Ryan was a co-lead in the 2007 film September[3] and in the same year played a lead role in the TV series Lockie Leonard.[4] He also starred in the 2012 historical documentary Yagan, about the Noongar warrior Yagan.[5][6]
In 2014 he performed on stage in King Hit,[7][8][9] which follows the life of Geoffrey Narkle, an Aboriginal man and a member of the Stolen Generations, and his boxing career during reflecting on culture, identity, and finding strength.[10]
Ryan played the lead role in Wrong Kind of Black, released in 2018 as a web series and telemovie, created, written, and narrated by the Aboriginal author and storyteller, Boori Monty Pryor, on whose life it is based.[11]
He appeared in the second season of Cleverman in 2017.[12] In 2020 he starred in KGB, an Australian comedy series following two rookie detectives through Perth,[13] and in 2022 he appeared in the third series of Mystery Road.[14] On 23 November 2024, ABC had announced that a second season of Mystery Road: Origin was in production and Ryan would reprise his role as Sputty.[15]
^French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 257. ISBN978-1-876467-20-3.