Ryan Kwanten

Ryan Kwanten
Kwanten at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	(1976-11-28) 28 November 1976 (age 40) Sydney, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present

Ryan Christian Kwanten (born 28 November 1976) is an Australian actor. He played Vinnie Patterson from 1997 to 2002 in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. After his stint ended, he joined the American teen drama series Summerland, portraying Jay Robertson. In 2008, he was cast as Jason Stackhouse in True Blood.

Kwanten was born in Sydney, the son of Kris, a Lifeline op shop coordinator, and Eddie Kwanten, a worker at NSW Maritime. His father is Dutch. Kwanten has two brothers, Mitchell, a musician, and Lloyd, a doctor. He attended St Paul's College in Manly and later earned a degree in commerce from the University of Sydney.

Kwanten began acting on the television shows A Country Practice, Hey Dad..! and Spellbinder. In 1997, he joined the cast of the Australian soap opera Home and Away, playing lifeguard Vinnie Patterson. He eventually chose to leave the series in 2002, shortly after his character married and became a father. Kwanten had previously guested on the serial as Robbie Taylor in 1994. Moving to the United States, Kwanten was cast as Jay Robertson in Summerland (2004-05). He appeared in the films Flicka (2006), with Maria Bello, Alison Lohman, and Tim McGraw, and Dead Silence (2007), a horror film in which he played the leading role.