I always found the character of Lorena fascinating ever since we first saw her in Season 1 when she turned Bill Compton, (Stephen Moyer) into a vampire. Mariana Klaveno did a great job of playing the evil maker and made us see Lorena as the character on True Blood that we loved to hate.
Lorena is truly a tragic vampire since she couldn’t accept that Bill didn’t love her. I wonder if there are any vampire psychiatrists that she could have seen to help her through the rejection. Sadly, we’ll never know since Lorena is no more, but here’s an interview with Mariana Klaveno where she talks about her character’s obsession with Bill Compton, why she’d never chase a man who doesn’t want her, and her practical advice for female stalkers.
We recently saw your character, Lorena turn into a puddle of blood on True Blood. Is she really dead?
Yes. But I would love to do some flashbacks. I certainly don’t have any knowledge of that happening because they keep everything under wraps, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next season or 2, they want to show even more of Bill’s history through that relationship. I made some choices about what Lorena’s human life looked like and I would love to get to show that. I’d revisit Lorena any time!
The general consensus on Lorena is that she’s psychotic, evil and manipulative. But isn’t she just searching for love?
Lorena does monstrous things but her motivation is always love. She’s a tragic character and that’s what I find so endearing about her — what she desperately wants, she’ll never get.
What was it like shooting that disturbing sex scene where Bill turns your head 180 degrees?
[Laughs] It was uncomfortable on many levels, but I don’t think I was alone on that. I think Stephen was uncomfortable. You feel vulnerable in those scenes, but I’m lucky to work with people who are professional, supportive and considerate. Don’t worry, those jokes that everyone has made about the scene, we made all of them before you did!
Bill not only twisted your head 180 degrees, he also set you on fire, punched you in the face and bashed your head in with a plasma TV. Which of those scenes challenged you the most?
The thing that I had to keep reminding myself was that Lorena is far stronger than Bill. So anything that he’s doing to her — she’s allowing. When he’s twisting her head around — she could, at any moment, throw him across the room, but she doesn’t. There’s also a scene where we’d just come back from killing a stripper and I’m following him into his room and he slams the door right in my face — I looked at the writer and the director and I said, ‘I could just rip the door off the hinges and walk right in… there’s nothing stopping me.’ So we decided that when he punches me in the face, I would smile because the thing with their relationship is that whenever Bill gets into his darker, violent side, Lorena feels like she’s winning.
Why couldn’t Lorena accept that Bill didn’t want her back?
If we go back to the 1st scene that you see them in, she’s obviously been searching for a companion for a long time and had deemed many unworthy. Bill proved himself to be an honorable, good man and so that’s what initially made her fall for him. But the reason she can’t give him up is that she chose him to be with her forever and he didn’t hold up his end of the bargain. I made a decision for myself that Lorena was denied love in her human life and so she continues to search for it in her vampire life. There’s something in her innately that desperately needs that companionship, that relationship and that love.
To read the rest of this interview go to Kidult.com
I know I loved to hate her. Mariana did a terrific job portraying Lorena. She turned Bill against his will, yet thought he should somehow be grateful and want to remain with her forever. Flawed thinking. I would love to see her return in flashbacks. I definitely want to see more of their relationship as it played out over the decades … and I’d like to see Lorena with her maker, who appears to be evil incarnate.
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Mariana is fabulous. She owned the character Lorena. I will miss her.
I’d love to see her in flashbacks with her maker played by (Lost)Micheal Emerson. I am glad she states that any thing Bill did to Lorena she allowed and liked it because to her it meant she was winning. Some folks just did not grasp that.
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Rowena Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 18:29
Good point on Lorena’s acceptance and enjoyment of what Bill dished out. Thanks for clarifying that, Willkill.
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maycomb Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 19:22
I also loved to hate Lorena–and Mariana was just great in the role. As much as I hated Lorena, I must admit I COMPLETELY relate to her obsession with Bill. ;-)
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She’s a lovely woman and a very good actress. I will miss her too, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Lorena.
Maycomb, I can relate to her obsession with Bill too! ;P
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Lovely interview! I really loved her as well and I got her obsession with Bill. Would love to see some flashbacks next season !
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Wonderful actress with hopefully a bright future ahead of her. She not only brought incredible layers to Lorena , but raised Stephen to his “A” game in every scene they shared and I really really hope we get to see some more flashbacks with these two.
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