Ryan Christian Kwanten (born 28 November 1976) is an Australian actor. He played Vinnie Patterson from 1997 to 2002 on the Australian soap-opera Home and Away. After his stint ended he joined the American teen-oriented drama Summerland portraying Jay Robertson. In 2008, he was cast as Jason Stackhouse in True Blood. Kwanten was born in Sydney to Eddie Kwanten, a worker at NSW Maritime, and Kris, a lifeline op-shop coordinator. He is of Dutch ancestry on his father's side. Kwanten has two brothers, Mitchell, who is a musician and Lloyd, who is a doctor. He attended St Paul's Catholic College in Manly and later earned a commerce degree from the University of Sydney. Kwanten began acting on the television shows A Country Practice, Hey Dad..! and Spellbinder. In 1997, he joined the cast of the Australian soap opera Home and Away, playing lifeguard Vinnie Patterson. He eventually chose to leave the series in 2002, shortly after his character married and became a father. Moving to the United States, Kwanten was cast as Jay Robertson in the Lori Loughlin-starring series Summerland, which ran from 2004 to 2005.