“True Blood’s” Graham Shiels (Liam) on Vamps, Fangbangers and being the “Scary Boyfriend” in Jim Carrey’s New Movie … on TVLand
Vancouver transplant Graham Shiels has made a cottage industry out of leaving some nasty hickeys that only an industrial-strength base could hope to cover up. As an outlaw vampire who refused to cleave to the delicate détente established between the undead and humans on the hit TV series “True Blood,” Shiels caused quite a bit of menace before he was finally dispatched.
When we talked, the rangy actor said that kind of mayhem is only prelude; he’s just getting started.
TJ: Tell me about your four-episode arc as bloodsucking baddie, “Liam,” on “True Blood.”
GS: I was a vampire who was definitely not into “mainstreaming” (nomenclature on the show for trying to fit into society by living with humans and not feeding on them). Liam and his cohorts (“Malcolm” and “Diane” had absolutely no desire to live by the rules. We were happy killing random people; having sex with men and women alike. It was all about the bloodlust when we home-invaded the old Antebellum mansion where Bill lived. Malcolm was the brains, I was the brawn and Diane was a very fatal femme fatale.
I got a few people in trouble before I got “offed.”
TJ: How do you prep for a role as a vampire on puncture patrol … I mean, c’mon, that’s pretty off the beam!
GS: I met Alan Ball (“True Blood’s” creator) and came in with my choices. He gave me his direction for the role. They called and said they wanted to see me again and gave me new direction over the phone to prepare. And then I went in again and got direction 180-degrees different in tone. By the time I was cast and got to the set, it wasn’t a question of the last directional cue as being the right way. I think all of them were the right way. It was just a chance to go with my instincts. It’s stressful for an actor to get so much different direction, but to Alan’s credit, it also freed me up. It all comes down to playing a guy that doesn’t judge himself and has no qualms about killing people.
TJ: Why do you think “True Blood” has become such a hit, spawning a cult of fans called fangbangers?
GS: It’s all about Alan Ball and the tenor of the show. For example, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was tongue-in-cheek but “True Blood” isn’t. However, in that seriousness, some humor is kind of embedded. That’s just my opinion. Hey, the series is just … different. You don’t see a lot of shows with vampires struggling to fit in. Vamps are usually content to kill and scare people while speaking in Transylvanian accents.
TJ: Along that same line, how did a graduate from the Yale School of Drama come to be cast as “The Scary Boyfriend” in Jim Carrey’s new comedy, “Yes Man”?
GS: I’m 6 ft. 2 in., 195 lbs. which, for an average guy, is pretty big. But when there’s a casting call for a large, intimidating character, usually I’m up against beefy ex-pro wrestlers from the WWF. So, I was in this waiting room with all these guys who were just enormous – the kinds of guys you’d never want to meet in a dark alley. There was one who was so tall he had to duck through the doorway when he entered the room. I was beginning to get psyched out when I remembered on the casting sheet they didn’t call him “Large Boyfriend” or “Muscular Boyfriend,” they called him “Scary Boyfriend.” And that’s when I realized size doesn’t matter. They just wanted a guy that was freakin’ nuts! And hey, that I can do!
Look for Shiels in the season finale of “Nip/Tuck” as a guy who this time just thinks he’s a vampire (typecasting anyone?). And he’ll play more cannon fodder (fangless this time) in an upcoming episode of “Burn Notice” (Upon first meeting him, series star Bruce Campbell called Shiels the “chump of the week”.)
“It must be my eyes or teeth or something, why I’m getting all these vamp roles,” Shiels says. Whatever the reason, he’s ready to ride that bloody wave for as long as it lasts.
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I love Graham. I think he is totally hot and I miss him on TB. I also miss Malcolm and Diane, they were fun!
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