The Cast of "Summerland": Ryan Kwanten

We'll be bringing you exclusive interviews with three of the cast members of the new WB summer series "Summerland", a show that centers around Ava Gregory (Lori Loughlin of "Full House"), a hot single California fashion designer whose cool beach town life is turned upside down when she must suddenly raise her niece and nephews after their parents are killed. Think "The O.C." hits the beach with a ready-made family.

Our visit to the Malibu set of the new series couldn't have been more cliché perfect! On a beautiful clear day with a Beach Boys classic blasting from the radio, I drove down Pacific Coast Highway on my way to hit the Malibu beaches where the "Summerland" cast and crew were set up shooting a surfing scene against some pretty large, gnarly waves. When I pulled up, tanned and toned extras were playing volleyball and lounging against a two-hull catamaran beached on the sand. Only the giant crane, camera and movie equipment tipped us off that this wasn't an ordinary beach day as Lori Loughlin and her "nephew" Jesse McCartney exchanged some serious words near the crashing surf.

Our interviews took place down the beach in a nifty little area with beach chairs and umbrellas. First to arrive to chat with us was cute Aussie Ryan Kwanten, 24, who plays Ava's pal Jay, a devil-may-care surfer always looking for that perfect wave. This is a great role for Ryan, who spent several years as a surfer on a mega-popular Aussie soap "Home and Away". Ryan surfs bigtime and is also into directing his own short films. He wants to buy and restore the tiny cinema in his home town. The hunky actor's white tee with a palm tree motif, jeans and shaggy, streaked blonde hair couldn't have been a better fit with the locale. He plopped down in a beach chair next to mine and let us get acquainted with him. Picture that cute Aussie accent.

TeenHollywood: You are an Aussie and you've surfed like crazy down there already on a show. So are you teaching everyone on "Summerland" to surf?

Ryan: Eventually, but it seems to be so far that everyone else has been in the water and I haven't had a chance to just yet. Hopefully soon they will write story lines where I'm in the water. (My character) owns a surf shop but that's as far as it goes.

TeenHollywood: So you have a board but you can't use it?

Ryan: Yeah (laughs, looking at a good set of waves). So I'm even more tempted but I can't get out there.

TeenHollywood: What do you like the best about the California beach?

Ryan: Other than the mere fact that it reminds me of Sydney? I'm a very beach person anyway so I mean I think the beach in general just offers me some serenity and peace of mind and it gives me strength and answers to the many questions I have in life. California just feels like home for the time being anyways.

TeenHollywood: Is it pretty similar?

Ryan: Oh yeah. It's not a massive culture shock.

TeenHollywood: How does this cast compare to your "Home and Away" cast?

Ryan: Home and Away" there was a cast of about 22 where this is a regular cast of about 7 so it's a lot easier and you get to know each other a lot quicker. There are obviously people you work with more often and you become really good friends with them and it's hard to become really good friends with 22 people.

TeenHollywood: Has anybody out here been a mentor to you yet?

Ryan: To be honest my manager has been a real mentor for me. She was the executive producer of the film that got me out here (The Junction Boys) and she's been guiding me through some of the loopholes in my career and making the good choices for me.

TeenHollywood: What kind of music are you into?

Ryan: I LOVE music with, like, with a passion. My brother plays sixteen instruments and he stole every single musical gene in the family. I love music but I can't play anything I'd love to be able to play!

TeenHollywood: What's in you ipod or cd player right now?

Ryan: Umm...50 cent was in there this morning. I have such an eclectic taste, there's Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin, then there's like little chill out mixes as well. I tend to know exactly what I want and I go out and buy it.

TeenHollywood: How do the California girls compare to the Sydney girls?

Ryan: I've been really busy but the ones that I've met are really nice. Growing up in Australia you have this stereotypical view of the California girl that they're (indicates hot but brainless). I'm so glad to know that it's not like that.

TeenHollywood: On an ideal date what would you want to do and where would you want to go?

Ryan: Something very unpretentious. It would involve the water. I'd probably get some take away at a really, really nice seafood place with shrimp and oysters and maybe a nice glass of wine or lemonade and go to the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. I'd like to do something really simple where you can talk and get to know each other and you're not at a loud club where you can't hear.

TeenHollywood: Where do you think is the most romantic place in the world?

Ryan: There's a little place in Thailand call Phi Phi island. I think it's actually where they shot The Beach. I went there with an ex-girlfriend and she turned out to be the devil incarnate (laughs) but the actual time we spent there was very nice and I highly recommend it to anybody.

TeenHollywood: Tell me about your character Jay.

Ryan: He likes to think of himself as sort of a Ghandi philosophical surf guru. He thinks he's coming up with all these wonderful answers to life and to Ava's problems and to the kids' problems and sometimes he just ends up creating more questions, his answers create more questions. He also acts as the generation gap between the older - Ava's character and Johnny's character and the younger kids.

TeenHollywood: Have you ever been a mentor to a younger guy who's struggling with what he's doing?

Ryan: Yeah. I've got two younger brothers. They're the loves of my life.

TeenHollywood: Are they thinking about acting?

Ryan: No one's studying medicine and the other's a composer. We're all very different.

TeenHollywood: How did you learn about "Summerland" and try out for this part?

Ryan: I came here initially for one week. I had a one week ticket in New York to promote a film I was in called The Junction Boys where I played a Texan quarterback. The executive producer of that who ended up being my manager said 'why don't you hang around in L.A. for a while and we'll see if we can get you an agent and a pilot' and I didn't really have that much money and she said 'just do it and we'll put it on your credit card'. I'd heard all the horror stories but I ended up getting a really good agent, got William Morris and then got the pilot and got a few films through the year and a couple of roles on television and then this got picked up. It's just been an amazing journey.

TeenHollywood: How did your audition go?

Ryan: I auditioned in an American accent because that's what the character was initially. It wasn't until the second audition that they were looking at my bio and said 'wow, you're Australian, do you mind doing it in Australian' and I couldn't do it. I had lost my Australian accent! I was like 'I'm really sorry. Do you mind if I come back?' So I came back the next time and did it and got the role.

TeenHollywood: How, on the show, does you character meet everybody?

Ryan: Well he's already living here and has been living here for a while. He owns a surf shop, well manages a surf shop and lives in the house with Ava.

TeenHollywood: Have you ever lived in a big house with a bunch of mates?

Ryan: For a short time in Sydney. Otherwise I think it changes you for the worse if you stay there too long.

TeenHollywood: Does any other part of showbiz interest you? Like behind the camera?

Ryan: One of my main goals is- there's this little cinema in Sydney called the Manley Twin Cinemas and one of my favourite films is Cinema Paradiso and I want to change it to that name. Eventually when I'm 75 and I have enough money to buy it out and keep it in the family and play some really cool films.

TeenHollywood: What would you be doing if you weren't acting?

Ryan: I sort of discovered it by accident so I'd either be an ironman in the ironman competitions. I was sponsored for that at one point before I got into acting so I'd either be doing that or...my parents made me finish a business degree so something in human resource management or something like that.

TeenHollywood: What would you like to say to fans or potential fans about you and about the show?

Ryan: About me – I've never felt happier in my life. I'm happy and I think a lot of it has to do with the show and the people that I'm surrounding myself with every single day. I think a lot of the cast members are coming from the same spot. They're all very happy and pleased with the work and the scripts that we're getting and I think it's going to be an amazing show. I think it should have a good future. If the fans are behind it then I'm sure it will.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.