Jay Ryan was born on August 29, 1981 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was born as Jay Bunyan but he is more commonly known by his stage name Jay Ryan. Jay is an actor, famous for taking part in TV series and movies such as Neighbours, Go Girls, Top of the Lake, and Beauty & the Beast.
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Personal Life
Jay has kept most of his personal life private. He enjoys his craft and understands that he is automatically a public figure because of the nature his work. Still, he wishes to keep details about his life private because he wants people to separate his real self from the roles he portrays on the screen. He feels that any info that fans want to find out about him should only be normal facts that they could find online. Any other information is only exclusive to his close friends and family.
The handsome actor is not married yet but has a long-time girlfriend, Dianna Fuemana. They have said that they will eventually marry but they are currently focused on their careers. They know how much married life requires and it is not a step that they are prepared for. They do not want to commit to a huge step when they are not ready. If they make the move without being ready, they risk ruining their relationship. The last thing they want to go through is heartbreak and divorce. They prefer for their marriage to be the icing on the cake instead of the base of the cake.
Dianna, works in the same field as Jay as a writer and director. Having a partner in the same field has helped Jay a lot because she does not work in the same position. While he works in front of the screen, she works behind it. Her perspective from behind the scenes has given Jay useful insight in his projects. He is now able to understand why writer do certain things and what the director truly wants in scenes. On the other hand, Dianna has been able to learn about the motivations of an actor from her lover. They are a great team because they are able to bounce ideas off each other. To them, there is nothing better than collaborating with someone that you are deeply in love with.
Ryan and Dianna welcomed a beautiful daughter named Eve Bunyan in March of 2013. She is a Canadian-New Zealand girl because of Dianna’s Canadian roots and Jay’s New Zealand roots. She will grow up to be a very beautiful woman with exotic looks because her parents’ unique mix.
Jay admits that he neither anticipated having a daughter nor planned to be the head of a family at his age. Just like their marriage plans, he wanted a child to be planned but sometimes good things come at a time when you least expect it. He said his daughter, Eve, came as a pleasant surprise to them and made him realize how important family is after he started his own. He intends to create a balance between family life and his career. When Jay was interviewed by E News, he disclosed that his girlfriend had come up with a nickname for him “Hottie of the Week”.
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Acting Career
Jay’s career as an actor took off in 1998. Before that, Ryan used to entertain young kids as a clown at a local supermarket. At age of 19, he made a move to Australia to pursue an acting career. In early 2005, he received a suggestion to change his name when he was auditioning for roles in movies in Los Angeles from “Jay Bunyan” to a more common name “Jay Ryan.”
After changing his name, Ryan landed roles in three different features, The Tribe, Being Eve and Neighbours.
In 2003, the character he played in the TV show Neighbours as Jack Scully became popular and it earned him a nomination for the Logie Awards for Most Popular New Male Talent, This was a major career boost and his work on Neighbours would end up being his biggest career highlight to this day.
He has also guest starred in shows such as Sea Patrol, Go Girls, Legend of the Seeker and Terra Nova. He played the lead role of the Beast (Vincent Keller) in the CW TV hit series Beauty and the Beast. It was a very significant role in his career as it increased his fame. Beauty and The Beast was a hit Disney cartoon in the 90s. When news of a live action TV show hit, fans were at first unsure of how it was going to do. Even though it was live action before it became a Disney cartoons, fans were still not sure what to expect. Jay changed people’s opinions with his performance as the Beast. Girls that had grown up watching the cartoon fell in love with him when he appeared on the show. He was able to provide an interesting dynamic. He was the angry beast that was shunned and hated the world. Through the love of Belle, he was able to become softer and open his heart to love. It was a classic romantic love story that resonated with the audience. His role as Vincent Keller lasted for four years from 2012 to 2016. The role put Jay on the map when it came to American audiences.
In 2014, he won the Equity Ensemble Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Miniseries for the show Top of the Lake. The miniseries was very popular because it involved murder and mystery. The show dealt with racism and sexual assault. IN the plot, a pregnant young girl went missing but the locals would not cooperate with the place. It was assumed that the locals were covering up a dangerous secret.
With such numerous years of growth in his acting, Jay is estimated to earn $484,000 yearly by signing film contracts, sponsorships and also featuring in films. He has amassed a massive net worth of $4 million.
Last Modified: Mar 8, 2020
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