Ryan Kwanten: The Man Behind Jason Stackhouse

As part of DETAILS Magazine special May issue featuring "The Men of True Blood," Ryan Kwanten provided an interview revealing a little more of the actor inside the Stackhouse brother. Along with Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgard, Ryan Kwanten sat down to discuss his life before the success of True Blood and how he feels about portraying Jason Stackhouse. The first and most prominent detail revealed is the fact that Ryan Kwanten is in no way like his character. We all know Jason as the dim, sex-crazed, down-home boy who is trying to keep his balance in his ever-changing, vampire-filled world.  But don't let that fool you.

Kwanten, on the other hand, is an aspiring highbrow. The 33-year-old Australian... likes to read philosophy, doesn't own a television, and has been writing a novel for the past 19 years - ...

And while Jason doesn't mind putting his body on display at any given moment, Ryan is a bit more humble.

"We have amazing computer-generated effects," Kwanten says, his Aussie accent revealing no trace of Jason's aw-shucks-isms. "It's my head on someone else's body."

Kwanten's dry sense of humor aside, he's a talented actor who became famous in his home country while appearing as a lifeguard on a prime-time soap, Home and Away. After a few years in LA working small TV roles, he landed a good part in the 2006 movie Flicka. And Alan Ball, who was in the process of casting for a new show, took notice.

"He has almost zero vanity as an actor. He's not afraid to play stupid - a lot of actors that play dumb characters have to do subtle things to show they're not stupid. But Ryan doesn't have that hang-up. And he is so unlike his character that it's almost shocking."

But that doesn't stop Ryan from psychoanalyzing his character's less-than-wholesome behaviors.

"He lost his parents at a very early age," he says. "So there are a whole host of things he's making up for, whether it be a mother figure or someone to hold."

Ryan's activities aren't just limited to his True Blood role. He's working on a sort of parody of a self-help book. It's interesting to see these actors revealing their true identities. It makes us really appreciate the effort they put into their work, creating the True Blood we all know and love. SOURCE: DETAILS.com (Photo credit: HBO Inc.)

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