Australian-born American actor
Nathan Dean Parsons (born 16 June 1988) is an Australian-born American actor, known for his work in daytime television on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital as the character of Ethan Lovett. He also had roles on primetime television shows as vampire James Kent on the seventh and final season of the HBO drama series True Blood, and the role of exiled werewolf Jackson Kenner on The CW drama series The Originals. Recently, he has been on Once Upon a Time as Hansel/Jack/Nick Branson and is currently portraying the lead of Max Evans in The CW series Roswell, New Mexico.
As a kid, I was obsessed with myths and legends and the haunting beauty of gothic stories.
I'm pretty cerebral, so I can occasionally rationalize emotional pain away, but when I can't, that's when I start to feel the fire inside take over and somehow manage to power through.
Simply being myself makes me feel vulnerable.
My center is the soul of a gypsy.
When things get too chaotic, I need to roam.
I usually head up to the mountains or out into the desert. Somewhere nobody is. There I can dig deep and find the core that got me where I am today. It's sort of like my reset button.
Anything that forces the human soul to scream out and fight really brings out the best in us, and to have an opportunity to portray characters like that is inspiring.
I've always been drawn to stories and characters facing some sort of struggle against forces beyond our control, be it love, loss, betrayal.
The human condition itself inspires me.
Life is going to test you. But no matter how bad it may seem, we can always step up and beat it.
It's much easier to put yourself out there under the guise of a character. You get a different name, different habits, different words. When I have to just be Nathan, that's when I feel vulnerable.
Be brave enough to create.
It doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter if you have training or a background in it. Just create something, and lend a piece of yourself to that art.
I'm not afraid of scars, be them emotional or otherwise. I think it builds character, and if it doesn't destroy you, I truly believe it makes us stronger.
There have been many things in my life that have tried to break me, going back to when I was two and three years old. It never stops - life will always push you to your limit. The only way I've managed to survive it all is believing in myself and knowing, somehow, beyond everything telling me otherwise, that I will succeed.
Whether you're a vampire or werewolf, love is still love. Betrayal is still betrayal.
Although it may seem like it, life will never give you more than you can handle. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy; in fact, quite the opposite.
Have faith in yourself.