Background
Kwanten was born in Sydney, Australia to Eddie Kwanten, a worker at NSW Maritime, and Kris, a lifeline op shop coordinator. His father is Dutch.
Kwanten was born in Sydney, Australia to Eddie Kwanten, a worker at NSW Maritime, and Kris, a lifeline op shop coordinator. His father is Dutch.
He attended Street Paul"s College in Manly and later earned a degree in commerce from the University of Sydney. He eventually chose to leave the series in 2002, shortly after his character married and became a father.
He played Vinnie Patterson from 1997 to 2002 in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. After his stint ended he joined the American teen drama series Summerland, portraying Jay Robertson. In 2008, he was cast as Jason Stackhouse in True Blood.
Kwanten has two brothers, Mitchell, who is a musician and Lloyd, who is a doctor.
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.
Kwanten had previously guested on the serial as Robbie Taylor in 1994. Moving to the United States, Kwanten was cast as Jay Robertson in the Lori Loughlin-starring series Summerland, which ran from 2004 to 2005.
He appeared in the films Flicka, with Maria Bello, Alison Lohman and Tim McGraw, and Dead Silence, a horror film in which he played the leading role.
Kwanten appeared in a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode that aired on 2 December 2008, in which he portrayed Dominic Pruitt, a United States Marine Corps Master Sergeant accused of raping and murdering a fellow Marine and her unborn baby. In 2009, he starred in the film Don"t Fade Away with Mischa Barton and Beau Bridges. Kwanten played the role of Jason Stackhouse in the Home Box Office series True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris" The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels, which aired from 2008 until 2014.
He stars in the psychological thriller Red Hill, which was directed by Patrick Hughes.
Kwanten earned one of the lead roles in the Joe Lynch comedy-horror film Knights of Badassdom. In October 2010, it was announced that Kwanten will play Charles Manson in the upcoming, yet-to-be-titled biopic, directed by Brad Anderson.
In 2012, he appeared in MysteryGuitarMan"s video "Dual Action". In 2013, Kwanten played Marvel character Eddie Brock/Venom in the short film Truth in Journalism and portrayed Conall in the action adventure film Northmen: A Viking Saga.
In 2015 He played the voice of Blinky Bill in Blinky Bill the Movie.