Jake Ryan (Australian actor)

Jake Ryan (born 2 September 1983) is an Australian actor. He was a member of the Australian national Taekwondo team for eight years, before an injury led him to pursue a career in acting. Since 2003, he has appeared in various feature films and television series. He played the recurring roles of Ray "The Blizzard" Blissett in Underbelly (2011) and Harry Smith in Wentworth (2013–2015). He played Robbo in the Seven Network soap opera Home and Away from 2017 to 2020.

Jake Ryan
Ryan in 2011
Born (1983-09-02) 2 September 1983 (age 41)
Melbourne, Australia
OccupationActor
Years active2003–present
Notable workHome and Away
PartnerAlice Quiddington
Children2

Early life

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Jake Ryan was born in Melbourne, in 1983.[1] During his childhood, he trained in Taekwondo, earning his black belt at the age of nine, making him the youngest person in Australia to do so at the time. He was a member of the Australian national team for eight years, and a ten-time champion, ranking fourth best in the world on three occasions. He pursued a dream to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing,[2] however, following a knee injury one year prior, he withdrew. Ryan later took an interest in acting, and having trained with such actors as Bill Hunter, he graduated from The Actors' Centre in Sydney following two years of study, followed by extended training at Practical Aesthetics.[3]

Career

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Ryan commenced his acting career in 2003, when he first appeared in the short film Trouble in Paradise, before receiving a minor role in his first feature film, in the 2005 Indian romantic comedy, Salaam Namaste. This was followed by appearances in films including, The Sapphires, with Chris O'Dowd and Deborah Mailman, the 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby, with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Blue World Order, which stars Billy Zane,[4] while his television credits consist of recurring roles in Underbelly, House Husbands, and a notable appearance in the Foxtel prison drama series, Wentworth (a reimagining of the classic Network Ten prison drama Prisoner), in which he played Harry Smith, the abusive husband of leading character Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack), for which Cormack's character was sentenced for the attempted murder of Harry. His duration in the series lasted from 2013 to 2015 when his character was killed-off.[5] He also appeared in three episodes of the short-lived horror web television series Wolf Creek,[6] which was based on the popular films Wolf Creek and Wolf Creek 2.

In 2016 Ryan was cast in Australian soap opera Home and Away as Robbo, a man who suddenly appears in Summer Bay with amnesia, and having no recollection of prior events. His true identity is revealed as Ryan Shaw, a federal police officer, during the run-up to the 2017 season finale. He made his first appearance on 25 July 2017 during the 30th season.[1][7] For the role, Ryan lost 13 kg ahead of filming.[8] In addition, Ryan appeared in the 30th anniversary special documentary, Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and Away, which screened on the Seven Network on 17 July 2018.[citation needed]

In late 2018, Ryan took a brief hiatus from Home and Away, when he was cast in the leading role of New Zealand film Savage, directed by Sam Kelly and was inspired by real-life Kiwi street gangs.[9] He departed Home and Away during the 90-minute opening episode of the 33rd season, which aired on 27 January 2020. His character was killed off following a car accident. Ryan decided to leave, as he did not think there was much more for his character to do.[10] In 2021 Ryan appeared in the feature film Streamline.[10]

In August 2022, Ryan was announced in the line-up of Matthew Holmes' period-set shark thriller Fear Below opposite English actress Hermione Corfield.[11] On 19 July 2024, Ryan was named as part of the cast for the Netflix series Territory.[12]

Personal life

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An avid artist, Ryan plans to open his own exhibition in future.[3]

Ryan has been in a relationship with Alice Quiddington, a DJ, since early 2019, and with whom he has two children, a son, born on 6 October 2019 and a daughter born on 23 December 2023.[13][14][15] Ryan and Quiddington announced their engagement in April 2021.[16]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 Salaam Namaste Groom
2006 BoyTown Family Pub Barman
2012 The Sapphires Cochese (uncredited)
2013 The Great Gatsby Motorcycle Cop
2017 Out of the Shadows Charles Winter
Blue World Order Jake Slater
2019 Colourblind The Hitman
Savage Damage
2021 Streamline Dave Bush
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse The Colonel
2023 Kane Kane (also executive producer)
2024 Life After Fighting Wayne Creylan
Take My Hand Russell
My Melbourne Chef Leon
TBA Fear Below Dylan "Bull" Maddock Completed
Homeward Dave Post-production
Primitive War TBA Post-production
War Machine In-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 Underbelly Ray "The Blizzard" Blissett Season 4: Razor (recurring, 10 episodes)
2012 House Husbands Zeeban Episode: "Harmony Day"
2013 Mr & Mrs Murder Stuart Dinklage Episode: "En Vogue"
2013–2015 Wentworth Harry Smith Recurring, 8 episodes
2014 Fat Tony & Co. Mark Moran Episode: "The Tony Special"
2016 Wolf Creek Johnny 3 episodes
Traffik Edmund TV pilot (not picked up)
2017 The Leftovers Bloke Episode: "G'Day Melbourne"
2017–2020 Home and Away Robbo Main role
2021 Amazing Grace Tyrone Episode #1.4
Nine Perfect Strangers Buster Episode: "Brave New World"
The Moth Effect Policeman/Brent 5 episodes
2022 Wolf Like Me Shane Episode #1.6
2023 Last King of the Cross Gibbo Episode #1.2
Ten Pound Poms Billy 4 episodes
NCIS: Sydney Nails Episode: "Brothers in Arms"
2024 Territory Daniel Lawson 6 episodes

Taekwondo record

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Taekwondo record
5 wins, 5 loss, 0 draws
Year Result Opponent Venue Location Points
2000 Win   Gökhan Soysal World Championships Killarney, Queensland 6–4
2000 Loss   Jason McEuin World Championships Killarney, Queensland 2–1
2003 Win   Ferhad Argandewoll World Championships Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria 8–0
2003 Loss   Donald Ravenscroft World Championships Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria 5–4
2005 Win   Razvan Nedelcu World Championships Madrid, Spain 4–1
2005 Win   Marcel More World Championships Madrid, Spain 10–9
2005 Loss   Ruben Montesinos World Championships Madrid, Spain 5–3
2006 Loss   Sagynysh Kalimbetov Asian Championships Bangkok, Thailand Unknown
2006 Win   Zakaria Asidah World Cup Bangkok, Thailand 1–0
2006 Loss   Po-Hao Kuo World Cup Bangkok, Thailand 1–0
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

References

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  1. ^ a b Price, Natasha (2 October 2018). "Who is 'Robbo' from Home and Away?". Who. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  2. ^ Ridgen, Clare (29 October 2017). "Jake Ryan's Biggest Fan, His Mum, Is Thrilled About His New Role". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 18 November 2019 – via pressreader.com.
  3. ^ a b "Jake Ryan". Home and Away. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Jake Ryan, Billy Zane & Stephen Hunter Headline Indie Sci-Fi". Inside Activity. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Wentworth Season 2: Jake Ryan (Harry Smith) discusses Season 2". YouTube. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  6. ^ Whitehead, Mat (19 October 2015). "The Cast For The "Wolf Creek" Miniseries Has Been Announced And It's Awesome". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  7. ^ Black, Nikki (29 November 2018). "Robbo from Home & Away: Who is Jake Ryan?". New Idea. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  8. ^ Rutherford, Karlie (15 July 2017). "Home and Away's new bad boy Jake Ryan to hit our screens as Pia Miller's new love interest". news.com.au. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  9. ^ Brygel, Jackie (29 April 2019). "Home and Away: Jake Ryan – my shock return!". New Idea. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b Hockey, Maddison; Cullen, Tamara (28 January 2020). "Exclusive: Home and Away's Jake Ryan reveals why he was "ready to move on" and leave Summer Bay". TV Week. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Hermione Corfield to front Matthew Holmes' 'Fear Below'". Inside Film. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  12. ^ Knox, David (18 July 2024). "Airdate: Territory | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  13. ^ Seddon, Dan (23 August 2019). "Home and Away star Jake Ryan reveals how soap has prepared him for fatherhood". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  14. ^ West, Amy (7 October 2019). "Home and Away's Jake Ryan becomes a dad – and reveals his son's cute name". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  15. ^ Davies, Megan (10 October 2019). "Home and Away star Jake Ryan shares heartwarming photo with his newborn baby son". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  16. ^ Brennan, Bella (23 April 2021). "He found his Summer Babe! Former Home And Away star Jake Ryan announces his engagement to Alice Quiddington". TV Week. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
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