True Blood, Vampires, and Redheads with Carrie Preston

True Blood, Vampires, and Redheads with Carrie Preston



With True Blood now in its third season and picked up for a fourth by HBO, actress Carrie Preston and her True Blood character, Arlene Fowler, are still in the HBO mix after speculation the True Blood waitress may be leaving. With Preston and Arlene still waitressing at Merlotte's, season three keeps in line with The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Club Dead, as True Blood has quickly become a popular staple for HBO in the new era of bloodsuckers.

As True Blood enjoys its best ratings to date, with new mysteries surrounding Anna Paquin's Sookie and Stephen Moyer's Bill Compton, we tracked down Carrie Preston for a True Blood one-on-one to chat about the popularity of vampires, working with Alan Ball, the inner motivations of Arelene, and the true blood of redheads.

THE DEADBOLT: Congrats on getting season four.

CARRIE PRESTON: How about that? And only on the heels of getting a second viewing on season three. So that's a good sign.

THE DEADBOLT: How do you relate to Arlene?

PRESTON: Well, I relate to how confident she is. I relate to her work ethic. I know that sounds funny, but she takes her job extremely seriously, as do I. And she doesn't suffer from any fools and she really wants things to be done in the right way, and I appreciate that [laughs].

Also, I can relate to how strong she is and she's a survivor. She takes whatever comes her way. Even if it creates some kind of histrionics in her, she is somehow able to overcome it, pull herself together, and do what needs to be done. I can really admire that in her as well, plus she's funny.

THE DEADBOLT: Can you talk about playing a strong character who, at the same time, is influenced by other people?

PRESTON: Well, she's someone who's never without a man. I think that's kind of true of a lot of Southern woman and certainly people like her, working class. People who were probably raised by women who said, "You're going to always need to have a man. You can't do it on your own." So she has made some, maybe not such good decisions about the men she's had in her life just because it's better to have a bad man than no man at all.

I'm sure that's part of why she gets influenced by other people, because of her upbringing. But I think her spirit is pretty resounding and she is going to figure out what she needs to do that is best for herself and for her kid, even if that upsets somebody else or alienates anybody else or makes her have to leave a relationship. She definitely has her priorities straight.

THE DEADBOLT: What are your hopes for Arlene and Terry this season?

PRESTON: It seems like Terry is the best man that she's ever been with. Even though he has had problems and he had some emotional issues due to being in the Marines, he is still really good-hearted and affectionate and seems 100 percent devoted to her. So I would hope that Arlene would have the presence of mind to make that relationship work.

THE DEADBOLT: What's been your favorite moment so far on the show?

PRESTON: I really loved the scene that I played with Rutina Wesley who plays Tara. In season two when we were in the bathroom, I say to her, "I think I might've slept with Terry and I don't know." And then Tara says, "You telling me you date raped Terry Bellefleur?"

It was a great scene to shoot because the stakes were so high for Arlene and so real and true and yet there was a lot of comedy from that situation. I think that's really where the balance of the show lies and why it does so well, is that it really does strike a perfect balance between drama and comedy and horror. It's just got this really unusual alchemy of all those things. I think that scene was a real demonstration of that.

THE DEADBOLT: Do you find that you get treated differently as a redhead, as compared to a blond?

PRESTON: I don't know if I get treated differently. Maybe I do a little bit, actually. It's funny because now I have red hair in life but for a long time I was blond. Going to work and putting on the red wig, I noticed that once I got into that red wig and got into costume, the types of people, especially men, that wanted to talk to me and pay attention to me were completely different than the types of men that talk to me when I'm blond.

I was like, "Wow. I get to kind of experience two different women on the same day. It was very, very intriguing just from an anthropological standpoint and sociological standpoint to see just the reactions I get. I think part of that too is just Arlene. She wears pretty provocative clothing and she has so much make-up on that I almost look like a drag queen. She definitely presents differently a redhead than the way I do in my life. But yeah, it is slightly different and I do kind of feel different. I feel a little edgier, a little sassier as a redhead. It's been a refreshing change of pace for me because I've been blond for so long. I'm really enjoying it.

THE DEADBOLT: What is it about vampires that always keeps them in style, especially now?

PRESTON: I think it's that we live in a youth obsessed culture. Everybody wants to live forever and so we get to vicariously see what that might feel like by creating these vampires. They get to remain mysterious and young and sexy forever. I think that's some kind of secret fantasy for people. I mean, look at the lengths people will go to maintain their youth with surgery and injectables and everything else. The vampires on our show and in the Twilight series and The Vampire Diaries and all of the current ones, they're very young and sexy. They're not like the scary old Draculas of yesterday and I think that's a little part of it, too.

THE DEADBOLT: Would you have any interest in stepping behind the camera to direct and episode?

PRESTON: Well, I do direct and I have a production company and I would certainly love to do that. I don't know if True Blood would let me do such a thing, but I would definitely love to do it. At least just shadow a director from beginning to the end of an episode and just really see the ins and outs and the stuff we don't get to see or that we're not privy to as actors. That would be really cool because the things I've directed have been really low budget film and I've never done any television. I know that Stephen Moyer who plays Bill, he was actually shadowing the director for our final episode of this season. So that was cool to hear and maybe I could follow in his footsteps.

THE DEADBOLT: Have you learned or picked up anything from Alan Ball?

PRESTON: Yeah. I pick up a lot from all of the directors. I mean, that's what makes it very interesting for me as an actor, that I get to also watch 100 percent more directors than a director gets to watch. If you're only a director, you really only kind of watch yourself. If you're an actor, you get to see and experience a bunch of different styles, ask questions, and all of that stuff. So yes, I have very much enjoyed not just from Alan, but from all of our directors, getting to know their styles, asking them questions, and talking to them about shots and things like that. It's like a little master class.

THE DEADBOLT: Now that Lost is over, is there any talk of bringing your husband, Michael Emerson, on the show?

PRESTON: Hey, you never know in this business. I mean, he really loves the show and I know they like him. Then it's just a matter of seeing if they find something that fits for both camps. Right now Michael is just enjoying taking a break, being back on the mainland and taking his time to be with friends and family and our new dog [laughs].

Work will present itself as it will, but it would be fun to have him on the show. I think he would love to play a character that's somehow connected to my character, which is similar to what I did on LOST when I played his mother in a flashback. So it would be fun to have him. Not that he would play my daddy, but somehow connected to my character.