Quotes from Ryan Kwanten

As actors, we deal with rejection so much more than any other business. So I don't care how much of a genius you are, if you don't have the propensity to be able to get back up every time you get knocked down, then you're not going to survive.

I used to get a sort of sociophobia, and I still get it sometimes these days when I'm in a confined space with too many people. It's not like I freak out or anything, it's just that I'm far more comfortable in my own company sometimes than being surrounded by one thousand strangers.

I'm not the kind of guy that inspires madness in people.

I'm not a big fan of the gym, I do lots of outdoor aerobics - yoga, swimming, running - but I kinda hate talking about it. We have a term in Australia, it makes you sound like a wanker.

I'm somewhat of a masochist at heart. I like to sweat. I come from a very competitive sporting background - my dad was a world-champion surfer - so it's always been a part of my DNA. I do a lot of soft-sand running, hiking, yoga, and boxing, and I compete in triathlons.

The fact that 'True Blood' affects people in this way is incredible to me - the fact we have to go to such great lengths to hide storylines just proves the cache our show has.

My first five or six years in L.A., I was just trying to get two cents together to stay here. Playing Jason Stackhouse on 'True Blood' put me in a position, financially, to make decisions based on creativity, to choose roles based on whether I connected with them. I love the Jason Stackhouse character... But I also love stepping out of his shoes.

I work very, very hard, so when I do get the chance to go out socially, it's a relatively big night. I also have hobbies on the side, and quite often, one runs into the other.

Australian women tend to tell it like it is - even if it's the brutal, honest truth. I think American women usually break it to you a little easier. There's a softer side to them.

I pride myself on breaking any box that anyone wants to put me in.

I've been acting for a long time now, but as narcissistic as this sounds - and I don't mean it to sound - every time I see my name up there, there is real sense of pride.

I moved to L.A., and people said that I would never find work, that I would never find good friends, and I feel like I was fortunate enough to find the work, but it wouldn't mean anything unless I had a group of people who could appreciate it.

I'm undefeated in Scrabble. I can figure out an opponent's strategy and mold mine to offset theirs. I play a couple times a week, and I'll often play a game on my bed by myself against myself, which I realize sounds completely mad.

I was a terrible loser growing up. I took it far too seriously. There were water works if I lost. I would go home and break it down in angry detail: How did I lose? What could I do next time?

I make about two movies a year outside the 'True Blood' schedule. I work on a great show six months a year, then outside that I get to satisfy whatever creative urges I have. It's a great position, especially for a single guy like me.

That's something lacking in a lot of modern-day families - just talking. It's almost a lost art form.

I love acting, so it's easy when you have a passion for it. I've always found the harder you work, the luckier you get.

My life is very much consumed with work.

Going out there and promoting myself socially doesn't really intrigue me. I'd much rather have my work do it for me.

In order to be able to give a girlfriend the amount of time she deserves, you would need time, and I just can't give her that. So, rather than being selfish or stupid enough to go into a relationship, it's just been easier to be single.

I don't necessarily find superheroes in general, for me, that appealing. I'd much prefer to play, if I was to be cast in a superhero film, I'd prefer to play the villain because there's a reason, there's a motive behind their madness.

There was a time when I wanted to be a lawyer, or even a professional triathlete... But nothing could come close to the passion I have for acting.

Everyone is being told by society to talk this way, to dress that way, to be this person or to be that person, and it's so important to just maintain a sense of self.