Ryan was born in Ft. Devens, Massachusetts and moved around quite a bit after that due to a military father. His family finally settled in the Washington D.C. area (Woodbridge, VA) which is where he spent most of his time before moving to New York City in 1997 where his roommates were good friend Tracie Thoms and Anthony Mackie.Ryan has a degree in Foreign Language from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, and got his start in D.C. area professional theaters and industrial films. He is fluent in Spanish, conversational in French and Italian, and studies Arabic.In New York, he was in the original cast of the Off-Broadway hit, Altar Boyz ('Juan') and went on to perform in Shrek the Musical on Broadway as one of the three Pigs ('Bricks') and performed the role of Donkey many times. He also wrote and performed with NY based sketch group Honorable Mention, and has created and performed in other comedy projects at venues such as Broadway Comedy Club and the PIT.Ryan also volunteers and works with such organizations as TDF (Theater Development Fund), ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty), and Right Rides-which provides free rides home to women and LGBTQ on weekends.