to work out for the role:

“I just work out for my own sanity, to be honest. I grew up in a competitive, sporting environment. It’s just sort of part and parcel of who I am. I’m one of three boys, and the easiest way for my mom to deal with all of us was to kick us outside.”

Thanks to his mom’s child-rearing skills, he did spend a lot of time outside. One of his favorite hobbies growing up near Sydney, Australia was surfing, which lead to a very adventurous tale:

“I was 12 years old. I was surfing. I fell off the top of the board trying to do a fancy move and put my hand down into what I thought was the top of a sand bank. I yanked it out, and blood spurted out. I could see the lifeguard rushing down from his tower. They did an analysis at the hospital that said it was a wobbegong shark, which is, like, a shark with no teeth. It just has gums. So I theoretically didn’t get bitten by a shark — [laughs] I got gummed by a shark.”

Kwanten’s True Blood character may not be as adventurous as he is, but Jason certainly has come a long way since season one. He’s grown up a lot, taken on more responsibility, and his relationship with his sister, Sookie (Anna Paquin), has also matured. One aspect of this season that Kwanten is enjoying are the scenes he has with his on-screen sister:

“Jason is really in a world of his own for certainly the first half of this season. Anna and I only have maybe two to four scenes together at most each season. Inevitably, we come together at some point — “Well, I almost died another time!” It’s always about an emotional high point. There’s a couple of really sweet scenes that I have this year with Anna. It’s some of my favorite stuff to do.”

Dealing with so much drama on set is part of being an actor and Kwanten admits he tries very hard to stay away from drama off set, but that “somehow trouble likes to find” him. Maybe it’s that adventurous spirit of his, or maybe it’s just that when you try to avoid something it inevitably seeks you out. Regardless, Kwanten found himself smack dab in the middle of a dramatic situation earlier this year when he was on his way home:

“I don’t know what it is about me. I very much like to put drama on the screen. And outside, I like to live as drama-free as possible. But I’m a coordinated guy, and somehow trouble likes to find me. I was heading home on a quiet Saturday, and there was a young guy lying in the middle of a busy intersection in Hollywood, just bleeding. So I jumped out of the car and [another man] came over, and together we lifted him off the road and checked his vitals. Then a couple minutes later, the ambulance took him away. Never saw him again.”

Sounds like both Kwanten and Jason have at least one thing in common: they both have found themselves in situations that they may have never expected to be in…

Source: New York Magazine -True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten on the ‘Brutal and Dirty’ Fourth Season, Surviving a Shark Attack, and Working Out

Photo Credit: I’m Here for Sookie, HBO