Ryan Kwanten, who plays Jason Stackhouse on HBO‘s True Blood, has a new film hitting theaters this weekend called ‘Griff The Invisible’. The film, which will have a limited release in the United States on August 19th, centers around Griff (Kwanten), an awkward office employee by day, who is a superhero at night. Griff’s secret life is jeopardized when he meets Melody (Maeve Dermody) and he struggles to fit into the world around him. Kwanten recently spoke with Collider.com about Griff, his superhero suit and what made him take the role.
Kwanten seems to enjoy taking a variety of roles and has not typecast himself as a “hot young playboy” in his movie choices. When asked how he got involved with ‘Griff The Invisible’, Kwanten says that his agent had called him about a role that was “getting a lot of heat” but since that phrase is used a lot, his expectations were not high. Once he began reading, however, his skepticism changed, he became invested in the character and he made the decision to do whatever he needed to in order to become involved. So what was it that made Kwanten so determined to get this part?
“To maintain who you are in a world that’s constantly trying to change you is the greatest achievement, and I think that’s the battle that Griff is constantly going through. That’s what I feel like everyone is going through in life. Everyone is being told by society to talk this way, to dress that way, to be this person or to be that person, and it’s so important to just maintain a sense of self. We live in L.A. where people just quite often lose track of who they are. It’s very scary and sad to see. That’s why this story resonates with people. We’ve played it now throughout the world and it really seems to capture people’s hearts because it’s got something to say. You’re not alone.”
One of the aspects of the role that Kwanten enjoyed was the idea of the character within a character. When Griff is out in the world during the day he is trying extremely hard to be invisible and blend in, but the harder he tries – the more visible he actually becomes. While it sounds like Griff may have some mental issues, Kwanten says that he did not approach the character that way at all. He acknowledges that Griff may have some social phobia issues, but essentially he has just decided to embrace his imagination and it has gone from there.
One of the key aspects of any super hero is their costume and Kwanten says that Griff really had 2 costumes. The office one he wore during the day which was made in a way that it didn’t actually look like it was from that time period. It was a little too small and just did not fit him properly. The night time outfit was a collaboration between Kwanten, the wardrobe designer, the director and the producers. Since this outfit was supposed to have come from Griff’s imagination, it was a group effort to come up with something unique.
The romance between Griff and Melody is a central element of the film and Kwanten says it was important for him to take that beautiful relationship that was on paper and translate it into real life. He credits his co-star Dermody with helping to really bring the romance to life, saying that in a lesser actresses hands, the role of Melody could have gone in a very different way. When asked what he hopes people will take away from this film Kwanten replies:
“Everyone in life knows what it’s like to be picked on and to feel like an outsider, but it’s great for people who are being bullied to watch the film and realize that there’s other people out there. Don’t feel like you’re alone because you’re not.”
To read Kwanten’s entire interview with Collider click here. Be sure to check your local listings to see if ‘Griff The Invisible’ will be playing in your neighbourhood. If you do check the movie out come back and let us know what you thought of it in the comment section below.
Source: Collider.com – Ryan Kwanten GRIFF THE INVISIBLE Interview
Photo Credit: Indomina Releasing
