Everything about Ryan

Last name : Merriman

First name and middle name : Ryan Earl

Birthdate : April 10th, 1983

Birthplace : Choctaw, Oklahoma, USA

Parents : Nona and Earl Merriman

Siblings : an elder sister, Monika

Civil status : married to Micol (june 25th, 2004)

Height : 6'1" (1 m 85)

Weight : 170 lbs (77 kg)

Hair color : brown

Eye color : blue

Pets : 4 Rotweilers (Zar, Abby, Rock et Precious), 1 German Shepherd (Princess), horses and cows.

Living place : in Oklahoma when he is not on film location.

Studies : He graduates from High School in 2001. Ryan tried for a few months Internet-based college studies but had to quit as he had a busy acting schedule.

Ryan Merriman autographed picture

Owner : Nathalie V.

Photo by : Christen Photography

Hobbies : paintball, bike riding, going to the lake with his boat, Tennis, golf, snowboard, wakeboard

Favorite sports : basketball, volleyball and golf

Favorite sports Team : the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the L.A. Lakers

In which sports is Ryan into ? : Football (US), Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, nearly every possible sport : Ryan is really athletic !!

Favorite band : Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Favorite music : Rock and Rap

Favorite book : " Banner in the Sky "

photo courtesy of : Ryan Merriman's official website

Favorite color : blue

Favorite tv shows : Will and Grace

Favorite movies : Old Gangster Films like Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Scarface.

Favorite actors : Ed Norton and Robert de Niro

Favorite actresses : Charlize Theron and Jennifer Connelly

Biggest like : Honest and open people he can trust.

Biggest dislike : Snobby people or people who are fake.

His greatest wish : To be happy in whatever he does in life.

What he looks for in a girl : The one he has now suits him fine.

What he would want to do (if not an actor) :

Be a successful businessman in the construction or land development field or a fireman.

Favorite food : Parmesan Chicken and a good filet.

His current cars : a Ford 2000 F250 Diesel, a Monster truck and an Harley Softail Custom

His most prized possessions : His dogs, his Truck and his Harley.

His nicknames : RyGuy, Hollywood and Merryman

Studies

Ryan has attended public school in Oklahoma, when not on a movie set.

Ryan has always been in the top third of his class. When he was in 12th grade, he enrolled in a Construction Tech class at the co-tech, as well as in a Multimedia Communication class.

In 1999, Ryan wished to become an ingeneer if ever he stopped acting, because he liked building stuff. Or, he would have liked to direct, as several film crew people told him he would be good at it.

When he graduated from high school, Ryan didn't know if he would be able to pursue both his acting career and his studies. He was thinking to attend UCLA if ever he landed a part in a tv series in LA, and if it wouldn't have been the case, he would have liked to attend Oklahoma University.

Ryan hasn't been able to go to his senior prom and to his high school graduation ceremony in 2001 because he was shooting "Dangerous child" in Canada, and then "A ring of endless light" in Australia. But his parents and friends had set up a small private celebration just for him, between the two shootings.

Ryan has tried internet-based studies at the Oklahoma University for a couple of months. It allowed him to pursue both his studies and his acting career.

But he stopped after a couple of months, because "Education is important to me and will always be there for me when the time is right. For now, my acting career has to be where my focus is." (from the exclusive interview for the website, may 2002)

Photo found on internet.

Sports

Ryan has been working out and running since the beginning his teenage years in order to stay in good health. He loves sports.

Ryan already knew how to do horseback riding before he got the part of Nathan in "Everything That Rises", in 1998. He also already had a horse, "Cinder", at the time.

Ryan played 2nd base in baseball at school.

Ryan is trained in martial arts (wing chu and tae kwon do) : he studied them for two years in Los Angeles with a private tutor. He is a brown belt !

Ryan loves sports : from basketball to golf, as well as US football, dirt bikes. And I haven't even mentionned extreme sports that he is particularly fond of, like freefall and other stuff !

Photo by : Cindy Holthouser.

Anecdotes from movie sets

It took Ryan 4 hours to learn the dance he does in "Smart House".

As for the Khasapiko dance that he does in "The Deep End of the Ocean", he learned it in Los Angeles, on the movie set. The choregrapher was really funny and the dance was fun to learn, according to Ryan.

About the Irish dance in "The luck of the irish", it was pretty easy to learn it, as Ryan had already done some step dancing when he was younger.

After the shooting of the tv movie "Rocket's Red Glare", Ryan has been made an honorary member of the Vandenberg Team in 2000, a US airforce team that took part in the shooting of the movie.

And once he turned 18, Ryan has been offered a first flight in one of the military planes of the base (a T-38 Talon training jet)..

Photo taken from a newsletter of Ryan Merriman.

Music

Ryan started singing and dancing in his home state of Oklahoma. Then, his aunt noticed his acting skills and helped him to start acting.

Ryan has sung in the Stagestruck Studios before he started acting.

He has a nice singing voice, that you can hear at the end of "The luck of the irish".

He plays guitar and drums.

Extreme sports

Ryan loves outdoors activities and takes part in many sports. He also loves high sensations and extreme sports.

Ryan and his friends have gathered as "The crew", back in 1999. Here is what Ryan said about it in 2000 :

"We are a bunch of wild and crazy guys who just hang out, have fun and find adventure wherever we are. These are my friends. We became 'The Crew' last summer. We gave ourselves the name because all of us were part of the pit crew for our friend Cody Brewer who races sprint cars and we all did work for each other at the dirtbike races. Last year, our extreme trip was a road trip to the Little Sahara Dunes, a state park in Oklahoma. We all loaded up our dirtbikes and four wheelers and hit the dunes for some wild and crazy stunts."

Family and friends

Ryan cares a lot about his family, his friends, and his home state, Oklahoma.

Ryan always spend Christmas with his family, back in Oklahoma, at his grandmothers'. He keeps up a family tradition from one of his grandfather (who passed awya) : he brings a Whitman's Sampler's chocolate box, with everyone's favourite in it.

Photo taken from a newsletter of Ryan Merriman.

About "The Pretender"

Ryan loved to shoot the simulations. He had some fun stunt work to do, work on the stories behind some of the simulations, and he was working with amazing people.

He was a little disappointed not to be in the two tv movies.

Photo taken from a newsletter of Ryan Merriman.

Miscellaneous

Ryan is American, with English, Scottish and German origins. His german origins come from his father.

Ryan did smoke a little bit when he was a teenager because he thought it was "cool", but quickly stopped.

Ryan is involved with several charity organizations, such as Mount Eagle, in Bozeman, Montana. It is an organization that combines love for animals with therapy, and they set up activities with horses for thekids there. He discovered this organization while shooting "Everything that Rises", in 1998.

Ryan is highly allergic to cats and is afraid of birds, because he has been attacked by a very pissed off bird when he was only 3.

Flying lessons

Ryan got flying lessons as a birthday present on his 18th birthday. He can now pilote in three different types of aircraft and under a lot of different conditions.

Cars and Harley

Ryan has several cars, boaths, and an Harley Softail Custom 1999 that he bought in 2001.

His company : "Rock Steady, Inc"

Ryan has created his own company, "Rock Steady, Inc", through wich he sells his T-shirts, sponsors his friend Cody Brewer who races sprint cars, etc.

He also has his "Rock Steady" T-shirts that he sells to raise funds for a film project, "Beyond the Gates of Splendor", but also to support charity organizations, and lately, to raise funds for his sister's master project of marine biology.

Photo taken from a newsletter of Ryan Merriman..