HUNTSVILLE, AL. - When he was younger, Nelsan Ellis, one of the stars of the HBO hit series "True Blood," moved from Chicago to Bessemer, went to school there and eventually worked at Larry's Fish Pot & Barbecue.
But he always had a dream.
A dream to discover the wide world of theater out there.
Now, it looks like he's found it. Besides the role of Lafayette Reynolds in "True Blood," Ellis had a supporting role in "Secretariat" and was also in "The Soloist," which starred Jamie Farr and Robert Downey Jr., and "The Express," a movie about former Syracuse football star Ernie Davis.
Ellis left Bessemer and returned to Chicago when he was 14, eventually attending the prestigious Juilliard School of Arts in New York. From there, patience and hard work has made him a hot commodity in Hollywood and he's coming here tonight to talk about it.
New York theater’s last major attempts at vampire shows — the Elton John musical “Lestat” in 2006, “Dracula, the Musical” in 2004, and the musical “Dance of the Vampires” in 2002 — were among the biggest Broadway flops of that decade. But the monster success of the “Twilight” book and film series — about young love between a well-coiffed vampire and a pretty, sulky human — since 2008 has led to a host of movies, television series, and books featuring vampires.
Now Off Broadway is giving vampires a go. “Dracula,” the 1927 Hamilton Deane-John L. Balderston play based on Bram Stoker’s novel, which had a hit revival on Broadway in 1977 starring Frank Langella, will have a 13-week run at the Little Shubert Theater starting Dec. 14, with an opening night scheduled for Jan. 5, 2011.
George Hearn, a Tony Award winner for “Sunset Boulevard” and “La Cage aux Folles,” will play the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, and film actress Thora Birch (“American Beauty,” “Ghost World”) has been cast as Count Dracula’s love interest, Lucy Seward.
Mark Blankenship our good buddy recently interevewed Denis O' Hare
Welcome to Building Character, TDF’s ongoing series about actors and how they create their roles.
When we first meet Elling, the title character in the Broadway play now at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, he’s hiding in a wardrobe. From his roommate. In a mental hospital.
His behavior is just as quirky in the outside world: Somewhere between his disastrous attempt to order pizza and his decision to hide original poems in boxes of sauerkraut, it becomes clear that Elling is not like other guys.
Yet there is something familiar about him. Elling charms because Elling, his roommate Kjell, and their pregnant neighbor Reidun are strange people facing everyday problems. When they’re ordering in a restaurant and there’s no more soup, they don’t just get disappointed: They have a conniption fit. We can laugh at them because we recognize our own tendency to turn small nuisances into global news.
Of course, getting us to laugh is delicate work. “This play is a tightrope,” says Denis O’Hare, who plays Elling. “It has a very narrow shelf you can exist on. If we are too casual about these guys, then we don’t pay homage to their unique circumstance. You kind of go, ‘Well, why is he in an asylum? He looks like a normal Joe.’ But if we go in the direction of making them too mentally ill, the audience won’t laugh because you’re not going to make fun of someone you feel is ill.”
Wondering what to get me for the holidays this year? Here’s the perfect gift: Queen Sophie-Anne’s mansion from “True Blood.” The gorgeously ornate house with ocean views is easily my favorite set on the show because of its old-world decadence. And now the actual house is for sale. Sadly, the abode isn’t in Louisiana—it’s in Malibu—and it costs a pretty penny. Seventy-five million dollars to be exact. But hey, I’m worth it, right? Plus, the 20,000 square foot house comes complete with an indoor pool where I could swim laps and a lion sculpture found at the base of Mount Vesuvius. Now just get me Queen Sophie-Anne’s wardrobe and her ability to never age, and we’ll be good to go. [NY Post]
Location: Malibu, Calif. Price: $75,000,000 The Skinny: How much does a Hollywood set cost? Well, if it's located on almost eight prime acres in Malibu and features 13 beds and 14 baths, quite a bit. Tack on the fact that it appeared in such modern cinema classics as Funny People, I Love You Man, and HBO's blood-sucking extravaganza, True Blood, and we're talking seriously expensive. At $75M, the listing was almost guaranteed to make that familiar sideways claim: "Considered by many to be one of the great estates in the world." On stats alone, this place has got the goods: 20,000 square feet, panoramic views of the Pacific, "saline and ozone" infinity pool, a massive greenhouse, and a 2,500-year-old lion found at the base of Mount Vesuvius.Er, yeah, in case the price tag wasn't a tip-off, this place is yet another temple to maximalism. Is it possible to spend $75M on a home and not get a bit too much?
· 26848 Pacific Highway [Chris Cortazzo - ColdwellBanker]
Winter is a difficult time for fans of True Blood and the Sookie Stackhouse novels (the books upon which the series is based). Season four of True Blood doesn’t begin until summer of 2011 while fans of the books traditionally wait until May to receive a new installment.
When I met author Charlaine Harris at the Free Library of Philadelphia last year, I made friends with some True Blood fans while waiting in line. We discussed how difficult it is during late fall and winter…when there is little new True Blood content out there.
Here are some essential methods for survival: Delve into another ‘verse. Sometimes it’s possible to obsess over one fandom to the point of exhaustion. This can make the dry spells between books and episodes seem especially difficult. Don’t let this happen with the Sookieverse! Try alternating your fandoms by obsessing over alternate TV shows during True Blood’s off-seasons.
With his HBO show True Blood on hiatus – and his August wedding to costar Anna Paquin still a fresh memory – Stephen Moyer plans to read the classic children's tale Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! at Universal Studios Hollywood for a special Dec. 11 live performance, a rep for Universal tells PEOPLE.
The event will kick off the theme park's 18-day Grinchmas celebration. Besides Moyer, who plays True Blood's vampire Bill Compton, the reading will also feature the Grinch's faithful dog Max, a heap of (through Hollywood magic) fresh snow and a "Whoville Whobilation" on the original sets where the 2000 live-action Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, starring Jim Carrey, was filmed.
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The Dr. Seuss story, first published in 1957, tells of the bitter Grinch who burgles Whoville and takes the Christmas presents. (Spoiler alert: It ends happily.)
Other names set to follow in Moyer's frosty footsteps will be actor Jeffrey Tambor, who played the Mayor of Whoville in the movie (he'll read Dec. 12); Brandy (Dec. 18); and Joey Lawrence and Alfred Hitchcock star Tippi Hedren (Dec. 20). Universal will announce additional celebrity readers in the weeks to come.
Own a new Hallmark Recordable Storybook, “We’re Not Scared of Anything,” autographed by cast members of HBO’s hit show, “True Blood” (including Joe Manganiello, Rutina Wesley, Nelsan Ellis, Todd Lowe, Ashley Jones, Carrie Preston, and Kristin Bauer). Recordable Storybooks feature voice-capture technology, recording the reader’s voice directly into the book. When a page is turned, the book automatically plays the text on that page in the reader’s voice. Recordable Storybooks are great gifts for out-of-town relatives, parents in the military or parents who travel on business yet want to “read” to their kids from across the miles. Intended for two readers, one adult and one child, to read and record together. As bedtime approaches, Little Monster finds plenty to be scared of. Luckily, Big Monster is there to reassure him that the scary things aren’t so scary after all. Written in rhymed, metered verse, it encourages kids and eases nighttime fears in a fun, playful way. All proceeds from this auction will benefit the VFW Foundation to help military families through its Unmet Needs program. Photo courtesy of Hallmark
So you thought yesterday's question about whether the Harry Potter books could be seen as mysteries had an open-and-shut answer, right? Hey, today at the New England Crime Bake volunteers session (stuffing registration bags in the morning), everyone who described themselves as sci fi/fantasy readers said H.P. is NOT in the mystery genre -- and everyone who was a die-hard mystery reader instead said "Well, yeah, those books fit into mysteries, of course!"
Which is a good platform for what happened this evening: Charlaine Harris is the guest of honor at the 2010 New England Crime Bake, and the after-pizza entertainment was a viewing of Episode 9 from TRUE BLOOD, Season 2: "I Will Rise Up." For those who don't view HBO programs, True Blood is a series featuring vampires, werefolk, the fey, and as central protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse, a sweet Southern girl with enormous courage and loyalty (and sex drive). She's featured in one of Charlaine Harris's series of books.
Talk Blood Radio has ended for
Season 4. Thanks to all my great co- hosts and sponsors. All 12 episode podcasts are available for FREE from Blogtalk and itunes.
To bring back Blogtalk for Season 5 we will need episode sponsors, if you'd like to sponsor an episode for Season 5, please contact me !
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HUNTSVILLE, AL. - When he was younger, Nelsan Ellis, one of the stars of the HBO hit series "True Blood," moved from Chicago to Bessemer, went to school there and eventually worked at Larry's Fish Pot & Barbecue.
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