Ryan Kwanten : Examiner

Ryan Kwanten may have become famous for playing the lusty, dim-witted Jason Stackhouse on the hit TV series "True Blood," but the actor is doing a variety of other roles to ensure that he won’t be typecast. In 2010, he appears in several movies. He is the voice of rebellious owl Kludd in the big-budget animated film "The Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole." Kwanten has also done several low-budget independent films, including the thriller/Western drama "Red Hill."

In "Red Hill" (written, directed, produced and edited by Patrick Hughes), Kwanten plays Shane Cooper, a police officer who has recently moved to the small Australian town of Red Hill. During Shane’s first day on the job, a convicted murderer named Jimmy Conway (played by Tom E. Lewis) escapes from prison and is headed toward Red Hill to get revenge on the people who put him in prison. Shane and his team of police officers, led by a gruff commander named Old Bill (played by Steve Bisley), are then thrust into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse as they try to capture the escaped prisoner.

I recently sat down with Kwanten at the Playwright Tavern in New York City. Not only was Kwanten early for the interview (a rarity in showbiz, since most interviews don’t start on time), but he was also very articulate and candid when discussing his life and career. We talked about "Red Hill," "True Blood," major turning points in his life, and what may be Kwanten’s most challenging role so far: playing notorious serial killer/cult leader Charles Manson in the movie "The Family."

How did this part in "Red Hill" come to you?

It came through as an offer. All that was pitched was that it was a Western and please have a read. It originally hit my interest because I am a huge Western genre fan. I’d say close to half of my DVD collection are old John Ford films, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone. So I thought "Wow, this would be a nice spin of what I hope to be a modern day version of that." I started thumbing through the pages and immediately got the name Shane was a reference from the movie "Shane" and Gary Cooper.

But then I thought that was interesting but as I read through the script I felt that this character could not be more different from the classic, iconic Western hero. Shane was a guy full of faults and fallibilities, yet you're so used to seeing the John Wayne/Clint Eastwood style, where no matter what force or how big the size of the posse that was against them, you knew that they were going to be OK, that they were going to draw their gun quicker. What I thought with Shane, you never quite knew that. Every time he got knocked down, you were kind of helping him up. That was an endearing quality that I find far more fun in playing those tortured, bruised and battered characters than I do playing the impenetrable ones.

Was there a big risk in taking this role because it was a low-budget independent film?

The funding was set. The huge risk was the fact that the filmmaker had spent the last 10 years trying to get his first film up and going. He had an incredible pedigree in commercials and short films. But in order to make this happen, he had to go out of the system, mortgage his own house. All the finances came together at the worst time for him because his wife was pregnant, but he had this short window of a couple of months to shoot this film, both in pre-production and in post. It just happened to fall on a month where she was pregnant.

I thought that if this guy can dedicate that kind of passion for this film than there's no reason why I shouldn't join him on this journey. This could be the beginning of something special. I really feel like I'm going to look back in 10 years time and say, "Wow, I was part of the first Patrick Hughes film," in the same way I’m sure the actors look back at the Coen brothers’ films and say, "I was there when they shot ‘Blood Simple’" or whatever it may be

There’s underlying racial tension in the movie since the prisoner on the loose is an Aborigine and the lawmen are white. Did you have any trepidations knowing that the film shows a line between these two cultures in Australia?

Absolutely. That was one of the things that was most poignant to me too in reading it was how quick I was to make a snap judgment at the beginning, and how disappointed I was that I did make that judgment in the end. I don't want to give too much away [about the plot of "Red Hill"], obviously, but I was quite clearly wrong.

I like to think I'm remotely intelligent and if I can be fooled like that and if it can force me to think outside of the little sphere that I live in, if we can make a film that can generate and garner that type of response from an audience, then this is going to be something worth making. I think we did that. It's interesting because Tommy E. Lewis, who played Jimmy, he said to me, "This is a movie that my people had been wanting to make and wanting to see portrayed our plight in such a raw and dignified way."

Can you talk about what it was like working with Tom E. Lewis? He has a badass presence on screen that is very strong, kind of like Charles Bronson.

Yeah, that's a great reference point too, the Charles Bronson thing. I think the Tommy or the character of Jimmy says more without saying anything than every other character combined. You can feel the method of his madness in his eyes. He doesn't need to say anything. You can immediately tell the difference in the way he looks at Shane, compared to the way he looks at Old Bill. They couldn't be two [more] polar opposite looks.

Going back to what I said before about quick judgment, when you first see this guy with his scarred face that you think he's got to be a ruthless killer. Yet you realize as the pieces of the puzzle come out that there's a lot more to it than that. That's what I love about Westerns too because when you talk about revenge, that is the greatest revenge, when you fight for the love of your family. I don't think there's a greater fight.

In addition to being a Western, there is a huge thriller element to it …

Yes, and there's also a supernatural element to it as well.

So how was it bringing all these different genres into the film?

At its core, if you're going to call it a stew, the meat of it is the Western but there's many ingredients concocted within it. There's horror, there's thriller, there’s supernatural. I don't really think of that when I'm in the moment shooting. I'm not thinking, "Maybe I should have done that Western like" or "This is a thriller scene, so I should’ve played it like that." I just want to stay true to the words and play it like that. That, to me, was an interesting spin too, and that’s what modernized the Western. It wasn’t just a Western, and we put a lot of the modern-day things that audiences like to see.

How was it getting into character and how was it working in your native country again?

This was my first time I had worked in Australia and had played an Australian in eight years. It felt surprisingly bizarre because I'm used to hearing the word "action" and I'm putting on a version of the American accent. I had to turn off that filter in my head that switched on to that. I didn't get an adjustment period because we finished the end of Season 1 of "True Blood" in Louisiana. From my very last scene on set, I ran off, jumped on a plane, flew 13 hours to Sydney, then flew two hours to Melbourne, then drove seven hours to this really remote part in High Plains, Victoria called Omeo.

And then I met the director for the first time, shook his hand, then put on the jacket for the character of Shane. They turned on the rain machine, in sub zero temperatures, and went straight into one of the most emotional scenes for the film. It was like trial by fire really. I'm not a Method actor but that was the method I had to employ for this film because there was no other way to survive it than to just embrace.

Did you do any research to understand the Aborigines? Did you talk to any Aborigines, for instance?

No. The ignorance that Shane had with that I think played into it. I didn't want to know too much anyway. One of my best friends was part of the police force for many years. He's an old friend of mine so I picked his brain to the point where he said "Enough already." Outside of that, I've also done several films where I was riding a horse and I knew how to fire gun.

However in some respects, it was almost unlearning that because the first time we see Shane, he's learning how to ride the horse. I had to go back to the first time I was doing that, and I remember I had my hands holding the reigns very high. I said to Patrick [Hughes], the director, "It would be interesting if Shane was trying to ride a horse just like he was trying to drive a bus." I had the reigns up and I was steering it like a bus. I also had my feet up way too high.

That was also an ego check because on that particular day, we had all the stunt people on set. And they were there looking at me thinking, "Here's Mr. Hollywood, he's supposed to be the hero, and he’s riding a horse like that?" I didn't have the heart to tell them, "I’m trying to play a character here, guys." I knew how to ride, which they subsequently found out.

Since the film takes place in a short period of time — over a single day and night — were there any challenges during filming, in terms of keeping the intensity throughout the movie?

That’s a really good point. It ended up being a character of sorts, that sense of isolation and that sense of time. As the film progresses, you couldn't help but feel that sense of claustrophobia, that the world was closing in, that isolation where nothing from the outside world could penetrate in, so that everything had to happen in this insolated environment made it very powerful and provocative, I think.

It's the nature of the beast in what we do. You shoot things out of order and you have to know where you're coming from, where you're going to, and I think you have to have a chromosome missing to be a part of this business. I think I probably have a chromosome-and-a-half missing. I really enjoy. I think I'm a masochist at heart but I really enjoy that part of the business, so this type of film appeals to my psyche.

Can you compare and contrast American Westerns and Australian Westerns?

I think there's definite parallels in the American Western and in the Australian Western, even in terms of our colonial past. When you think of the plight of the Aborigines and the American Indians, it’s very similar there. We also had a Gold Rush movement. We had our own version of the Wild West. This town was the epitome of a one-horse town, but it was once because a very thriving Gold Rush town. We were the most exciting thing to come to this town in over a hundred years. They sort of adopted us and if you were to take the camera and point it slightly to the right during a scene you would see a hundred or so locals all standing there with beers watching the scene take place. By the end, they were so comfortable that they were giving me notes between takes, going "Oh, maybe you should try it like this."

What did you learn about filming in that remote part of Australia for "Red Hill" that surprised you?

It was a part of Australia that I was not familiar with. I guarantee that there’s at least 60 percent of Australians who weren't familiar with it either. I've never seen it captured on film before. Being in that area, it's unforgivingly rugged, and you really feel like a man. As it ridiculous as it sounds, there's a primeval quality to shooting there and living there. I stayed at a hotel called Snug as a Bug. It was sub-zero temperatures. I had only one layer of thermals.

It's funny, the things I fell in love with in shooting this film, like the fact I got to be in a Western, got to be the hero wielding a gun. It was every young guy's fantasy to save the town. Those were the things that originally drew me to the project but the things that now hold me and endear to the project were the imperfections that I thought would be negative, like the fact that we didn't have a lot of money, we didn't have the time, it was going to be a rough shoot. They’re the things that I love.

In speaking to Patrick and thinking about it in retrospect and in nostalgia, I think, "If we had more money and more time, would we have made a different film or would we have made a better film?" I tend to think, "No." You’ve got to be happy with the decisions you make in that moment, and I think that rawness and toughness pervades on the screen, and I think that's what people respond to.

Did you get any injuries while working on "Red Hill"?

Yeah. I broke a couple of knuckles. There was a window that was supposed to implode; instead, it exploded towards me. I continued the scene but when I turned around I realized I was covered in shards of glass. It looked a lot worse that it actually was, but I looked like Carrie [from the 1976 horror movie "Carrie"] at the time. I saw the producer through a bloody haze pushing through the crew, and he grabbed my wrist, and thank God this one-horse town had a hospital. The doctor there I think had a couple of beers. He stitched me up, and I was on my way.

Again, I enjoy all that stuff. I just came from "True Blood," where I had 30 stitches in my arm from putting my hand through a plate glass window. I'm OK now. In rehearsals, they had yet to change the glass from plate glass to what they call "set glass," which is just sort of plastic. I guess I got a little too rambunctious in rehearsals, and my hand went straight through. The scars are on the inside and outside, so it’s fine.

What is the shooting schedule like for a TV series like "True Blood" compared to an indie film like "Red Hill"?

This film is its own beast, because usually in shooting, you’re afforded a lot more time. The great thing about "True Blood" is the fact that we get 15 days an episode and a nice amount of money. And for a television show, that’s a huge luxury to have that amount of time. It’s almost like shooting a film in that time. You’re shooting 50 minutes [per episode].

We didn’t have that luxury on this film. It’s usually the polar opposite on a film: You have three months to shoot 90 minutes. [With "Red Hill,"] we had four weeks. So that was the major difference. And you have to solve things creatively. You can’t throw money at something and say, "Here’s another two hours" or "Here’s that crane shot you wanted. You want that crane? Here it is." You have to analyze something in the moment and think, "Well, what’s the best way to deal with it?"

You compromise the whole way, but it goes back to what I said. Sometimes those compromises and those creative choices that you make in the moment where you think you’re taking away, I guess, from the true nature of the story, but in essence, you may be adding to it. It’s just those spur-of-the-moment things you have to trust.

There’s one example of that in what is now my favorite scene [in "Red Hill"], but at the time, I said to Patrick, "I can’t believe we have one take to do this." This is a scene that I looked forward to shooting. It was a scene at the end of Act 2, when my character comes home and he confronts his wife. And his wife says, "How was your day?" It’s still my favorite line in the film. And he had to turn around and give a white lie and say, "It was great."

That whole sequence for me was one shot. We had 10 minutes to shoot it. And I remember being quite agitated at the end of that. And he said, "Yeah, that was great! We got it!" And I remember walking outside and thinking, "Got it? I was looking forward so much to shooting this scene, and to have it be over so quickly can’t be right. We must’ve missed something." I look back on it now, and I really enjoy it. It goes back to trust too. I have to trust that Patrick is getting the coverage and performance that he wants. And he has to trust me that I’m giving it everything I can.

Can you talk about how your life has changed since being on "True Blood"?

"True Blood" has changed my life, without a doubt. There’s not a day or hour that goes by where I don’t pinch myself and think about how unbelievably lucky and fortunate I am. I guess the supply/demand ratio of actors to work is ridiculous … It’s every young actor’s dream. I work unbelievably hard. I’ve had a very adventurous life to get to this point, and I certainly don’t take this lightly. But "True Blood" has afforded me opportunities. I guess because of the clout of the show, because of the now-mainstream quality of it, really good-quality film projects are coming across my desk.

You started as an actor in Australia, so what made you decide to make the transition and relocate to Hollywood?

It was never a conscious decision. I had a five-day ticket. It was just for three days in New York — this was eight years ago — to promote a film called "The Junction Boys," a high school Texan football film. It was the story of Paul Bear Brant, a famous American football coach. I played one of the football players. And then I had two days in L.A. on holiday. And that was honestly all the money I had was just for those five days.

I was packing my bags, and I got a call from the executive producer of the film who told me that I should consider staying in town because we got a really good response to the film and to you. I told her, "I would love to, but I don’t have any money." She told me, "Well, you might want to think about it. You’re going to regret it." And I said, "Well, I really have no choice. I have no money." And that’s where we left it.

And I remember sitting at the edge of the bed with my bags packed … and this was one of those seminal moments where you think, "What can I possibly to do to change the circumstance I’m in and make this work?" So I went down to the manager of the hotel and said to him, "Can I speak to the owner, please?"

He looked at me like I was crazy, which I probably was at that point. And within an hour, the owner came down and I said, "Can I speak to in private somewhere?" Again he's looking at me like I'm crazy.

We went into some room. I told him "Look, I don't have any money. I can't afford to stay at your hotel, don’t are if you put me in a storeroom" — and he ended up putting me in an old converted storeroom, which is fine — "if you let me stay here for three months, free of charge, I will pay you back every red cent and anything else you want, but I’ll pay you back." And without hesitation, he said, "Yes." That was my home base, and from there on, it was going out there and trying to make it happen.

Did you pay him back?

I’ve paid him back in more ways than one. It's the Cadillac Hotel in Venice, for any young actor out there … [He laughs.]

What’s your favorite episode of "True Blood"?

Oh, man! There's not a script that I read where I don't think, "This is amazing! Hang on a second, I'm actually going to have to do this now." So to try to pinpoint one thing? There are so many mind-blowing things that Jason does on the show that even when I look back on it and watch the show, I can’t believe I actually did that. It’s almost like this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that overtakes me when I do it.

He's so unlike me, and it's a real liberation to play this guy, because he has no willpower and no thought process. Most people in their day-to-day operation, at the bare minimum, they have the choice to be happy or sad. That's at the bare minimum. Quite often, you have an abundance of choices. Whereas with Jason, there's no choice. He doesn't know what he's doing the next second, let alone the next day.

How do you usually watch ‘True Blood"? Do you see episodes in advance or do you like to wait until the episodes air on TV?

I have a Sunday-night dinner crew. We get together and we cook. The unfortunate thing for me is when the show is on, I’m not shooting the show, so I’m usually in some other state shooting and working my butt off. So I very rarely get to see it with my friends. I’d like to see it in that kind of environment. But when I do see it with my friends, I’m sitting somewhat removed from them in the back.

What can you say about Season 4 for "True Blood"?

I have yet to receive a script, and I continue to expect the unexpected with that show. It continues to push the boundaries of television. I think there’s going to be more characters, more blood, probably more sex — a lot more of what everybody likes.

You shot "Red Hill" before you did Season 3 of "True Blood" which had Jason Stackhouse wanting to become a cop. Did your work on "Red Hill" help you prepare for that character arc?

Not really. I think again I think the Shane Cooper character is a far more analytical, far more cerebral, whereas Jason was trying to weasel his way into the cop force. It was hilarious to me that of all the people who should not be wielding a gun and be in a position power, it's Jason. I had so much fun working with Chris Bauer, who plays Andy, because they are polar opposites of each other and I think the dynamic that they have is outrageous.

What can you say about relationship between Old Bill and Shane Cooper in "Red Hill"? Did you both talk about the relationship before filming?

That was the most interesting thing about this film because we didn't have the time to talk in abundance beforehand. We didn't have the luxury of that time. What that afforded us was a different kind of a freedom. Steve [Bisley], who plays Old Bill, has a huge legacy in Australia, and I looked up to him with a certain amount of reverence — and that played very well into it. My character was almost like a changeling who was coming from the city into the country. It was the changing of the guard and Old Bill, this real totalitarian type, could sense that ... I just sort of think that Bill represented the evil and I represented the good and that was the classic mythology of the Western: good versus evil. Jimmy goes from one to the other.

How do you identify with Shane Cooper?

The love of family. I moved out of home at a very young age: 15-and-a-half. I was a real little sh*t, to be perfectly honest, growing up. I was quite a rebel for no good reason. I feel like now that I’ve moved away from home and started a career for myself in the States, I've become a lot closer [to my family]. You know how they say "Separation makes the heart grow fonder?" That's definitely the case with me. I feel like now I’m sort of making up for lost time with my family. I’ve got a long way to go, but I feel like getting there.

I feel like I identify with Shane, the fact that he would go to those lengths to move his wife, the fact that they lost their last child, and he would move her to the country, for a more stress-free pregnancy. I thought that was really amazing. One of the things that really appealed to me in the film was that to make sure that those handful of scenes that I had with my wife really played out, really resonated, because it took it out of the world of just being a "shoot ‘em up, gunslinging Western." And it got you viscerally interested.

What's next for you?

I just finished a horror/comedy in the "Shaun of the Dead" kind of vein [called "Knights of the Badassdom"], playing the straight man against Steve Zahn and Peter Dinklage, who are two phenomenal character actors. That was a hilarious piece we shot in Spokane, Washington.

I just signed on to act and produce a film called "The Family," which is a story about the Manson family and the murders. I'll be playing Charles Manson. Scott Kosar, who wrote "The Machinist," is directing.

I'm also signed on to play a young man in a film called "The Twentysomething Survival Guide," which stars off as a romantic comedy. It’s about a young man who's living a rambunctious life; h throws parties. And then he finds out at the end of Act 1 that he’s got testicular cancer, and he desperately wants kids. So he starts calling all his ex-girlfriends and says, "Will you help me in creating this baby?" The script goes on. It’s about the lengths that he goes to, to try and make that happen.

And you’re definitely not being typecast. You played an owl in the animated film "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole."

Yeah, that was cool. That was two-and-a-half years. I love playing Jason [Stackhouse], and like I said, it’s afforded me many opportunities, but nothing can be more uninspiring for me in my time off than to go off and play a character that was exactly like him. No great achievement was the result of something that was easy.

How did you get started in acting?

It sort of found me. It’s a story I’ve told, but I’m happy to tell it again. I was a sociophobe growing up … I was 15 years old and I very much into swimming at that point. My mum was dropping me off and my middle brother was a dancer who wanted to get into acting. An acting agency happened to be on the way to swimming training. So I waited in the car while he went up did the audition to get into this agency.

I had the goggles on my head and a towel on my waist. I went into the audition place and I said, "Mom, drop me off. I’m not missing swimming. I hate missing swimming." The lady came out of the audition and she saw me there. And she said, "Oh, are you here for the audition as well?" And she was already sort of grabbing me by the wrist and asking me in. And I'm going, "No, I'm going swimming!" I was so scared. Kind of long story short, I wound up getting in and he didn't. It was the right place and the right time.

But even then, it took me a good seven years to realize that it was somewhat an art form or craft to acting. The roles that I originally got didn't have an abundance of subtext, to put it lightly. It wasn't until I made the definitive choice, "OK, this is what I want to do. This is something I’ll regret if I don’t choose to do it now," that’s when I started to turn it around and turn it into something.

Since you are going to be producing "The Family," is there anything that you learned in making "Red Hill" that you are going to apply as a producer for that film?

My career is much like life. You should try to learn something from every experience. The nature of filmmaking is that you can never know it all, but the more times that you are on set, the more experiences you have … I don't have any acting　dialect coach training. All my experiences on set are life experiences. That's all I can offer for a job, but I like to think there's a certain richness to that anyway, and there's an authenticity to a project because of that. I'm not this molded, trained actor.

I think I’m very malleable, and I think that's a quality that's very useful when you are doing a film like "The Family." Manson had so many faces. He was an enigma and a misunderstood one. I'm not saying that to glamorize him at all. In fact it's quite the opposite. We're trying to humanize his victims. Scott Kosar and I feel that a decent Manson film has yet to be made.

What do you think Patrick Hughes was trying to say in "Red Hill" by having a panther lurking around in the movie?

That was the beauty and maturity of that script. For a first time director, I'm very harsh on all the scripts I've read. There was no needless exposition on the script. There was no fat on the bone. Everything was there. I love the ethereal quality of having the panther in there.

What it ended up doing was having people telling me "What does the panther mean?" I have my own version on what the panther means. Patrick Hughes has his own version. You might have yours, and it's like looking at a piece of art. Everyone's going to get something different out of it and I think I am going to cheapen it to say, "I think this is what the panther represents." I think some things are better left unsaid.

This is a film that answers questions, but it also poses some. I hope that that you are still thinking about it the next day, which is a rarity in this day and age for films. You've forgotten what you've watched by the time credits roll.

How do you go about choosing projects that you want to do?

I’d rather not work than do something I’m not passionate about. Fortunately, I’m in a position now where I don’t have to do things from a monetary point of view. I spent a lot of time doing that. But for the last three or four years, can make choices now base don how they inspire me creatively. It’s a rarity for an actor.

What works best for you when you do a project? Do you like to spend hours with a director discussing scenes in the movie before you shoot the scene? Do you like to do a lot of rehearsals with your co-stars?

It all depends on the character and the project. In "Red Hill," for instance, we just weren’t afforded that time. It went back to just the trust between me and Patrick. In the Manson pic, for instance, we’re working on it now, because there’s a certain authenticity that you want to capture and that you have to capture. So you have to have those hours and hours of conversations of digging up the character, what points we want to show and don’t want to show. It all depends on the project. I can do it both ways. I don’t mind.

How are you preparing to play Charles Manson?

I kind of want to know everything, and then I’ll make my own judgment. It’s like, "Give me the advice, and I’ll listen to it, but I’ll choose to take on what I think is going necessary for me to make that come to life." If you believed everything that it’s this hodgepodge of a character, then you’ve got to take what’s useful to you.

Are there any directors you’d like to work with at some point in your career?

You can cite the [Martin] Scorseses of the world. Chris Nolan. That would be fabulous. I’d also like to work for [Robert] Redford. I think that would be amazing. I’ll hopefully get the opportunity to work with Bruce Beresford, who’s an Australian director. I’ll hopefully get a chance to work with him next year, which would be great.

And there are so many up-and-coming filmmakers too. Some of the foreign filmmakers. I love some of Guy Ritchie’s work. I though some of his early work was phenomenal. There are some great Italian and French directors. There are all sorts of great directors out there.

When you talk about how "Red Hill" was made, it’s reminiscent of the 1970s era of filmmaking when the directors had more artistic control over their movies. Do you hope to see a return to that with studio films?

Don't you? I think everyone has been. Nothing against the studios but if you keep making films that have more studio influence than artist influence, then creativity and imagination are going to suffer at the end of the day. I think it's good that directors like Christopher Nolan can surge their way through the myriad of politics and make a film like "Inception" that does phenomenally well. It shows you can make an intelligent film, a concept-driven film, and a character-driven film, and it can make money. I think it gives hope to all filmmakers.

Hopefully it’s a return to the auteur regaining control. And this ["Red Hill"] was very much I felt like what would have been like shooting in the ‘70s. At the town hall in this small town, at the end of every week, we would screen the dailies. And Patrick would put on this temp score, and we’d all sit around with beers and watch the dailies.

That's what they used to do in the ‘70s. They'd all to get together, cast and crew, and watch what they’d done. There was a sense of pride and ownership that you have with that. As hard as you've worked that week, it only motivates you to work more the next week. And you don’t really get that in this day and age. There’s a real "us and them" mentality now.

You said you hope the studios will go back to that style of filmmaking. Do you think it will happen?

Yes. I'm going to put it out there.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned as an actor, in terms of improving your craft?

I’m going to quote Winston Churchill: "Never, ever, ever give up." That applies to a lot of different phases of my life and my career.

You mentioned that you used to do competitive swimming. Do you see any similarities in being a competitive swimmer and being an actor?

No, but what’s interesting is that because I come from a very competitive, sporting upbringing is that I try to bring the discipline and commitment involved in that kind of endeavor and bring that to a more artistic world. And it really has worked, because I feel like there are actors who are far more talented than I am, but they don’t necessarily have the tenacity to keep getting up and to deal with rejection in a way that I know I can.

Because you can’t be right for every single role, even though we convince ourselves as actors that we are the one for the job and every single job that we go in for. You can’t be, whether it’s politics or whether it’s the way you look. So if you don’t have the capabilities or the foresight to be able to deal with that, then it’s a tough industry to be a part of.

There’s the business side of the industry and then there’s also the part of the industry where you have to deal with fame. How are you handling fame?

I try and put all the drama in my life on screen, and so that makes my life outside of that completely drama-free. I’m not one the paparazzi want to follow, because I’m completely non-controversial. There’s nothing particularly exciting about the life that I live. It’s very much like anyone else’s. I’m not going out to the crazy bars. I’m not stumbling home late at night. I’m not drinking and driving. I’m a law-abiding citizen now.

And how do you interact with your fans? Do you personally answer fan e-mail?

To be perfectly frank: not really. I don’t have an abundance of time. Sleep is not exactly a priority in my life. When I do have time, answering e-mail is probably not in the top five things that I have to do.