We first saw Mariana Klaveno as Bill Compton’s maker, the vampire Lorena in Season 1, Episode 5 of True Blood. She was in a flashback scene set during the Civil War and we learned then how Bill Compton became a vampire. Mariana was very convincing as Bill’s maker, but we saw her only in that episode. It wasn’t until Season 2 that we got to see her again and learn even more about her life with Bill before and now. She is definitely a villain, but also somewhat tragic because of her love for Bill. In the world of True Blood, its rare to see a vampire care so much for another vampire, but I think we already know that Mariana’s “Lorena” is no typical vampire.
Below is an interview with Mariana from Popeater.com where she talks about how her life has completely changed in a single year because of this part in True Blood.
What do you get when you take the daughter of Washington state barley farmers, dress her up fancy and send her to the Screen Actors Guild Awards with her Outstanding Drama Performance-nominated cast mates? If the farm girl in question is Mariana Klaveno of ‘True Blood,’ you get a charming, hard-working actress who quit her job waiting tables only months ago – despite snagging the role of Lorena, one of the major players in the upcoming season of the hit HBO vampire drama.
“I was still working at a restaurant right up until season two of ‘True Blood,’” the lovely Klaveno told PopEater in an exclusive interview. “I was still working at a restaurant right up until season two of ‘True Blood’. I held onto the job for a long time and it was what grounded me that I was a struggling, starving actress, and I didn’t want to cut the security cord quite yet.”
What an unexpected dichotomy – viewers see you in the show in this glamorously evil role, and then you leave the set to do a shift.
“Yeah, I would, I would. I would put on my uniform and go to work.”
But you’re done waiting tables.
“[Laughs] I am, yes.”
Once you hit the SAG Awards, there’s no more refilling drinks.
“Yeah, you really can’t go back. I think that’s why I waited so long to finally quit, because I’d seen a lot of people – and I get it, you know, they get their first big job and they think they’ve made it and they quit their job and then, six months later, the pilot that they’ve booked isn’t going and the money has run out and they have to come back. I just knew I could never do that. I would rather err on the other side, working on set five days a week and then working two days on the weekend at the restaurant – I would rather err on that side than have to go back. I figured, once I’m done, I have to be done.”
Right.
“It feels good.”
Good, humble farm logic.
“Well, thank you. Yes. It’s my dad’s practical reasoning.”
You are from – not a metaphorical farm – an actual, real, growing-things farm?
“I am, yes. A wheat and barley farm.”
Do you ever experience culture shock – both in L.A., and in your own life as an actress on a popular series?
“It was pretty surreal being on the [SAG Awards] red carpet and having Meryl Streep walk by, that’s a first. I’d never seen that before. Just being in that room with all these amazing people that I’ve looked up to for years, I suddenly felt like a wide-eyed farm girl again, which I haven’t felt in a while. I did a few times that night.”
“I went to college in Seattle, so I had a bit of a bigger-city experience before I moved to L.A., but it’s hard. I’m lucky that I have a brother here and the core group of friends that I had before I even moved here, and that helps a lot … I can’t think of another profession that has a more schizophrenic impression. I mean, people think that, when they hear that you’re an actress and they don’t know you and you’re working at a restaurant, they kind of roll their eyes and go, ‘Right, right,’ and then two weeks later, they see you on TV and they want to be your friend and want to know what you just ate for lunch and it’s just sort of strange in that position, like, ‘Wait a second, what?’”
It must be a little jarring, doing a few gigs a year and then suddenly have fan sites devoted to you.
“Exactly. It is. It is strange, and it’s lovely, and I’m grateful, and I wake up saying thank you every morning – at least I try to, anyway. I think I’m actually appreciative of the years that were tough, because it makes you humble and it makes you realize that this industry is quite ephemeral and six months from now, a year from now, hopefully not … but the chances could go away and the job may be gone. I think it’s always best to keep that in mind so you don’t get too caught up. I think it’s dangerous to read and believe the things that are said about you, good and bad.”
I don’t know. I appreciate the point you’re making and yet, I’ve seen you on ‘True Blood,’ I don’t buy it.
“[Laughs] It’s an amazing part.”
Other vampire fiction – and there’s a lot of it out there right now – has a very simplistic take on vampire mythology. You have a soul, you’re good. You don’t have a soul, you’re evil. ‘True Blood’ is interesting to me, in that the vampires do have to exploit humans because that’s where the blood lives, but they’re very nuanced. Some of them are nice and have respect for humans, some are primarily working their own agenda but they have some kind of sense of compassion… and then there’s your character Lorena, who is thus far… well… why is she so just evil?
“The writers have put just a tiny little nugget in an episode that has just been released, which I can’t say, of course. I love that it is more complex and each vampire, there’s a lot of gray area between what they do to fulfill their needs and how they relate to the humans. I think that’s one of the brilliant things in the show. She is evil, and it’s hard because, as an actor, you can’t judge your character. I just really try to focus on the fact that she’s… I don’t think that she’s evil for no reason. She’s focused on Bill and, as weird as it sounds, she’s motivated by love, and that’s where it comes from, and it’s obviously a different plane than the one we live in.”
“The way that I look at it is that she kind of operates from a different set of rules and, in her world, she wants what she wants and humanity is something that’s not a part of her any more and she does what she needs to get that unrequited love, which kind of makes her a tragic character, which I love. What she wants will never want her back and the reason that he doesn’t want her is what she loves in him and it’s this horrible cycle.”
“I think in this season … she may surprise you a bit. You’ll see, or you think you may, you think that she’ll do something horribly evil, and she chooses not to, which I really love, and I think it’ll maybe surprise people. Not as monstrous as maybe once perceived.”
I love the books, but the storyline doesn’t always correspond closely to the show. People who have read the books have a strong suspicion about what happened at the very end of last season. You don’t have to confirm or deny that, but I think we have some theories. Is the show faithful to the books at this point?
“Uh, yes and no, which I know is not a great answer for you.”
You have to be shifty, I know.
“[Laughs] In some ways, with some characters, they are loosely following the books, and in some ways not at all. Um, obviously, the character of Jessica doesn’t exist in the book. Tara’s character is much, much different…”
Totally different!
“Totally different person, exactly. They sort of created a storyline for her this season that involves a character that is in the book but it’s just in a different way, which, I think people are going to love. As for me, I don’t think I’m allowed to say other than… I’m, of course, back with Bill, where I want to be, in that we have scenes together.”
“When I first got the part, which was just the one episode season one, you know, they sort of said it’ll probably be a strong recurring role, but I had no idea how much they were going to get into it in season two. All of the flashbacks and the history is so much fun, and I think it’s great, not only for me. Selfishly, I want to do all of the fun things, but I think it’s great for Bill’s character because you get to see a lot more of who he is and how he’s made and what makes him the vampire he is today.”
For people who’ve never read the books, the upcoming season might be a little shocking, if they’re counting on Sookie plus Bill forever.
“I think they’re -yes, yes, the hardcore Sookie and Bill fans are going to have some rough road up ahead… Bill has an interesting arc this season, yeah, that’s all I’ll say, but you’ll see different shades of vampire Bill than what we’ve seen before.”
‘True Blood’ is a very intense show. What is the mood on set? Are you guys a little more fun behind the scenes than we see?
“It’s all fun behind the scenes. I adore working with Stephen, and that’s who I primarily work with, I always have fantasies of Lorena picking up a few shifts at Merlotte’s, with more of the different characters, like shopping with Lafayette one day or something. [Laughs]”
And you have practice waiting tables, so you’d be perfect.
“I’d be a natural! I don’t know that Alan was thrilled by the idea, but yeah, especially with the vampy, bloody, dark scenes. I mean, it gets so ridiculous sometimes with the gore and the violence, you kind of have to just laugh. It’ll be 4 AM or 5 AM and we’re covered in blood doing horrible things to people. You just have to laugh. And Stephen has a wonderful sense of humor, as does Anna, actually, everyone on the set. There’s a lot of laughs and it’s a really fun, jovial set.”
Who is the biggest goofball on the set?
“I would say Stephen, but I don’t know because I haven’t worked with everybody else.”
There could be secret goofballs that you don’t know about.
“There could be secret goofballs that I’m not aware of! Well, Stephen’s very witty and very smart and very quick, there’s a lot of quips that go on back and forth with crew, with other actors, with myself. It’s fun.”
It’s an amazing skill, to learn to crack a joke while covered in blood.
“Yeah, I’m honing that skill. I just did it a few days ago.”
I’m loathe to say that will serve you well in your life…
“[Laughs] You have to, or else you go to a darker path.”
I find Lorena a very intriguing character.
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Selle Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 13:46
Absolutely! She bears the complexities one might imagine in a creature several hundred years old and I love this about her. She’s the first female vampire we’ve really gotten this big a piece of so far in the show, right? We’ve had Diane and Isabel, but they had very little screentime.
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Some rough road ahead for Bill & Sookie’s fans?? Uh oh… :(
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Excellent interview with Mariana. Thanks, Lynn, for posting. Lovely to get some tidbits about Bill’s story this season and some background on Mariana. She makes a superb Lorena. I’m looking forward to their scenes together. Should be quite a ride.
BTW, I wanted to mention that I love the new look of the main page. Very nicely done. Kudos to Shad and to you.
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Lynnpd Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 9:14
Rowena, I’m glad you like the new look, but the design was all done by Shad. I agree though, it looks great.
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Rowena Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 9:05
Kudos to you, Shad. It’s stunning. Thanks, Lynn, for clarifying.
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The short time Lorena was on screen in season 1 was so memorable. I was glad to see her back last season & can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeve in season 3. She has amazing chemistry with Bill & anytime Bill/Stephen is on screen, its a good thing!
Wonderful article, glad for Mariana success and thanks for posting!
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She is extremely memorable. I hope she remains a part of TB for the remainder of the series!
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love lorena and am looking forward to her and bill together onscreen.
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She makes such a great vampire! Love her acting!
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Wow!! These are some of the tastiest spoilers we’ve had for S3. Thanks so much for posting this.
From her comments and from some other theories, I believe she won’t torture Bill and he will be forced to drink her blood and that will induce him becoming enamored of her again. I don’t think he’ll be strapped down when Sookie comes to get him, and I believe his release will be negotiated by Sookie and Eric. I do believe Lorena will be killed though. We’ve been told by AB that someone will be killed this season.
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lovelylavendar Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 16:56
oh…I hadn’t thought of that Selle…..wow….
This would make sense with her little tidbits…..
setting a scene where possibly Sookie walks in…..oh man *cries*
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Thanks, Shad. I was wondering, does my comment above step into the spoiler area? If so, could you delete it and I’ll reposti with the proper spoiler marking? Thanks.
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Shadaliza Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 15:37
don’t worry about it, it’s ok.
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A delightful interview. Mariana portrays Lorena to perfection. I love that she totally gets her character and the dynamics of the Lorena/Bill relationship.
Thanks for posting Lynn.
Shad, I think the new look is grand. Nicely done.
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Terrific interview. It’s always amazing hearing about actors you see as “successfull” cuz you see them on a show and then you find out they’re still working their backup job.
And its good she gets how totally insane LA is and the phoniness of people there when it comes to actors they perceive as “famous” or whatever…
Stephen must be an absolute HOOT on set. It would be great to watch a day of him just working. You know, sit in a corner and just watch the process. I’m sure its fascinating.
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I don’t care which direction they take Bill. They can take him to a very dark place if they want to and I will love it either way. I’m crazy for Stephen Moyer and I just want them to give him some great things to do so that he can show his acting chops to the world.
I’m really excited about this season. BOOK SPOILER ALERT. We all know that Bill is marginalized after book 3 and AB said that won’t happen in the show. I have a feeling that this is when they’re going to set up Bill’s new storyline. This is when the fun begins. This is the writers time to do as they please, with Bill. These writers are very talented and are going to be giving Stephen some great things to do. I’ve reached the point that I won’t mind if he does break Bill and Sookie up (although I’ll be crying) I won’t care if they have Bill doing bad stuff and Eric ends up looking like a saint, as long as I get to see Stephen. I’ll love bad— Bill and Stephen will do bad— Vampire great.
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Selle Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 11:24
I totally agree. I’m a fan of Stephen’s acting and when they break Bill and Sookie up, I think that’s where the fun with Bill really begins. Up to this point, most of Bill’s scenes have been either with Sookie, Eric, or Jessica. But now, well, everything can get really wild. Remember when Bill glamoured the cop? That’s the kind of thing I want to see.
“It’s heavier than I imagined. Is it loaded?”
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