DENIS O'HARE SHOWS HIS TRUE FANGS ON 'TRUE BLOOD' - PART ONE

DENIS O'HARE SHOWS HIS TRUE FANGS ON 'TRUE BLOOD' - PART ONE



TRUE BLOOD, HBO’s hit series about vampires assimilating into mainstream human culture, adapted by Alan Ball from the novels by Charlaine Harris, is a never-ending source of revelations. Case in point: before this week, who would have imagined that the vampires in Mississippi were ruled by a 2,800-year-old king, Russell Edgington? Okay, the people who read Harris’ books already knew about this, but even they could not have envisioned Russell as portrayed by Denis O’Hare.O’Hare, a Tony Award winner for his featured role in TAKE ME OUT (film and television credits include MILK and a recurring role on BROTHERS & SISTERS), sits down on the set for Bill Compton’s front porch between lighting set-ups for a scene elsewhere on the soundstage to talk about playing his bloody Royal Majesty.

iF: Had you ever played a vampire, a king and/or a Mississippian before?

DENIS OHARE: Well, I think when I was eight, I was a vampire for Halloween, and I was a werewolf when I was nine and I think I was Frankenstein when I was 10. A king – I’ve played the Scottish king in the Scottish play – of course, I can’t say the title [there is a theatrical superstition against saying aloud MACBETH, the title or the character] – on stage, and a Mississippian? No. I’ve played an Okie, a lot of Brits, a lot of Germans, some Irish people.

iF: You’re still speaking with Russell Edgington’s accent. Iis this your normal speaking voice?

O’HARE: No, this is my accent – I’m keeping it up [between takes – he switches to his real accent] My normal voice is boring.

iF: Where are you from originally?

O’HARE: I was born in Missouri and I was raised in Detroit, Michigan, and I spent twelve years in Chicago and I’ve been in New York for a long time. I’m from nowhere. I’m from everywhere.

iF: Had you done much genre stuff – science-fiction, horror, fantasy – prior to TRUE BLOOD?

O’HARE: No, I haven’t. I’ve done a lot of stage, most of my work is on stage, and in the past five years or so, I’ve done a lot of film – I did MIRACLE, DUPLICITY, MICHAEL CLAYTON, CHANGELING –CHANGELING was period. I just did a sword and sandals picture with Channing Tatum called EAGLES OF THE NORTH that’ll come out in the fall. So that’s sort of a genre thing, I suppose, but I was in one horror film, QUARANTINE. I got eaten by a dog in the elevator, early. No one liked me. It’s fine. But this is my first, I suppose, in the realm of fantasy.

iF: Did you have any concept of what it would be like to play a vampire before this?

O’HARE: No. I love the show – I watched the show [as a viewer prior to being cast]. It’s a great character, because [when playing a supernatural being], you’re always trying to explore the limits of your powers. “Can I do this, can I do that, can I fly, can I read minds, can I tell the future, can I read smoke?” And this guy is particularly fun, because he may have anything, really. You can kind of be whatever you want to be and Alan Ball and the writers and I have all tossed the ball back and forth in a way. And it’s funny, because I think this show is always about more than just the plot and about more than just monsters and demons. It’s about deep philosophical questions. We’re dealing now with the idea of might makes right, the old Arthurian legend that if you have power and you can inflict violence, then you deserve to be in charge, [versus] the idea that democracy rules, or the rule of law pertains, so that we decide what is right, we empower institutions, then we believe in those institutions and we obey those institutions. He’s king because he’s powerful. He’s king because he took it. And this is a guy who is 2,800 years old, who is more powerful than any of these other vampires, so he can do things physically that nobody else can do. I don’t think I have special powers, but my powers are more concentrated, so I’m just incredibly fast.

iF: So Russell could be a great construction worker if he wasn’t King of Mississippi.

O’HARE: Exactly. I could build as well as destroy. I see another interesting topic about this show is I’m a gay vampire and my boyfriend Talbot and I, in the show, have been together for seven hundred years. So the longest-standing relationship in this world is a relationship between two male vampires. It’s like a marriage.

iF: In the books, Russell is somewhat different …

O’HARE: You know what’s funny – with all of these things, Charlaine Harris’ books are always a jumping-off point, and then where Alan [Ball] goes is unpredictable. And I think he does follow a lot of the details closely, but ultimately, he follows his own scent, he follows his own heart. And so I’m not quite sure how much it’s going to [resemble the books], because Russell as written in the book is very different. He’s sort of small and doesn’t seem particularly powerful. He doesn’t seem that old and his boyfriend is mortal in the book and here it’s a very, very different thing. This guy is old and much more of a power broker.

iF: What’s the set of Russell’s mansion like?

O’HARE: They’ve made a plantation house for me, which is based on a house in Natchez, Mississippi, called Lionwood Plantation, which I went down and looked at. That is a [Hollywood-area studio] called Ren-Mar. And then we have about four rooms. And over here [at the soundstage at The Lot Studio in West Hollywood], we have my bedroom, where I keep people – where guests stay.

iF: Is there any difference between playing a character where your character has sets that are “your” sets and playing a character who’s visiting somebody else’s sets?

O’HARE: You know, it’s funny, because when we go there [to Russell’s sets] – we come there a lot and all of the crew are kind of going, ‘My liege,’ ‘Oh, the king is here,’ ‘Welcome home,’ and everyone’s joking, but after awhile, it does begin to have an effect. It helps you in a good way – it makes you feel like you have the power that’s attributed to you. So that’s actually fun, I actually enjoy that.

iF: Have you done the TRUE BLOOD thing of having your fangs suddenly pop out?

O’HARE: I have. I’ve done my fangs at least three or four times.

iF: Do they stop the camera and have somebody hand them it to you, or do you do the thing where you’re holding your hand up for them to stop camera and you take them out of a pocket on your costume?

O’HARE: I’ve done them both. At one point, I had them hidden in a cigar box, I’ve had them hidden behind a chair, I’ve had them hidden in my pocket, and I’ve had them handed to me, depending on the situation.

iF: Do you feel any different when you’re performing with the fangs in?

O’HARE: You know, they add a little boost to everything, because you know that you look fearsome. It’s counteracted by the fact that they’re difficult to speak with, so it kind of undermines you a little bit, so it takes a little bit of practice, but the fangs are fun. They tell what you’re feeling in a strange way, they’re a way of telegraphing, I am now angry, lustful, hungry, whatever.