Actor Troy Ruptash Breaks Hollywood Stereotypes With Two Fall Feature Film Releases

While some actors would be content with having one feature film out, this Fall Troy Ruptash is taking it up a notch with the release of not one but two films, and they couldn’t be more different from one another. In “A Marine Story” Ruptash plays marine officer “Joe” while in “30 Days of Night:Dark Days” he plays “FBI Agent Norris, a sexy bloodsucking Vampire.

Ukrainian actor born and raised on the prairies of Alberta, Canada Troy Ruptash doesn’t have the typical bio that you’d expect from a Hollywood actor, and nearly didn’t even become one with everyone thinking he was set to follow in his father’s footsteps as a local star ice hockey player. However it was soon revealed that this wasn’t going to be the case. But don’t think we’ve arrived at acting yet. Oh no, we’re still on the ice, it’s just there’s no hockey stick because young Troy Ruptash was to reveal himself as a figure skating star.

It seemed like this was to be Ruptash’s future. He started snatching a slew of figure skating awards as early as 7 years old, gained his first National ranking as the Canadian Novice Men’s Bronze medalist at age 13, and by 17 was working to secure a spot on the Canadian Olympic team.

So how did this skater end up a Hollywood actor? It was because of the homophobia in sports. With rumors of his homosexuality beginning to spread Troy quickly went from superstar figure skater to “FAGure Skater”, something which soon became unbearable for Ruptash, leading him to do the unthinkable and in the middle of the 5 minute warm up preceding the nationals, Troy went in front of the television cameras, came out of a jump, faked an injury, left the ice, left the competition, and left his skating career for good.

Heartbreaking, but figure skating’s loss was to be Hollywood’s gain. With practically no acting experience Troy was accepted at one of Canada’s premier Theater Conservatories, Ryerson Theater school, he then hit the Big Apple and eventually ended up in the mecca of acting: Los Angeles.

That move has definitely been a successful one with onscreen appearances that include “Mad Men”(where he appeared as ‘The real Don Draper’), “Prison Break”, “Supernatural”, “Without a Trace”, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, “NYPD Blue”, “The West Wing”, “Boston Public” and the feature film “Leaving Metropolis” to name a few. And this winning run doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon.

Openly gay and proving like Neil Patrick Harris that you can overcome stereotypes and succeed in Hollywood, Ruptash’s performance in Ned Farr’s drama “A Marine Story” has already seen him and the film achieve award winning status with A Marine Story picking up Best U.S. Feature, Best Actress for Dreya Weber and the Feature Audience Award at Outfest.
In ‘A Marine Story’ Ruptash plays Joe, Weber’s onscreen husband. The film deals with what is a very hot and emotive topic at the moment – that of gays not being able to serve openly in the US Army and being forced to cover up their sexual orientation through arranged marriages to protect their status, profession and benefits that come with their rank. Weber plays the courageous woman whose personal story highlights just how ridiculous such a policy is.

Thought provoking with a strong political angle, “A Marine Story” is about as different from Ruptash’s other project, “30 Days of Night: Dark Days” as you can get. In “Dark Days” not only is Ruptash not a military man: he’s not even human. In this film he turns into a Vampire.

From production company Ghost House Pictures and co-written by Steve Niles who created the original graphic novels along with director Ben Ketai, ”30 Days of Night: Dark Days” is the action packed sequel to what has been a global successful franchise with Ruptash brought in as a new character Agent Norris. Appearing alongside Kiele Sanchez (TV’s “Lost”, A Perfect Getaway), Harold Perrineau (Felon, TV’s “Lost”), Mia Kirshner (The Black Dahlia, The L Word), Diora Baird (My Best Friend’s Girl, Wedding Crashers) and Rhys Coiro (TV’s “24”, TV’s “Entourage”), this cinematic incarnation of the comic Dark Days is being set up as Part Two of a 30 Days of Night trilogy and arrives on DVD and in a Blu-ray™ + DVD Combo pack from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on October 5, 2010.

A Red Road Studio production, produced by award winning team JD DiSalvatore, Dreya Weber, Ned Farr and co-produced by Paris Pickard, ”A Marine Story” continues to travel the film festival circuit with an upcoming stop at the Palm Spring Film Festival on September 24.

A Marine Story will also screen in New York at The Quad (Nov 5-11) and in Los Angeles at Leamme Sunset 5 (Nov 12-18).