Rutina did an interview with Vulture Blog, they have done a great job with True Blood info this season so far.
Read the whole thing at the link here's some good nuggets.
Orgies. Exorcisms. Bludgeonings. As an unwitting party to all of the above (okay, she meant to beat the bejesus out of that bipolar vampire with a medieval mace), poor Tara Thornton has lived a life full of drama and sorrow. But in season four, True Blood's resident martyr looks like she may finally get a shot at happiness. Where's the fun in that? Vulture spoke with actress Rutina Wesley, a soft-spoken Juilliard grad with a soft spot for comic books, about her Emmy-reel, getting an action figure, and her future as Wonder Woman.
Would you agree that, out of the entire True Blood cast, you probably have the most clips for your Emmy reel?
Yeah, totally! It's like, "Well, let's see: being duct-taped to a toilet or tied to a bed." I never know what they're gonna do, you know? The one time I was really surprised was in season two when we had to do those scenes out in the woods. [Laughs.] We were like, "Wait. What are we doing? This is an orgy scene!" But it's True Blood. I've never questioned anything that they've given me.
When producer Alan Ball said a character was coming out, everyone assumed it would be Jason. Were you surprised it was Tara?
It makes sense to me. I don't think it's all of a sudden her coming out. She's a little more stable and calmer [this season], and the next thing she knew, love was in the air. She didn't really know what to do with it, but to go with it.
Will anything this season disrupt her calm?
I think Tara's always gonna be Tara. She's always gonna be feisty. She's very sassy, which I love. Tara is the voice of reason at times, because she just tells it like it is. She has learned to handle things in a different way, but she is gonna get caught up in things that are going to challenge her. There's gonna be lots of tension. There's definitely drama.
You have many scenes with Nelsan Ellis, who plays Lafayette. What is your relationship like?
We went to school together at Juilliard, so we're actually very close. Coming on this show and getting the chance to work with someone that you know is such a plus. The connection you see is real. We actually really enjoy each other's company — and he keeps me on my toes.
Does he get to call you "hooker" off-camera?
Oh, he calls me "Rutini." [Laughs.] He actually made ["hooker"] up. I don't think that was in the script. He just said it one time to me. And that's why I was like, [in Tara's voice] "You got one more time to call me 'hooker'! You got one mo', one mo'!" So it just became this running joke between us. He says it so well. It kind of just rolls off his tongue.
From an interview with Ball, originally from Complex Magazine but I got it at Comicbookmovie.com
On this season's baddie, in comparison to Season Three's brilliant Russell Edgington:
She has very big shoes to fill, yeah. We were very fortunate that we got the great Irish actress Fiona Shaw [plays the witch, Marnie], who is one of the premier Shakespearean actresses of hers and any other generation. We needed somebody of that depth, because her character starts off very mousy and unassuming but all kinds of stuff happens to her, and we needed somebody who could go to these epic places, and she totally does that....I’m hoping in seasons hence that we’ll find some more lesser-known supernatural creatures, to figure out what’s going on with them. But this year, actually, we have a whole bunch of them; we have witches, an interesting twist on shape-shifting that gets played out over the course of the season. There are disembodied spirits; I hesitate to call them “ghosts,” so I call them “spirits without hosts.” The magic demon that overtook Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) last season and scared the hell out of Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) comes back a bit more. So there’s all kinds of fun stuff this year, in addition to werewolves and vampires.
Some of the more interesting spoilerish things from Wetpaint's interview with Fiona Shaw about Marnie, as always there's more at the link and pics too.
Wetpaint: What can you tell us about Marnie’s character? She seems so sweet and innocent, but we have a feeling she’s trouble.
Fiona Shaw: I love my character. We haven’t seen much of her yet, but she’s going to change into something quite amazing. It depends on how you look at it, but she definitely doesn’t remain as this little mouse who can just about juice a bird to fly. She seems to gain a few more powers due to tapping into a source who’s much more powerful than she is.
Were you a fan of True Blood before you started working on it?
I’d heard about it, but I really became a fan of it when I began to study. I looked at three seasons in about two weeks, and I then went to the read-though when I got to Los Angeles and I was absolutely terrified, because I walked in the room and saw all these vampires sitting around the table. I thought, "Oh my god!
I only knew them from the show and had been so involved with them, that I was absolutely terrified.
How is working on True Blood different from other shows and movies you’ve been a part of?
Well, one of the great things about True Blood is you get to speak a lot. They’re very unlikely to cut your scenes in True Blood, because it is written in way that is then filmed and timed to take on everyone’s performance. So the scariest story-lines that you’re being offered every week are genuinely performed, rehearsed, performed and shot in every direction to make them as exciting as possible. In that way, it’s not like film, it’s much more like theater — where you’re in some control of what you say. But it’s not like theater, because you have no idea what’s going to happen in two episodes down the road. On the one hand, your loquacious and you have opportunity to act things, but you’ve got to make sure its not in profound contradiction to what’s going to happen in two episode’s time!
Many of the actors in True Blood got their start in theater. Is there a different dynamic when you’re working in film and television alongside actors with a theater background?
Well, a lot of film is about the viewer imposing their imaginations on an often very still face of the actor, and probably the theater is about making huge, brave decisions that are sometimes ugly and sometimes terrifying, but really going out there. And I think a lot of the acting in True Blood is really out there. A lot of brave performances; people banging doors, jumping out of cars. Which in film is often much more restrained because people are so frightened of that giant close-up. In television, people are much braver, it seems to me.
What’s it like working with Alan Ball?
Well, he was very useful and kind to me when I first arrived, so I could talk to him about orientating myself. Any ideas I had, I ran past him and he was very helpful with them, and encouraging. And then, obviously, on each show, the writers are present as are the producers. [Alan] only wrote one of them this season, and he was entirely there for that one. But one does see him remarkably in the background as someone you can always go to if there’s a problem or a query or an artistic question. He’s always there and very on it.
What do you like most about your character?
I think personally I’ve been very brave to allow it to be that weird. Because I feel very sorry for people who have huge imaginations like this woman has, and no opportunities like this woman has not had in her life. I really want it to be about something very real, it’s out there, but it’s real. And then allow it to be True Blood-ish later. I was very keen to find out something about somebody that is so underprivileged and so over life, that she never got to really live. And it makes people mad when they’re frustrated to that extent, which is very common. I was trying to get at somebody really, very ordinary. And what I like about her is that she’s very ordinary!
Which characters does Marnie interact with the most?
To my great pleasure, I think you’ll find that I’m acting with a lot of them. I get around to most of the cast, and that’s really great. Lovely for me.
In the books, Marnie ( edit:Marnie is not Hallow the big werewolf witch on V, oy! ) has a sexual attraction to Eric. Can we expect to see that this season?
Something much more elaborate has been concocted for this. It’s certainly about love, but I think it’s more about love of power. Almost a neurotic love of power. And maybe about identity. I think if Marnie’s about anything, she’s about someone trying to find their identity. In reaching for identity, you are able to find parts of yourself you were well-off without. So it’s much more in that way narcissistic, maybe, than it is about Eric and her. I wish I could tell you more, but I’m going to not tell you about it! I have to say, I’ve enjoyed the complexity of what I play very much. It’s been very hard to play. I play someone who is from Louisiana and then gets very involved with Spanish 17th century witchcraft. It’s quite elaborate and there’s a lot of Latin.
Can you tell us a little bit about the upcoming battle between witches vs. vampires on True Blood? We expect it to be epic!
In brief, it’s a lot of night shoots, great arrays of warriors on both sides and very witty dialogue between them all. And really a lot of blood and gore. Everything you love about True Blood is played out.
Villains in True Blood often stick around for a season and then get killed off, but we’re already really attached to your character. Do you have any Season 5 plans?
You never know, do you, with True Blood, so I don’t know either, but I would be enchanted if I were asked back. I would be very, very interested if they could find a way of getting me back! It might take a lot of magic, but if they did I’d be thrilled to. I have had the most wonderful time with this group of actors, who I’m full of admiration for. They’re very friendly and we’ve had great fun and a lot of hard work. And I think that’s the most beautiful combination. I’ve enjoyed myself and if there’s a way I could get back, I’d love it.
This is for people who haven't seen E2, it makes it iffy is Jason survives the season. Who knows for sure though,Ryan might want to grab the moment and go for a movie career while he's TB Hot..
JReposting this again, just to spread the Holly hate, the only character I ever had this visceral response to, lol.
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