The Vault – TrueBlood-Online.com

The interview below with Alan Ball by Fabio M. Barreto is a translation from Portuguese to English by Billsbabe Marta and, although she did a great job translating, it may not represent what Alan Ball and the author said “verbatim” thoughout. However, I thought it was a very interesting interview, so we are sharing it with you in English.

To see the original interview go to SOSHollywood.

“The ultimate is having a show in which if you lose, you die. As far as the reality shows are concerned, at least the ones I’ve been watching, it wouldn’t be that bad if some of those people could actually die. If Bachelorette picked someone to shoot every week, you bet I’d be the first to watch it! [Laughs]” – Allan Ball

Listening to Allan Ball is always something interesting for various reasons. He is confident about his creations, isn’t afraid of controversial issues and looks at his work in both a fun and serious way. A great mix in a world full of withdrawn directors and “empty stars”, controlled by the infamous media – the PR’s (public relations), the press and any others who relate to the public image- who can even “knock down” the studios and main networks when it’s time to guide their clients. Ball stands out and is able keep up a good conversation. He feels comfortable talking about almost every subject as long as it’s within the context of TV. He’s good, that’s the truth. And the ones who are good always stand out in Hollywood, which is already showing signs of fatigue. But he doesn’t care about that and neither do I because, after all, our job is to talk. And that’s why I had the opportunity to talk once more to the creator of True Blood in the name of SOS Hollywood and Sci-Fi News. The fourth season of the show is already being filmed and its premiere is scheduled for 2011. Get your bottle of True Blood ready and enjoy this conversation with the master of vampires for adults!

Are creating cliff hangers still a rule in TV shows? Was the season finale (season 3) something well planned or was it something that happened naturally?
It wasn’t intentional, it happened naturally. Every time we create stories, we try to look for what I like to call, a “what the fuck moment” where basically whoever is watching thinks “What the fuck?” I think that every episode needs at least one of those moments otherwise it’s not a worthy episode and it gets easy to let the viewer wonder whether he enjoyed the episode or not. That’s why I believe that as directors and writers, our job is to try to make a “WTF” episode with an emotional basis and within the story of that world. Now that the show keeps growing, I feel that when I work with scriptwriters is not enough to have an honest conversation about their opinions. I need to see some heads rolling.

Is it your main concern to reinvent the series at each new season?
I think we try not to repeat ourselves. We try hard not to. We use the books as the basis to the show but our story is different. The main contrast is between the vampires in the books and our vampires. The books are about Sookie, they tell her story. Whenever she leaves Bon Temps or does something else they only show her perspective. In the books we don’t see Jason or Sam…we need to get the story going and tell people who they are. I don’t have a plan, I just try to find the best story and hopefully, it’ll work.

Is TV something liberating or restricting?
I don’t know. I mean, we can pretty much tell whatever story we want as long as it’s not pornographic; that’s a boundary that has not been crossed yet. The limit is having a show in which if you lose, you die. As far as the reality shows are concerned, at least the ones I’ve been watching it wouldn’t be that bad if some of those people could actually die. If Bachelorette picked someone to shoot every week, you bet I’d be the first to watch it! [Laughs]

How do you separate pornography from sexual appeal on True Blood?
Pornography has to do with the exploitation of the human body. Art has to do with the soul. I’m not saying that True Blood is a work of art but I’m saying that it’s not about the bodies; it has to do with the connection that exists between people. Part of what I loved in the books was the great mix of horror, romance, drama, comedy and sex in Bon Temps. The vampires are pretty much a metaphor for sex: there’s penetration, body fluids…it’s a very erotic metaphor, in fact. And there’s lots of sex in Charlaine Harris’s books. I think that the sex life of the characters is something very interesting, we learn a lot about the mind and the soul of a person through sex. I felt that it was a very natural and important part of that world and it just had to be there. Jason is sexually compulsive because he is traumatized, this is a classic story. But in order to have a sexually compulsive character, we need to show the sex otherwise it doesn’t make sense, right? That’s what’s interesting about him, that’s his source of self-esteem.

Was balancing the sex scenes something difficult or did it occur naturally?
The sex is a part of the characters, of their lives and also a part of the show. Think, Sookie was a virgin when the show started and why couldn’t she have sex? Because she could hear the nasty thoughts of the men she was dating with. Then the sex between Bill and her become a major part of her story, an important part of her emotions; Again, Jason is sexually compulsive so the sex is a very important thing in his story. Basically, the vampires are the sex. Actually, what attracted me the most was the fact that this story was set in a small town in the south – and I’m from a small town in the south – when we have that puritanism which is a characteristic of small towns, the sex has much more emphasis. The Americans can’t feel relaxed when the subject is sex.

Is it because of that “explicit content” that True Blood has to be more visceral than, let’s say, Twilight?
Twilight fans are thirteen year old girls. I think that if thirteen year old girls who watch Twilight and the kind of sex scenes that are in Twilight, watched True Blood and the kind of sex scenes that are in True Blood, they would be traumatized. No, True Blood is for a different audience. True Blood is for adults. Period.

When did vampires stop being monstrous creatures and transformed themselves into romantic ones?
Well, a lot of people think that it started with “Dark Shadows” [gothic soap opera famous in the 60’s that is going to be transformed into a movie. Johnny Depp will be in the main role]. There were also Anne Rice’s books and the Broadway production of Dracula in the 70’s. I think there was a point in which they became romantic heroes.
How do you keep the suspense going when the story in the books is so advanced and well known in comparison to the show?
I try not to worry about it. I need to create a show and assume that the people who are watching it, are watching it for the first time. We also make some changes, so It’s not exactly the same story. It’s a lot easier, in many ways…The hard work has all been done. But It’s difficult because we can’t just follow any path, we have to remain faithful to the books to a certain extent because most of the fans of the books are also fans of the show.

Did it give you freedom to make the changes you wanted? As for example, Tara’s background and Lafayette’s own story.
Yes, I decided that Tara would be Afro-American. After all, we’re talking about Louisiana. How could we not have a black character? I thought it would be more interesting if Sookie and Tara were like sisters, had different skin colors and didn’t identify with the rest of the people. About Lafayette: in the very first scene I shot with Nelson I knew I couldn’t kill that character, he’s too great. Everyone wants to see Lafayette succeeding from the moment they start to understand him which is not easy because there’s a huge barrier around him. He has been a male prostitute and a dealer but then things changed. That shows me a person who is afraid of intimacy, then we decided to include a person on the show who would force him to have that intimacy. That’s when Jesus appeared…and that story is not over yet.

Has your sexual orientation affected the approach to the show? Did you make True Blood more liberal and sensible to homosexuality? Has there been any attempt of censorship?
I’m not a fan of censorship. I was born gay so the privileged world of the Caucasian and heterosexual is not the world that I live in. I think it definitely influences me, I’m more sensible in the approach of homosexuality. Lafayette is gay but we also see more about who he is because for me being gay is not enough for a character, is not that interesting.

When is 3D coming to TV?
I love the fact that Inception was a huge success without being in 3D. HBO wants to make a show in 3D and I was told about it. My impression is that to do that in the show we’d have to film a 3D version and a non-3D version and I think that is too much. It’s already difficult to do it the way we do nowadays. Personally, I think the 3D is interesting but it’s just an effect. Do you understand? I mean, I loved Avatar in 3D but in the end I thought it was like going to an amusement park. I didn’t feel like I had gone to the cinema. It’s fun but then you end up forgetting about it. These days almost every TV has a 3D cable so I’m sure if there’s a possibility of making money out of it, it’ll happen.

Why are there so many non-Americans in the cast?
It wasn’t intentional. I cast trained actors, who have skills and who know how to read a particular scene. Many American actors are very attractive and charismatic but they lack the skill. When someone makes a movie and has a 2/3 pages of script, they can shoot scene after scene and then put them together to get a performance. We can’t do that, we have to shoot 7 pages a day. So, I need people who can deliver a good performance and who know how to act right there. The cast of True Blood brought many interesting things to their characters.

What were the criteria to choose James Frain (Franklin Mott) and Joe Manganiello (Alcide)?
We had already casted a lot of people I was starting to get nervous. James showed up and read his lines with an American accent and I told him: “Don’t worry about the accent, be yourself.” He did it and it was great! Alcide was possibly the new romantic guy on the show. In fact, Joe came to cast as Cooter and I remember telling him that he had to be Alcide. We needed someone hot, handsome but who was also decent. Someone who looked like a hero and he brought that to the character.

How’s the fourth season going?
We started filming in November. The premiere will be in June, 2011.

How do you picture the perfect vampire? Is it from True Blood?
I don’t know how a vampire should be, I don’t know what that is. In the end, it’s all fantasy. I don’t know how to answer that question because there’s no strict definition of what a vampire is. Before the 70’s, before the character in Dark Shadows in the 60’s they were monsters; there was always someone there to rescue the girl. But then the vampire became a romantic hero and everything changed.

To see the original interview go to SOSHollywood.

Thanks to Marta for the translation.

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