I've never been interested in tall guys; I like them short, the shorter the better, and in the 2000s, the 5'4" Ryan Pinkston was one of the hottest of the Short Guy Brigade
Born in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC, Ryan got his start in martial arts: he received his black belt in Wushu Kung Fu at age nine and went on to championships in karate, kung fu, and tae kwan do.
An interview on the
Jenny Jones talk show landed him an agent, and within a month he had roles in
Spy Kids: 3D (2003) and
Bad Santa (2003), and he was helping Austin Kutcher play celebrity pranks on
Punked.
But there was a problem. Although handsome, muscular -- and short -- Ryan was typecast as an aggressive wise guy, basically a jerk. So that's the sort of role he received
In 2004, the 16-year old got his own tv series,
Quintuplets, about teenage quintuplets with conflicting personalities. His Patton was pushy and aggressive; brother Parker (Jake McDorman, left) was the athlete, and Pearce (Johnny K. Lewis, below) was the nerd, who actually danced with another boy in a "prom" episode.
Left: Johnny K. Lewis today
Next came the boorish Felch in Revenge of the Nerds (2006), chronic liar Sam Leonard in Full of It (2007), and Fletcher in the homophobic College (2008), which paradoxically offered an extensive homoerotic subtext.
Ryan's guest spots on the teencoms
Out of Jimmy's Head and
Hannah Montana were a little better, jerks with a soft, sensitive side.
But then he hit the bottom of the barrel: teen sex comedies.
Foreign Exchange (2008),
Extreme Movie (2008) with Frankie Muniz,
Adventures in Online Dating (2009).
At least he had no problem with shirtless, shower, and swimsuit shots, though he drew the line at nudity. And he was ok with rolling around with other guys naked. Teens could sigh over the homoerotic subtexts even if they didn't like his characters.
But then, in 2010, something remarkable happened: a complete turnaround. Ryan's characters changed from jerks to nice guys, and coincidentally some buddy-bonding was added to the girl-crazy schtick.
Boy Band (2010): in 1982, his Greg buddy-bonds with Brad (Michael Copon) to form the first boy band in history.
Tower Prep (2010), about a school for kids with paranormal powers: his Gabe has a crush on Ian Archer (Drew Van Acker).
Cougars, Inc. (2011): his Jimmy and best friend Sam (Kyle Gallner) can't afford college tuition, so start an escort service pairing older women with teenage boys.
Hey, is that legal? Of course, they get in on the action, too. We get a nice shot of Ryan's butt as the camera lingers on his supine body, but this only nudity in any movie.
Frontal nudity after the break