Whoop whoop!
This upcoming weekend it is time for one of our favorite comic cons again... On the 5th and 6th of April, the FACTS mothership will land at Flanders Expo in Ghent (Belgium) for the weekend. We will be there on Saturday and now we will tell you all about the amazing actor/actress guestlist!
Elijah Wood
We once called him 'the one guest to rule them all'. Of course, this is a reference to his role as Frodo in one of the biggest and most successful movie franchises of all time: "Lord of the Rings". But that's not all he is known for. I can't imagine that that there is anyone, who never heard of Elijah Wood. Yes, that's right Elijah will be a guest at FACTS! Just to be sure, let us tell you some more about this amazing actor....
Elijah Jordan Wood was born on January 28, 1981 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (US) . He was the second child of Warren and Debra Wood. Elijah has an older brother named Zach (Zachariah) and a younger sister named Hannah. Young Elijah was full of energy and when he was only 2 years old, he locked his mother out of the house and ruined the family kitchen. This earned him his nickname: 'Monkey'. His parents owned two Delis in Cedar Rapids, so Elijah spent a lot of after schooltime in these restaurants. From a very young age, he was interested in movies and especially horror movies. Fun fact: Elijah saw his first horror movie when he was 4 years old. When his brother Zach and his friends watched these kind of movies, little Elijah used to sneak in to watch the movies. In later interviews talked about that first horror movie he watched, it was a movie called "Truth or Dare: a Critical Madness" (1986) and he did not think it was very scary. In elementary school, he started to take part plays, like: "The Sound of Music" and "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". He also served as a choir boy in a Marion County production of "See How They Run".
Music was very important in Elijah's family. Both his great-grandfather and his maternal uncle, played in professional bands. During his youth, Elijah listened to a wide range of music and the first tape he ever bought was a "Best Of" compilation of The Monkees. His brother Zach didn't only introduce him to horror movies but he also introduced Elijah to the music of The Smiths, Prince and The Cure. His love for all kinds of music stayed with him throughout his life and Elijah is known be a superb vinyl DJ.
As aforementioned, Elijah was an energetic kid and to lose some of that energy his mother encouraged him to take up modelling. Elijah's mom thought this could be a way for the young man to let out his creative energy. All of this brought him to star in some regional TV commercials, as well as printed advertising. It soon became clear that Iowa was to small for Elijah's talents and the family moved to California, to take a chance in Los Angeles. This move to L.A. was initialized by the modelling school Avant (where Elijah had enrolled earlier on). They had Elijah (and some other students) participate in the IMTA convention in December 1988 (IMTA stands for International Modeling and Talent Association). For the 'talent showcase portion of the show, Elijah sang the Bobby McFerrin song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". During the song Elijah forgot some of the lines and for a normal child this would be the end of it all, but not for Elijah. He improvised and started a duet with the MC of the show, what followed was a huge round of applause. Besides this it also won him a contract with manager Gary Scalzo, who asked Elijah if he wanted to be an actor. Scalzo had been working with young talents for a while and he saw a lot of potential in the young man. This all led his mother's decision, to move to Los Angeles with Elijah and Zach (Elijah's father and sister would join them later). Elijah started auditioning and soon he landed his first job in Paula Abdul's music video "Forever Your Girl". Fun Fact: This music video was directed by David "Se7en" Fincher.
Elijah's mother Debra, realised that Elijah could be at the start of a glorious career in the spotlights and she did all she could to keep him from becoming a spoiled brat. Mom laid down some ground rules and insisted on Elijah doing his homework and household chores. For Debra, the most important thing was that the young Elijah remained grounded. It was important that he realised that he wasn't any better or any more important than anyone else.
In 1989, Elijah landed a small role in "Back to the Future II". In later interviews, Elijah stated that it was mind blowing for him to be on the set of a movie franchise like this. He saw the first movie, before he started his acting career and now he was on set. In 1990, he landed a small role (as Sean) in the movie "Internal Affairs", starring Richard Gere and Andy Garcia.He also landed a leading role (as Luke) in the TV movie "Child in the Night" (alongside Tom Skerritt and JoBeth Williams). Also in 1990, Elijah got the role of Michael Kaye in the movie "Avalon", which was directed by Barry Levinson. The movie was nominated for 4 Oscars (and was also nominated for the Golden Globe award for Best Picture). In 1991, Elijah played the role of Willard Young in "Paradise" (starring Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) and in 1992, he landed a role in "Radio Flyer". For both "Paradise" and "Avalon", Elijah was nominated for the prize of Best Young Actor at the Young Artists Award. For his role as Mike in "Radio Flyer", he also won the award. Fun Fact: Elijah auditioned for this role at the age of 9 and did not get it. But when the director decided to change the script, he did a re-casting. Elijah auditioned again and this time he did get the part.
Over the following 2 years, Elijah appeared in four movies: "Day-O" (1992, as Dayo), "Forever Young" (1992, as Nat Cooper), "The Adventures of Huck Finn" (1993, as Huck Finn) and opposite Macaulay Culkin in "The Good Son" (1993, as Mark). At this point in his career, Elijah had played in a lot of movies with very mature story lines, which is remarkable for such a young actor. But in "The Adventures of Huck Finn", young Elijah showed a whole other side of himself.and it turned out that Elijah also had some comedic talents. In 1994, he starred as leading actor in "North" (as North) and "The War" (as Stu Simmons"). Fun Fact: In the movie "The War", Elijah was billed over Kevin Costner. Not so bad for a 13 year old, right? It was also around this time that Roger Ebert ( the world famous and renowned movie critic) called Elijah the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history...
Next to his work on these movies, young Elijah also kept appearing in nationwide TV commercials of big companies. In 1995, he even appeared in the music video "Zombie" from the Irish rock band The Cranberries. It was also around this time, that his parents divorced. Elijah later stated, that it wasn't very traumatizing, because the relationship with his father was never very close. He had always felt closer to his mother than to his father. In 1996, Elijah starred as Sandy Ricks in the movie remake of "Flipper", about the friendship between a boy and a dolphin. Getting the role in this movie, also meant that one of Elijah's biggest dreams came true: he got to swim with dolphins. He later stated that this opportunity was the main thing that persuaded him to do this movie. Over the following years , Elijah could count on a steady stream of jobs. He appeared in movies and TV series, like: "The Ice Storm" (1997, as Mickey Carver), "The Faculty" (1998, as Casey Connor) and "Deep Impact" (1998, as Leo Biederman). In "The Ice Storm", Elijah worked with director Ang Lee. The movie is set in the 1970's and the director wanted his actors to fully understand their characters. To achieve this, he gave them a lot of research material about this time, as well as in depth questionnaires about their characters. He even insisted on Elijah listening to Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon", because that was the music his character would listen. Another thing Ang Lee insisted on was that his whole cast and crew were taught in practicing Tai Chi. It was working with a director in this manner, that made Elijah realize how much he loved acting.
While he was filming for the movie "The Faculty", a movie critic told him about Peter Jackson's plans to make Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" into a series of movies. The man also mentioned that in his opinion, Elijah would be perfect for a role in these movies. While Elijah had never read Tolkien's "The Lord of The Rings", he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with his work. "The Hobbit" had always been one of his favorite books. Casting meetings for "The Lord of the Rings" started in London, New York and Los Angeles in 1998. Elijah took his chance and walked into the Los Angeles office to read the script in a secret audition. The reading of this script had Elijah also decided to make a taped audition. For this taped audition, he bought a Hobbit-like costume, had some dialect coaching and started shooting three scenes in his home and in the woods. Elijah had some help editing the scenes and when it was finished, he brought it to the office in Los Angeles. His enthusiasm paid of: the LA office sent the video to Peter Jackson, who was casting for Frodo and his hobbits in London. Jackson later stated that he initially wanted British actors to play the Hobbits, but when he got the package from L.A., he was desperate to find the right actor for Frodo. He watched the tape and he knew at that moment that he had found his Frodo. When Jackson returned to LA, he invited Elijah to come in and read for the part. Elijah was a big fan of Jackson's movie "Heavenly Creatures", so he was very happy to do this. A few months later Peter Jackson called him and asked him to move to New Zealand for a year and a half...to play the part of Frodo Baggins! In later interviews, Elijah stated that he was ecstatic and when he hung up the phone he couldn't even speak...he could only scream of joy! Normal kids leave home for college when they are 18 years of age, but not Elijah...Elijah traveled to New Zealand on his own to work with a bunch of strangers on one of the biggest movies of all time.
Elijah was among the first ones on location in New Zealand and he was together with his 'fellow Hobbits': Sean Astin (Samwise), Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merrin). Since the friendship of the Hobbits was the heart of the story, Jackson wanted their bond to be strong in real life. To achieve this, he decided to let them go through their training together. While other cast members were not on location in New Zealand yet, the young actors started taking lessons in horse riding, fencing, dialect and rowing. Besides this they also did script readings and costume fits. Over the following weeks, the rest of the cast would start to join them. When filming started, Elijah made long days: he started at 5 a.m. with make up and costumes, followed by the start of filming at 8 a.m. (until at least 8 p.m). Since all three movies were filmed simultaneously, it was hard for the actors to grow into their role. The scenes of all three movies would be filmed in non-chronological order, so there was no time to grow into it. Elijah also had to film in parts of New Zealand, that were secluded and had bad weather conditions. It was hard work indeed. After a much needed Christmas break, he would return to New Zealand in January of the year 2000. Cast and crew spent the entire year filming 6 days a week. During his little time off the set, Elijah would go surfing, eating in local restaurants and even deejaying in some of the nightclubs. The bond between all of the actors of the movie grew stronger over time and all of the members of the Fellowship decided to get a tattoo of a 9 in Elvish script. In December 2000, the last scenes of the trilogy were filmed and Elijah returned home...
After this adventure, Elijah was exhausted and did not know what to do with himself for a while. In 2001, he agreed to do a part in Edward Burns' "Ash Wednesday". Not long after, he had second thoughts about it. He was still exhausted from filming "The Lord of the Rings" and later stated that he almost called Burns to call off the whole thing. Luckily he pushed through his doubts and with the filming of the movie, Elijah got back in the saddle. He did some voice work for video games and animated movies and he also had a cameo in "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over". In the following years, he had to return to New Zealand on multiple occasions, to do re-shoots of scenes from the LOTR movies (they came out between 2001 and 2003). During this time, he also had to do a lot of promo work for the movies. When he was in New York to promote the movie with Sean Bean and Orlando Bloom in 2001, Elijah was confronted with the 9/11 attacks in a very personal way. On September 11th, Elijah left New York by plane at about the same time a plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Luckily his plane was diverted to Cincinnati, but that could have ended quite differently.
In 2003, Elijah was filming for his role as Patrick in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and just after he finished, he was rushed into the hospital with pain in his abdomen. It turned out to be his appendix, which had to be taken out. In December of 2003, the last installment of the trilogy "Lord of the Rings; Return of the King", hit the cinemas and blasted all records. With a grand total of 30 Oscar nominations and cashing in 17 of them, the trilogy still remains one of the most successful movie projects in Hollywood history. Elijah was a big part of it, but he wasn't gonna let his role as Frodo define his career. It was April 2004 that he made his way to London, for a new movie project called: "Green Street Hooligans" (also called "The Yank"). In this movie, Elijah plays the role of Matt Buckner, a journalism student from Harvard. After he is wrongfully expelled, he goes and visit his sister and her husband in England. It's there that he meets his sister's brother in law Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam). Pete is an avid supporter of Millwall FC ( a London football club) and Pete runs the hooligan firm of the club. After a little while, Matt and Pete become friends and Pete introduces Matt to the violent world of football hooligans. What better way to shake of your Frodo image than that role, right? Fun Fact: Ever since "Green Street Hooligans", Elijah remained a supporter for Millwall FC.
Soon after this project, Elijah started filming for another amazing movie: "Sin City" (2005), where he played the role of Kevin. Elijah got the role after his (in his own words) easiest audition ever. Robert Rodriguez (director), had him come to a hotel room and told him to bring some glasses. He then asked Elijah to sit there quietly, while he himself read Marv's lines (Marv was played by Mickey Rourke in the movie). He filmed the audition and sent it to Frank Miller (other director and writer of the novel). who was so creeped out, that he landed the role. Why is creeped out good, you might think? Well, Kevin is a mute, cannibal serial killer. Elijah was happy to do the role, because he is a big fan of the graphic novels by Frank Miller.Also in 2004, Elijah travelled to Prague to film the movie "Everything is Illuminated" (I love that movie). It is an adaptation from Jonathan Safran Foer's first novel, with the same name. In the movie, Elijah plays the role of Jonathan (a young Jewish man), who travels to the Ukraine to find the women that saved his grandfather from the Nazis in WWII. On his way through the country, he gets the help of the eccentric local Alex.
As mentioned before: Elijah has been very musical throughout his life and in September of 2005 he established his own record label, named: Simian Records. This gave him the opportunity to showcase some of his favorite bands and reach a wider audience for them Over the following years, he had to shift his attention between his passion for movies and his passion for music, so he had to choose for more ensemble pieces in his movies.
In "Paris, je t'aime" (2006), Elijah plays Le Garçon, a traveler who get fascinated by a vampire. In 2006 he also plays in "Bobby". Elijah plays the role of William, a young man that wants to get married to avoid getting sent off to the battlefields of Vietnam. The movie is set on the day that Senator Robert Kennedy was murdered in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5th, 1968. It follows the fictional lives of 24 people in and around the hotel on that day. "Bobby" was written and directed by Emilio Estevez and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture. Furthermore he played Aaron Feller in "Day Zero" (2006). The movie follows the life of three friends that get 30 days to report for duty, when military draft is reinstated. Elijah voiced Mumble in the animation movie "Happy Feet" (2006) and Spyro in the games with the same name. Besides, being busy with his record label, voice work and acting, Elijah also found time to do a lot of charity work for children and climate.
In 2007, Elijah sets of for London to shoot "The Oxford Murders", a murder mystery. In the following years, Elijah remained busy doing movie, short movie, TV, music and charity. Elijah also spent more time deejaying (alone and with his friend DJ Zack Cowie). His first participation in a sequel movie (next to the trilogy to rule them all) was in 2011, when he went back to voicing of Mumble in "Happy Feet 2". Elijah hadn't been in leading roles for a couple of years (also because the hard times the movie industry went through at this time), but in 2010 it was announced that Elijah would play the lead role in the sitcom "Wilfred" (a remake for the acclaimed Australian show with the same name). In this bizarre TV show, Elijah plays the role of Ryan Newman, a depressed man who is the only one that sees the neighbor's dog Wilfred as a grown man in a dog suit (wait what?). Besides this , he also voiced main character Beck in Disney XD's animated "TRON: Uprising". At one point, Elijah finally succumbed to social media and opened up a Twitter account, only to abandon it soon after. He joined other stars abandoning Twitter and Facebook until 1 million dollar was donated to the Keep a Child Alive campaign.
Elijah appeared in the short film "Fight for your Right Revisited" in 2011 and in the TV movie: "Treasure Island". In June of 2011, "Wilfred" finally premiered and it turned out to be a big success (it would stay on for 4 seasons). While he was working on "Wilfred", Elijah did a supporting role in the romantic comedy "Celeste and Jesse Forever" and the YouTube parody "The Death and Return of Superman". In 2012, he returned to the role of Frodo Baggins, for Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit". With his appearance made an end to years of speculation. Although Frodo was not in the original Tolkien book, Jackson adjusted the script and involved Elijah. Also in 2012, Elijah starred as Frank in the remake of the 1980 slasher movie "Maniac" and he appeared in some more short films. After the promotion tour for "The Hobbit" and "Wilfred", Elijah made his way to Barcelona (Spain) to film for the movie "Grand Piano" (also known as "Blackmail"), directed by his friend Eugenio Mira. For his role as pianist Selznick, Elijah had to brush up on his piano skills. He played three hours a day for three weeks. Over the years (starting in 2002), Elijah had been working in front of as well as behind the camera. In 2010, he met two young filmmakers named Daniel Noah and Josh C. Weller, when he was set to work with them for their movie "Mothership". When the trio met to discuss that movie, they began to talk about horror (which had been a passion of Elijah since he was a child). While the movie "Mothership" suffered some major setbacks, a friendship between the three men was formed. Their common passion for horror was the base for a new project: a production company named The Woodshed Horror Company. The goal of this company was to produce heartfelt horror stories, different from the cliché sort of horror movies. The first Woodshed Company movie was "Toad Road" (2012). Their second production, called "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night", placed the company in the spotlights within the genre. The movie was completely filmed in black and white and the dialogues were all in the Farsi language. After the premiere at the Sundance Festival of 2014, the movie got great reviews and won several awards. By this time the company had a new name (due to copyright issues) and Spectrevision was born.
Meanwhile Elijah was also still going strong in producing music, but after he helped wrap up some projects, he stated that this would be his last work for Simian. In April of 2013, the short film "Setup, Punch" was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. In this short, Elijah takes on the role of stand up comedian Ruben Stein. To prepare for the role, he did a comedy routine at the Improv in Los Angeles. He was very nervous before he took the stage ("I felt like I was about to jump out of a plane"), but it all went very well. Also in 2013, Elijah played in "Pawn Shop Chronicles". Other names on the cast list for this movie are: Norman Reedus, Michael Cudlitz, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon and the late Paul Walker. The biggest part of the year 2013, Elijah spent travelling the world doing promotion work for "Grand Piano" and "Maniac". In 2014 and 2015, Elijah worked on the movie "Set Fire to the Stars". He didn't only star in the movie (as John Malcolm Brinnin), but he also served as a co-producer on it. Elijah also starred in the movie "Open Windows", a found footage techno-thriller that has all of the action taking place on a computer screen. Josh Weller (his partner at Spectre Vision, came with an idea for a movie about a virus, that would turn children into savages. All agreed on Elijah taking the main role in it. All ... except for Elijah. From the start he made it clear, that he did not want to act in a movie produced by his own company. The partners, however, were hell-bent on Elijah taking on the role of Clint, so they organised an intervention to persuade him to take the role. It worked and eventually Elijah succumbed to the pressure, mainly because he absolutely loved the script. Late 2014, he began filming for "The Last Witch Hunter" and in January 2015 he went to Las Vegas to start filming for "The Trust". This was yet another dream come true for Elijah, because in the movie he got the chance to work with Nicolas Cage (one of his favorite actors). In 2016, it was announced that Elijah would make his comeback on television with a leading role in "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency". The role of Todd Brotzmann would prove to be a role right up to his alley and he would play it for two seasons (18 episodes). Unfortunately, the show was cancelled after the second season. Speaking of roles right up Elijah's alley, in 2017 he took on the role of the eccentric Tony in Netflix's "I Don't Feel at Home In This World Anymore". In 2019, Elijah played the role of Norval Greenwood in the horror comedy "Come to Daddy" and between 2018 and 2020, he voiced Jace Rucklin in "Star Wars: Resistance". In 2023 Elijah plays the role of Fritz Garbinger in "The Toxic Avenger" and returned to television again, with the role of Adam in "Yellowjackets". Most recently, Elijah played the role of Ted in the 2025 horror movie "The Monkey".
Elijah Wood will be a guest at FACTS convention on Saturday and Sunday.
Prices:
Photo op: €120
Autograph: €100
Selfie: €110
Combo selfie & autograph: €190
Q&A: included in entrance ticket
Times:
Photo op Saturday: 14:00 - 15:00
Photo op Sunday: 11:45 - 12:45
Q&A Saturday: 15:00-15:30
Q&A Sunday: 15:45-16:15
All subject to change.
Ryan Hurst
You might know him as Opie in "Sons of Anarchy", as Beta in "The Walking Dead" or as Thor in "God of War: Ragnarök"; but his name is Ryan Hurst and he is coming to FACTS Spring Edition 2025 in Ghent. For many years we thought there was a curse on us meeting Ryan. When we had a chance, something always seemed to go wrong and we couldn't go or he cancelled last minute. We used to call Ryan: 'the one that got away', but back in 2020 we finally broke the curse and we got to meet him. Now, 5 years later, we get a second chance at FACTS! Now let us tell you some more about the man himself...
Ryan Douglas Hurst was born on June 19th of the year 1976 in Santa Monica, California (U.S.). He is the only son of Rick Hurst and Candace Kaniecki. Little Ryan was born to be an actor, because he was born into a true entertainment family. His father Rick is an actor and he is mostly known for his role as Cletus Hogg in the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979-1982). Ryan's mother Candace is an acting coach and owns her own acting school. There isn't a lot to be found about Ryan's early life, but we do know his parents divorced in 1979 (when he was only 3 years old). Not much later, Ryan's father remarried and got another son named Collin (Ryan's half brother). Because of his parents' connection to the entertainment industry, Ryan expressed an early interest in acting and storytelling. During his time on Santa Monica High School, he cultivated his passion for the craft.
When Ryan was 17 years old (in 1993), he made his screen debut on the TV show "Saved By The Bell: The New Class". He played the role of Crunch Grabowski in 2 episodes of the show. During the years that followed, Ryan played some minor 1-episode roles in: "Beverly Hills 90210"(1994, as student actor) and "JAG" (1995, as Dirk Grover). At this time Ryan was broke and he really needed a job. He auditioned for a role in the TV show "Campus Cops" and got the job. He had long hair and a goatee, but when he showed up for the first day on set the casting director took a pair of scissors to cut off his hair and beard. Although he really needed the job, Ryan told the man he would quit instantly if someone touched his beard. Eventually he got to explain his point to the executive producers and he got to keep his long hair and beard, which became iconic in his later career. Eventually Ryan played the role of Wayne Simko in all 13 episodes of the first and only season of "Campus Cops".
In 1997, Ryan played the role of Eddie March in the movie "The Postman", starring Kevin Costner. A year later he got his first taste of the big work, when he landed a minor role in the 1998 blockbuster movie "Saving Private Ryan". With his role as paratrooper Michaelson, he was part of an amazing ensemble cast including: Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Giovanni Ribisi, Ted Danson and of course Tom Hanks. In later interviews, Ryan talked about how working with Tom Hanks had a big impact on his working life. In these early days of his career, Ryan had a lot of problems getting used to the fact that people started to recognize him. Being an introvert, he couldn't handle the fact that people approached him without asking. During his time on "Saving Private Ryan", however, he saw how Hanks approached every fan with kindness and patience. This had a big impact on his own interaction with his fans.
Also in 1998, Ryan shared the screen with another big name in the movie industry, when he landed the role of Neil in "Patch Adams" (starring Robin Williams). In later interviews he talked about this experience as a dream come true. When Ryan was 9 years old, he saved up his allowance for months, to buy a VHS tape of Robin Williams' show "A Night at the Met". While other children of his age were playing outside, Ryan used to watch this tape over and over again. Needless to say that Robin Williams was a big inspiration for Ryan. For his role in "Patch Adams", he was in a room with Robin for three weeks and they did a lot of improvisation (which did not make the final cut). In one of the first days, he told Robin about 9 year old Ryan, who memorised the VHS tape. Robin grabbed his hand, brought it to his chest and told Ryan that story would get him through the day. This was a moment that Ryan cherishes until this day. In 2000, Ryan shared the screen with yet another big star in "Remember the Titans", starring Denzel Washington. It tells the true story of African American football coach Herman Boone, who is appointed to lead a football team at an integrated school. Boone gets to deal with a lot of racial tension within the team. Ryan plays the role of linebacker Gerry Bertier. In later interviews. Ryan talked about how he wasn't that interested when he first read the script. This all changed when he heard who was going to be directing the movie, which was Boaz Yakin. He also directed the movie "Fresh", which was one of Ryan's favorite movies.
In 2002, Ryan returned to playing a soldier and again shared the screen with an absolute superstar. He played the role of Sgt. Ernie Savage in "We Were Soldiers" alongside the incredible Mel Gibson. Over the following years, Ryan becomes more and more of a household name in Hollywood, with roles in movies and series like: "Lone Star State of Mind" (2002, as Tinker) and "Taken" (5 episodes in 2002 as adult Tom Clarke). In 2004, Ryan plays a football player again in the movie "The Ladykillers". This also marks another collaboration with Tom Hanks. In 2005 Hurst returns to the small screen with the role of ATF agent Jimmy McGloin in 13 episodes of "Wanted". He also gained recognition with the role of Michael Benoit in 3 episodes of "Medium".
The year 2008 is the year of Ryan's definitive breakthrough, when he lands the role of Harry 'Opie' Winston in "Sons of Anarchy". The show is a huge success and Opie quickly grows out to be a fan favorite. Originally Opie was meant to be a recurring character, but he is so popular that he is quickly added to the main cast. Eventually Ryan played the role for 54 episodes from 2008 until 2012. Now, if you haven't seen "Sons of Anarchy" yet and you do want to watch it still? You can read on from the words 'END OF SPOILER', which will be bold. Are you sure you want to keep on reading? Ok here we go: START OF SPOILER: Now if you are a fan of "Sons of Anarchy" you know that Opie does not get to live happily ever after. and that his death is one of the most heartbreaking moments in TV history. After his last scene, there was an emotional video with fellow cast members Mark Boone Jr. (Bobby) and Charlie Hunnam (Jax). In this video they use a samurai sword to cut off a part of Ryan's beard. This 'ceremony' was based on the old Samurai Bushido Code. This code says that when a samurai gives up his sword, everyone who has contributed to his career gets to cut off a little bit of the beard or top knot. The cast of "Sons of Anarchy" felt like a family and this is how they said goodbye.END OF SPOILER...
After his impressive performance in "Sons of Anarchy", Ryan could count on a steady stream of jobs and job offers. In 2013, Ryan played the role of Edgar Roy in 10 episodes of the show "King and Maxwell". He also played the role of Mad Mountain in the movie "CBGB", which revolves around the New York punk/rock scene in the well known club with the same name. From 2015 until 2017, Ryan played Chick Hogan in 15 episodes of "Bates Motel", which served as a prequel for the movie "Psycho". From 2016 until 2017, he played the role of 'Lil Foster' Farrell in the show "Outsiders" for 26 episodes. The story of the show revolves around the interactions between a clan of mountain folk (the Farrell clan) and the locals of the nearby town. When asked about the show, Ryan described it as a mix between "Little House on the Prairie" and "Mad Max". In 2018, he plays the role of Hank in the drama movie "A Million Little Pieces" (alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Giovanni Ribisi and Billy Bob Thornton).
From 2019 until 2020 Ryan lands a role in another popular TV show: "The Walking Dead'. He plays the role of Beta in 20 episodes in season 9 and season 10 of the show. As a big fan of the comics, this was an awesome experience for Ryan. He later talked about how grateful he was to the makers of the show, that he was able to give some real input on the role of Beta. Also in 2019, Ryan played Hector Bonner in 7 episodes of the police procedural "Bosch". From 2021 until 2022, he plays the role of Milligan in 16 episodes of "The Mysterious Benedict Society". In 2022, he voiced the character of Thor in the video game "God of War: Ragnarök". Most recently, Ryan played roles in the movies "Desperation Road: and "Desert Road".
Besides the fact that he is a great actor, he is also an avid follower of the Sikh religion and his Sikh name is Gobind Seva Sing. One of the principles of Sikhism is to never cut your hair and beard. According to the Sikhs, the chin and the top of the head are energy centers and among the most emotional parts of the body. Women are emotionally stronger, so they don't need the protection that men need. Ryan says he does feel stronger with his beard an also more protected. Sikh men often wear a hat to protect their head. Remember Opie's iconic beanie? Well that was actually Ryan's own beanie.
Ryan met his wife Molly Cookson back in 1994. After dating for 11 years they got married in 2005.
Ryan Hurst will be a guest at FACTS Spring Edition 2025 on the 5th and 6th of April.
Prices:
Photo op: €70
Autograph: €50
Selfie: €70
Combo selfie & autograph: €100
Q&A: included in entrance ticket
Times:
Photo op Saturday: 15:15 - 15:45
Photo op Sunday: 11:00 - 11:30
Q&A Saturday: 11:45-12:15
Q&A Sunday: 12:30-13:00
All subject to change.
Wow, that was quite the story right? Well these are only two of the 7 amazing guests for this year. Keep an eye n our socials this upcoming week and don't miss the second article about the actor/actress guestlist of FACTS.
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