The compliment that I like more than anything is when my family tells me I'm the same Ryan. I never want to become a celeb who forgets about anybody or has a big head about himself.
Ryan GuzmanI've always believed that - it's stupid, but I always use this - the pressure makes the diamonds. I really do believe that. The more pressure I'm put under, the more, it seems, I thrive. The more you give me to do and the more you give me to accomplish, the more I can get done for you.
Ryan GuzmanIf someone is trying to stop you from enjoying your life by impeding on yours, and telling you that your life is not the right way, then by all means, I'm the first one to say, "Fight for your rights, fight for who you are and for what you believe in." But you better be the stronger person. Just be aware and attentive to everything that's happening in life and know that there are gonna be people that are going to stop you and going to enjoy stopping you from getting to your goals. But just continue to be strong and outwit them.
Ryan GuzmanI don't want you to look at my skin and think "white" or look at my heritage and think "Mexican." I want you to look at me and see me as a human being, and hopefully, we can get past all of this other stuff. It's asking a lot, of course, but there's only one way you fight extremists on both sides, whether it be racist or not, and that's by looking past me, getting bigger than that, letting them not affect you, drawing from it and sticking together with the like-minded people you have around you.
Ryan GuzmanI grew up in a big ol' Latin family, so that's all the music we used to play - salsa music. We'd always dance and have fun. You know how families get down, man! We just had fun with it.
Ryan GuzmanAny Latin dance, whether it be salsa, cha cha, samba, etc., is very sexy for me to see a woman do. Using your hips is the key.
Ryan GuzmanI would say I was jock. I went to Sierra College. I was a big baseball player. Getting into the MLB was my dream - to become a left-handed pitcher for the Yankees. That's what I was hoping, but life kind of went the other way.
Ryan GuzmanFailure turns into success. It looks like it happens overnight to other people, but it's just one person's determination to get past a certain goal. Everybody thinks it's an overnight success, but it's not. It's something someone has been working very, very hard on, and more than likely, has been too embarrassed to tell anybody. No one really wants to show other people their failures. They want to show their success.
Ryan GuzmanLiterally, I kissed a girl, and ,like, a week later, she broke up with me. I was like, 'Oh my God, was it that bad?!'
Ryan GuzmanI'm a hip-hop kind of guy, but to be honest with you, I could listen to R&B all day. Give me some slow jams, and I'm a happy person.
Ryan GuzmanI was a professional fighter for a while, and I trained in martial arts for seven years, so I think that kind of helped form a base for me as far as dancing.
Ryan GuzmanI think the beauty of the film industry is that if another person tries to become another person or act like another person or imitate another person, they don't really get too far. When that person starts to realize who they are and what they can bring to the table, they start to blossom and grow. With that, it's not so much me looking towards my predecessors who have paved the way in the industry - it's more getting inspired. I get little bits and pieces of what I can take from any and everybody.
Ryan GuzmanI'm aware of what my effect on the populous could be, and I try to use it in a positive way, whether it be in an Instagram post or a tweet, or promoting whatever new job that I have. I don't figure too much as a Latino man coming up, or a certain ethnic man. I'm very, very proud of being a Mexican-American man, but I would rather people just see me as a man coming up who just happens to be Mexican.
Ryan GuzmanI've always been a writer, actually. Not many people assume that, but I kinda keep quiet about anything that I do until I'm ready to show it. It keeps me humble and also makes me work towards a goal.
Ryan GuzmanThe media has been nice to me so far, but if I get compared to Channing one more time I'm taking it as a compliment, but it is crazy how many times people have compared me to him. I don't know if 'Magic Mike' is in my future, but we'll see.
Ryan GuzmanFor aspiring actors out there, I would say stay focused and don't let anyone pull you away from your goals. Shoot for the stars so that if you ever fall short you can land on the clouds.
Ryan GuzmanI want everybody to find meaning in whatever they do. That's the only purpose to life, actually. Let that meaning be so strong that you can't not wake up every day and be like, "Yep, this is what I gotta do, let's keep it moving" and not be disgruntled about it, and start using other people as excuses for why you're not creating a better life for yourself.
Ryan GuzmanWe're all trying to be artists making our own unique statements. I think the only real way to do that is through failure.
Ryan GuzmanSome people either really like me or some people don't like me, but even if you don't like me right now or you kinda like me right now, this isn't the end for me, I'm going to continue.
Ryan GuzmanI feel like if we stopped pushing people away in trying to get to the top, we could work together. My goal is to start with my family and my friends, progressively get better and create opportunities for them to express themselves and become happy people, then have them affect the people they're around. [I want to] create this growing effect of positivity and inspired a willingness to overcome any obstacles that are in front of you, whether it be from our government or from our daily lives.
Ryan GuzmanIf you start eating with your mouth open - I can't stand it! I was out to dinner with a girl, and she started chomping on her food. You could see everything she was eating. I was like, 'So when do you want to go home?'
Ryan GuzmanI'm creating my own oasis in my house. I've got a lot of calming, soothing things around my house. The way it's set up, it's supposed to just be a breath of fresh air. I can find solace in painting and writing. I honestly love what I do, so it's not too much for me. Creating is something I've always been able to do, whether it's making little cartoons or writing a full-length script. It's something I really, really enjoy. I'm trying to make the best of what I've been given.
Ryan GuzmanI really want to work with Tom Hardy. Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are also on my list. Those are my top three actors. As far as actresses go, Kate Beckinsale, because she's so smokin' hot.
Ryan GuzmanYou always gotta continue to hunger. If you're gonna continue in any kind of industry whether music or the film industry or athletics, that drive to become better is what will eventually make you into that superstar everybody else will see.
Ryan GuzmanWhile everybody is trying to be different, everybody becomes, obviously, the same, so it's finding what makes you special and then kind of sharing it with the world; it's what makes you a superstar.
Ryan GuzmanI would love to work with Tom Hardy. Maybe do something crazy or dramatic that is different for me.
Ryan GuzmanI grew up like every young kid I know, who wants to be a cop and wants to be a firefighter, so this lifestyle that I've chosen happens to offer that in small doses in front of the camera. I want to take advantage of that. Hopefully I can play many, many different occupations.
Ryan GuzmanThe manipulation of what's actually portrayed in the media, through the legal system, is pretty shocking, actually. You can see how someone you would never know can make a public figure look like a bad guy or a good guy just from the little information they let you know. My advice is to research everything. Don't just hide behind your Facebook posts. Research everything.
Ryan GuzmanPhysically? If you've got really beautiful eyes, you have me in a trance right from the beginning. As far as personality, I'm attracted to really shy girls. Someone who knows who they are and is very genuine. That is just so sexy to me.
Ryan GuzmanFunny story: I was hanging out with Adam Shankman for Samantha Ronson's birthday, and Lance Bass was there. I don't really know Lance, but he comes over to me and goes, 'Hey, I just wanted to let you know I'm a fan of 'Pretty Little Liars' and I'm rooting for your character.' It was surreal! That's how 'PLL' has changed my life.
Ryan GuzmanI'm always thinking if I'm not doing something to get ahead in life, someone else is doing it.
Ryan GuzmanI'm very appreciative, I'm feeling very blessed and I like to live in the moment so any person I meet, I start to leave my mark. As far as my work goes, I just hope that people like it when I do it. I certainly give my best and try to learn as much as I can while I'm working or studying for a role.
Ryan GuzmanThat's what I love about acting. There's never a set role. You can be a firefighter, you can be a baseball player, you can be whatever you want in the acting world. I think I've found my calling.
Ryan Guzman