Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
All About Ryan Hansen's Wife, Movies & TV Shows, and More
After last season's wild cliffhanger, Ryan Hansen returns as Jake in the Season 3 premiere of Night Court.
You’ve seen Ryan Hansen in just about everything on TV. From starring roles in cult favorite sitcoms to guest appearances in popular series, Hansen is one of those recognizable faces in Hollywood you know will make you laugh whenever he shows up on screen.
Now, Hansen is returning as a guest star on Night Court Season 3, but where else do you know the actor from? Read on to learn all about his long acting career, his family, and his character on NBC’s reboot of the original Night Court that aired from 1984 to 1992.
RELATED: All the Guest Stars Who Have Appeared on NBC's New Night Court
Where is Ryan Hansen from?
Hansen, 43, is a California boy through and through. The actor’s IMDb profile notes he was born in 1981 in Fountain Valley, a suburb of Orange County, and raised in El Cajon just outside of San Diego.
Ryan Hansen has three children with his wife Amy Russell
Hansen has been married to his wife, Amy Russell, since June 2004. In an interview with The Dad, Hansen shared that they started dating when they were in high school. "We got married when she was 19 and I was 22 years old,” he said. “We just kind of grew up together, so we know everything about each other.”
On Instagram, Hansen has described his wife as his “favorite person on the planet,” and the couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in 2024.
In the early years of their marriage, the couple lived with Hansen’s Veronica Mars co-star Kristen Bell until they welcomed their first child. “They're my best friends,” Bell told Cosmopolitan in 2009, with Hansen adding, “Kristen and Amy will often cook up a storm … because this place is like a commune. There are constantly people in and out of Hotel Bell.”
Hansen and his wife share three daughters: Crosby Jane, Millie Magnolia, and Everett Eloise. The actor often posts about their fun family adventures on Instagram, from group Halloween costumes to seeing Lizzo in concert together.
Ryan Hansen’s acting credits include a long list of TV shows and movies
In the early 2000s, Hansen landed several guest starring roles in popular TV series and movies including Ally McBeal, Motocrossed, That’s So Raven, and Grounded for Life. In 2004, he was cast in Veronica Mars as Dick Casablancas, appearing in a total of 55 episodes.
In the original and 2023 reboot of Party Down, Hansen played one of the main characters, the bleach blonde cater waiter Kyle Bradway. He was also a main cast member on the NBC series Friends with Benefits and Bad Judge.
In the past 10 years, you’ve seen Hansen in just about everything on TV including Portlandia, Santa Clarita Diet, The Mindy Project, Fresh Off the Boat, Bless This Mess, and A Million Little Things. Hansen has also appeared in several movies including Friendsgiving, Bad Santa 2, CHiPs, Like A Boss, The Donor Party, and Good on Paper.
Off the big screen, Hansen currently hosts an ongoing YouTube cooking show called Dad Dinner, where he invites other celebrity dads to teach him how to make their signature recipes. Also in 2024, Hansen makes his return as a guest star on NBC's Night Court.
Ryan Hansen is returning as a Night Court guest star in Season 3
Note: Spoilers for the Night Court Season 2 finale are ahead.
Hansen first appeared as a guest star on NBC’s Night Court in Season 2, Episode 9 ("Taught and Bothered"). Hansen plays Jake, an HR rep sent in to teach a seminar on respect in the workplace and ends up sharing a steamy kiss with Abby (Melissa Rauch). He returns just a few episodes later in the Season 2 finale, Episode 13 ("The Best Dan"). By the end of the second season, despite their best efforts to keep it casual, Abby and Jake had started dating but things quickly take an interesting turn. At the wedding reception for Roz (Marsha Warfield) and Loretta (Indira G. Wilson), Jake's mother (Julia Duffy) hints during a conversation with Abby that Dan (John Larroquette) could be Jake's biological father.
RELATED: Mayim Bialik Is Reuniting with Melissa Rauch on Night Court Season 3
“We’re really excited to explore what that is going to be and start crafting what the resolution to that mystery is,” Rauch told The Wrap. “We were all really thrilled with that idea [of leaving] Season 2 on that very fun cliffhanger.”
After his appearance, Hansen told Screenrant he’d love to return for more episodes. “There's a lot going on with these two,” he said. “I hope to do more episodes and play with those guys again.”
Good news: Their story continues when Hansen returns as Jake in the Night Court Season 3 premiere episode ("The Judge's Boyfriend's Dad") on Tuesday, November 19.
Watch Night Court on Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
