Home and Away's Ryan Kwanten finds success in True Blood

FANS of Home and Away will remember him as happy-go-lucky character VJ, but Hollywood is recognising Australian talent Ryan Kwanten in a different light thanks to his sex-charged role in new drama True Blood.

The 32-year-old has finally made it abroad after slogging it out in Los Angeles for the past seven years.

Portraying compulsive, sex-obsessed redneck Jason Stackhouse in True Blood, a thrilling vampire drama from Six Feet Under creator Allan Ball, this Sydney-raised actor sure does it well.
True Blood couldn't be further from the golden sands of Summer Bay or that of his turn as Australian surfer Jay Robertson in the US sitcom Summerland . . . and that's the way Kwanten likes it.

• Screen vampires in pictures

Back home for a brief visit recently, as well as to voice a character in the new animated flick Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Kwanten explains why Hollywood is a battlefield.

Q Does being back in Sydney make you miss living here more?
A The beauty of Sydney is it doesn't change. I know I can come back and it still feels like the place I grew up in. America is definitely my second home but as the saying goes 'home is where the heart is'.

Q Have you found it easy to find work in Hollywood?
A The work has been pretty constant and that is what has really kept me there. Fortunately I have met some friends who luckily are not part of the industry and they have kept me there. They couldn't really give a s--t about what I do.

Q Was it hard to find good mates?
A It took me a good six months minimum where I could firmly say 'Yes, I trust you and I want to be your friend'. Just as my best mates are back here, who are all getting married and having children.

Q Do you sometimes wish you had their life?
A I still feel 15. I guess I act like I am 15 sometimes and all my friends that I went to school with have got babies or babies on the way. You know time marches on. You grow with it.

Q True Blood is going into second season filming when you get back. Are you surprised?
A I am amazed because not only is the competition ridiculous over there but the amount of factors that have to fall into play for you to get a pilot and then for the pilot to get picked up and then for that series to go to a second series is enormous.

Q What is the character of Jason like?
A Unlike me he just tends to fly by the seat of his pants and I tend to be far too cerebral and over-analyse things. It's been nice to throw out the textbook and what I thought I knew about acting and life and just go 'OK, this is what I am going to do and just do it'.

Q Did you find opening up to that side has influenced you in everyday life?
A It is very liberating and I felt, without sounding too 'actory', that I opened up parts of myself that I never knew existed. Just in terms of letting things go and not letting every little thing get to me. There is no reason to be a perfectionist about some of the silly things in life. Even in terms of if something has happened in your life not worrying about it because you can't change that. Life is too short to worry about stuff.

Q Actors say the first few years in Hollywood are the toughest. How do you feel now?
A I can honestly say now that I deserve the success without sounding too much like a swell head. There were times for the first six months I bought a push bike because that's all I could afford and I was riding for two or three hours from auditions with all the changes of clothes in my backpack. I look back and I don't feel like an overnight success. It really feels like I have worked for it and fortunately I haven't had to have another job so that's been good.

True Blood, Tuesday, Showcase (pay-TV), 8.30pm

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