Ryan Kwanten keeps his shirt on

Editorial

Following early success in local television programs such as Home and Away, Kwanten has successfully positioned himself as one of Hollywood's most promising talents in recent years. He is currently starring as Jason Stackhouse in Academy Award-winner Alan Ball's True Blood for HBO - already their most popular ever series. With Red Hill, Kwanten's star looks set to rise even higher.

Ryan, what first attracted you to this project?

Firstly, it was a really easy read, and that was the first thing that surprised me; for a first-time filmmaker the lack of exposition that was in the script - there was no extra fat on the bone, it was just pure meat. That was what I first enjoyed. But outside of that, it was tapping into a character that was getting poked, prodded, punched, knocked down time and time again, and that was really appealing to me. Rather than being this unstoppable force, he was supposed to stand up and become the hero rather than starting out as the hero.

The film is much a traditional Western transplanted to contemporary regional Victoria; what research did you have to do for the role?

I would say a good third of my DVD collection are Westerns, everything from the John Ford days and John Wayne through to Clint Eastwood, so I didn't have to do too much research on the Western front. And knowing that Patrick had mortgaged his house to get this film up and running took it to a whole other level, so I thought “Not only am I gonna be wielding a gun and saving this town from imminent disaster, I'm going to be working with Australia's answer to [American filmmaker] Robert Rodriguez!”

So no pressure then? If you don't do well in the film Patrick loses his house?

He loses his house, loses his family, becomes homeless, and will probably be knocking on my door!

You're best known for your role in True Blood, in which you seem to be taking off your clothes in every second scene. It must have been a relief to stay fully dressed in Red Hill?

To be honest it was just too damned cold. (“I tried to get him to take them off!” interjects director Patrick Hughes, who is listening in on the interview.) We were shooting in minus 10 in Victoria's High Country, I've got a wetsuit on underneath my gear, and I think I spent three quarters of the film saturated, plus we had rain machines above me as well, so there really was no justifiable reason for me to be without clothes.

Your character in the film is remarkably human and the story puts him through the wringer. How did you approach the role?

As an audience member you want to see this character turn from a city cop into a cowboy, but you're not quite sure if he's got the brawn or the balls to do it, and I love that. That's very, very appealing for me as an actor and in doing that it was really a trial by fire. We didn't really have a rehearsal period but Patrick had the utmost trust in me and gave me an enormous amount of freedom in playing the role. We had one-two takes at best to do scenes and it was just important to trust your instincts; that's what it taught me.

Red Hill opens nationally on Thursday 25 November. Read our review.

Richard Watts, Citysearch