Ryan Kwanten Interview

Go to http://video.about.com/movies/Ryan-Kwanten-Interview.htm to watch the interview.

Ryan Kwanten – 'Jason' in True Blood and 'Soren' in Guardians of Ga'Hoole

Tell me what it's like to be nude on a set all the time?

Ryan Kwanten: "It's a little confronting."

Is it really?

Ryan Kwanten: "Yeah, just to see that modesty patch hanging in the wardrobe is something you don't necessarily look forward to. But I leave myself in the careful hands of Alan Ball so I know it's never going to be exploitation or gratuity for gratuities sake. There's always a point behind it."

But you knew when you took the role that he was going to be naked so much during the series?

Ryan Kwanten: "Yeah. There's certain things that you know going in. And I'm very comfortable with my body. It doesn't really bother me."

Did you work out a lot before you did it?

Ryan Kwanten: "Did I work out a lot? I do anyway. I sort of keep myself in good shape."

Were you familiar with the books before you took on the role?

Ryan Kwanten: "Yeah, I got two and half books in. I haven't had a chance to sort of get back to them but I can see why Alan [Ball] sort of chose the books and I see why the series has translated so well."

Your character is a little different than he's written in the books.

Ryan Kwanten: "A lot of the characters are."

Your's in particular has a lot more to do in the series than he did in the books. Did you find that when you read the first couple of books that you were noticing your character's developed more now?

Ryan Kwanten: "Yeah. As much as it's still very much sort of Anna [Paquin's] or Sookie's storyline, I still get the feeling that it's an ensemble piece, that there's at least sort of four or five storylines sort of happening at once."

How much fun is it to be on this set?

Ryan Kwanten: "The crazy thing is that at these sort of award shows you get asked, 'Tell me a funny story that happened on the set,' but you only have to look at the ridiculous amounts of craziness that Jason gets up to. Every single day I go to set there's something that happens, so it's hard to pinpoint one thing."

Have you ever said no to anything they want him to do?

Ryan Kwanten: "No. You have to just kind of throw out the textbook and everything you think you know about acting and just fly by the seat of your pants. With this character I do."

I actually find him a lot more interesting in the TV show than I did in the books. Did you absolutely grab onto him as soon as you read it?

Ryan Kwanten: "Well I think it was important for him to have a sense of vulnerability and for the audience to be able to sympathize with him, and to not see him as whether it be a piece of meat or just a dumb redneck, that there really is some soul and some hurt deep inside. So I think that was important for me to get across."

Do you still have time to do movies with all the TV stuff going on?

Ryan Kwanten: "Yeah, I'm working on a movie now. It's Zack Snyder's new film called the Guardians of Ga'Hoole."

Is that animated?

Ryan Kwanten: "Yeah, animated.

So who do you play, how do you give voice to?

Ryan Kwanten: "A guy called Kludd. It's set in the world of owls."

Are you a good owl or a bad owl?

Ryan Kwanten: "I can't release too much information… I'm sworn to secrecy."