Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Kristen Bauer interview

Actress Kristen Bauer is best known for her role as Pam, the blood-thirsty diva on HBO's True Blood. Kristen is committed to her acting, but she is also deeply committed to working for great causes, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Kristen talked with TheCelebrityCafe.com's Ted Simmons about saving domestic and wild animals, preserving the planet, and life as a vampire.

Ted Simmons: You're on this wildly successful show, True Blood, and you pl
ay Pam. How would you describe Pam?

Kristen Bauer: Pam is just unremorseful. What's fun about her to play is she's a true vampire. How humans look at a Big Mac, that's how she looks at humans. They're just an entertainment and a food source. So she's endlessly fun to play. The costume people are ama
zing. Pam is just all about being immortal, powerful, and having an outfit for every occasion. It's such a blast.

TS: It really is fun trying to play those evil characters, the ones who are maybe a little unlike you.

KB: I know that's the thing. I don't know why it's so unbelievably fun to play someone who's just 100 percent evil, but it's a blast. There are no complicating feelings, there's
no feeling bad for anybody. It's just 100 percent selfish.

TS: True Blood just started its second season. What's your schedule been like as the episodes are coming out?

KB: When we do work there's a huge cast and so many story lines going on, we only work a few days an episode. But when we do, we work long hours; especially last
season. Whenever there are special effects or a lot of blood, it takes a long time. And because we're vampires, if the scene is outside we're shooting at night. So we're shooting 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Though the hours are really long, and half the time you're delirious, the fun part is once you get past the physical pain of either the clothing or the hours or the special effects, you get sort of giddy. And Alexander Skarsgard is so funny. And Stephen [Moyer] and Anna [Paquin] are so much fun, and they're also the ones I'm in scenes with. We just laugh and have such a ball. It's just a fun set to be on. And the directors are nice, and [show creator] Alan Ball is
so lovely and gracious.

TS: You mentioned that you're a painter, and I saw some of the paintings you did and they look quite professional, at least to me. How did that avenue kind of come to be?

KB: I started drawing probably in junior high. My sister went to fine arts school, so I kind of was aware of it, and my school had a small art department. Then by high school, when I was trying to think about what I might want to do in college, I was so sick of academics. I couldn't imagine the pain of having to go to college to study math and science and history.
It just made me want to hang myself. So I just started drawing a lot and got a portfolio together so I could get into fine art school, which is what I did.

I mainly drew, I didn't paint very much. And then one my first acting jobs was with Peter Falk I did a Colombo movie of the week. And he's a big art lover. So, he mentioned this art school in L.A. that was wonderful, that taught people how to really paint like they were masters.

So I enrolled and started painting for at least a decade, maybe l
ess. And when you have been drawing as long as I have, painting is just sort of the logical next step. So I've been doing portraits and landscapes and drawing weekly for almost, what feels like 20 years, but I've taken a few breaks when I get busy.

TS: Is it nice to turn such a passion of yours into something you can really pursue and get out there, post on the Web and stuff like this

read on

3 comments:

Rita said...

Great interview i just love her,just seems to be down to earth

Lady Jane said...

Thanks for posting I put it on the HBO Pam thread. Gave you credit too LOL.

I love Pam too wish she would get more Air time.

Amber Lynne said...

I agree with lady jane. Pams one of my favorite, I wished she'd get more air time.