Ryan Kwanten

“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.”

“Money has never been a huge inspiration for me.”

“I'm drawn to a good story, really, as I hope most people are. For me, it's the story that's going to stay with you eventually, not necessarily the genre. I go to watch a film because of the story, not because it was a Western or a comedy.”

“I don't know if my sense of humor goes over Americans' heads.”

“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'm not one of those actors who asks for too many favours. So when I do, people tend to listen.”

“Ambition is a very good quality to have. Ambition and the competitive spirit go hand in hand.”

“I'm fortunate enough with the surfing to be very much at home at the water - my pulse and heart rate are slower in the water than they are on land.”

“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.”

“I've always been relatively reserved with my social encounters.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I'm very rarely in the gym. My workouts are predominantly outside, in nature.”

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

“I'm definitely an elbow-room guy.”

“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.”

“I never want to be that guy at a dinner table saying, 'I wish I could have dessert.' I actually went through a stage when I would order dessert first.”

“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.”

“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.”