Ryan Kwanten Praises Gay Brother for Coming Out

Many of you fell in love with Ryan Kwanten watching him on HBO’s True Blood on which he plays endearingly dim himbo Jason Stackhouse.

Prior to True Blood, Ryan starred in an episode of Law & Order: SVU as a military guy wrongly accused of rape. The 33-year-old Aussie actor was so good in that episode and his chemistry with series star Mariska Hargitay was off-the-charts.

Ryan recently chatted with Brandon Voss from The Advocate and they covered all kinds of gay ground.

Here are some highlights:

Before True Blood, you starred as a lifeguard in the Australian soap Home and Away. Were you aware of gay fans that early in your career?
Yes, they’ve always been very staunch supporters of me. The great thing is that it’s a loyal fan base — they’ll stick with you through thick and thin, and I like that. You can’t buy that kind of loyalty.

I read a story in Star that claimed you purposely keep your love life private in part because you’re so conscious of your gay following. Any truth to that?
Well, it’s in Star, so it’s got to be true. [Laughs] But yeah, and, to be honest, it’s more than my love life. It was Einstein who once said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.” We almost know too much about far too many actors in this day and age — to the point where it becomes harder and harder to see them as a character. So I’ve always tried to maintain somewhat of an air of mystery.

Were you always comfortable with the idea of male admirers?
Oh, yeah. Australians are a very open-minded society, and I come from a very liberal, open family, so it’s something that I’ve embraced from the get-go. My youngest brother, Lloyd, is gay.

Tell me about him.
He’s a doctor, so he got every ounce of intelligence in the family. He was probably about 18 when he came out, and I can wholeheartedly tell you that from the day that he did, he was a changed man for the better. The sheer beauty of who he is really came through.

Let’s talk True Blood. With the exception of Jason, all the major male characters were involved in homoerotic action last season. Did you feel left out?
Well, there are more seasons to come, so there’s still many an opportunity. I’m sure Alan Ball’s concocting some road to take Jason down that he’s never been down before.

Your True Blood costar Stephen Moyer recently auctioned off his “modesty sock” for charity. Would you auction off your penis pouch for a gay charity like The Trevor Project?
Well, I’ve gone through more than one, so there might be a couple out there. I’ll have to speak to Audrey, our wardrobe designer, and see if she can track one down. There’s quite a collection, actually—one for every mood.

You wrote an upcoming satirical self-help book, The G-Strategy. Any chance the G stands for gay?
It’s stands for whatever you want it to, Brandon. That’s the beauty of it.

Go to Advocate.com to read the interview in its entirety.