Sam Trammell and Michelle Forbes were among the cast who went to Paris for the launch of the second season of True Blood. They granted the interviewer a few minutes to ask some questions and here’s the translation.
Interview with Sam Trammell – translation
Sam Trammell, Are you afraid to impersonate a shapeshifter?
Afraid? I don’t think you understand. In Los Angeles, when we started talking about “True Blood”, and the novelty of the HBO series, with Alan Ball, everyone wanted to be in it. So when he told me about the script and I discovered that I would be a “shapeshifter” someone who can transform into an animal, I told myself that I would adapt.
Adapt?
Bah, I do not play the dog, when I convert to a dog, it is a real dog who plays me! But I’m still inspired by my pet for my character by mimicking his way of sniffing, to move. I also played a lot of nude scenes, so the challenges are not lacking.
Yes, the sex scenes, violence, there are many …
Which means that half the people I know in Louisiana, where part of my family is from, do not watch the series. They are too conservative and believe it gives a bad image of the South. The other half loves it!
The geographical location is important?
Very. First, because actually, people in the South are different. They talk and dress differently. And then there was the whole historical dimension. The ghost of slavery still haunts the area, and racism is very present .
Metaphorically in “True Blood” by the attitude of humans to vampires?
Caution, do not conclude that “True Blood” is hyper metaphysics. “Six Feet Under” was. I think Alan has especially enjoyed the show because it’s fun. I studied semiotics and, yes, we can interpret the series in sociological terms, but also Marxist, feminist, linguistic …
Interview with Michelle Forbes – translation
How did you get involved with True Blood?
I really should think about inventing an interesting story, because in truth, it is simple one. I had just finished the series In Treatment, I heard, like everyone else, the enormous buzz created by “the newseries written and produced by Alan Ball with vampires”. That kind of sentence is sufficient to understand that being involved in the adventure would be hallucinating. And then I was accepted.
Your character is pretty special …
It’s a freak, yes! I am rather accustomed to having characters tied by psychological conflicts, I find myself playing a woman with no concept of remorse and fear. Totally excessive.
Not too complicated to make it credible?
Just remember times a little less politically correct than ours. In times where some had a rule of life was to have none. I particularly thought much about Lydia Lunch, muse of the underground movement in the 80s.
The vampire theme, you plugged it?
I know that vampires are supposed to be super trendy. But I do not think Alan Ball has done a series about vampires. His vampires represent something else, the otherness, the difference. Although not didactic. True Blood first emphasis is the humor.
Have you read the books by Charlaine Harris which inspired the series?
The first, and then I decided to stop. These books provide only a part of the story, True Blood is an adaptation not translated directly from the books. That said, what a pleasure it is that there are nine volumes in the book collection. If there could be nine seasons, it would be great!
