Denis the menace

Gay actor Denis O’Hare, TV’s reigning villain, is far less creepy than his roles

Meeting Denis O’Hare should be scary as hell. After all, this is the man who plays two of TV’s reigning supervillains: The horny vamp leader on True Blood and a mysteriously deformed psychopath who just suffocated a potential homebuyer on American Horror Story. But today, in the back of homo-hot-spot Saint Felix in West Hollywood on his day off, O’Hare doesn’t project any of that eeriness.
So far during the debut season of the smash FX show, O’Hare, as the scarred weirdo Larry Harvey, has doused a house in gasoline, killed another man’s mistress and fought fervently for a home that’s become a tough sell — and not just because the economy sucks.
“I don’t think he’s evil,” O’Hare says. “He’s acting out of a particular desire for something. For me, all characters have a justification for their behavior; they always think that what they’re doing is necessary for a reason. Even the Phantom of the Opera has a real reason: He was in love with someone, he was scarred, he wants love and revenge.”

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Denis the Menace-Getting down to earth with one of the scariest men on television

God, I sure hope everyone is watching American Horror Story . It's by far the best thing on TV since a  wierd little vampire show about a telepathic barmaid started a few years back ;-) !

Meeting Denis O'Hare should be scary as hell. But today, in the back of homo-hotspot Saint Felix in West Hollywood on his day off, O'Hare doesn't project the eeriness he does as a horny "True Blood" vamp and mysteriously deformed man who just suffocated a potential homebuyer on "American Horror Story."
So far during the debut season of the smash FX show, O'Hare, who plays Larry Harvey, has dosed a house in gasoline, killed the-man-of-the-house's mistress and fought fervently for a home that's become a tough sell - and not just because the economy is sucking.
"Murder House," as it's called, is a freaky L.A. residence with a dark past and a new family: the Harmons, a threesome hopeful for a new start. But what's up with the neighbors, including Jessica Lange's crazy super-mom Constance? And who's this Larry guy and why is this house so important to him?
O'Hare leans back after taking a sip of his cranberry/orange/seltzer water concoction - his "incredibly demanding diva drink" - and tells us. "I don't think he's evil. He's acting out of a particular desire for something. For me, all characters have a justification for their behavior; they always think that what they're doing is necessary for a reason. Even Phantom of the Opera has a real reason: He was in love with someone, he was scarred, he wants love and revenge."

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O’Hare splits villainy in two

Loving DO in " American Horror Story ' !!!

Denis O’Hare knows scary.
Not because he plays the unhinged Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi on HBO’s “True Blood,” or the creepy, scarred Larry Harvey on FX’s “American Horror Story” (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.).
It’s just that the 49-year-old actor has an affinity for things macabre.

“I was steeped in the monster genre from the time I was 10 years old,” O’Hare told the Herald. “I was contemplating Vincent Price, actually, and if I ever had a childhood hero, it was Vincent Price. I was thinking about those old Saturday afternoon horror films I watched as a kid, and they really stayed with me. I was a monster freak growing up.”
That education has come in handy lately. O’Hare shined as the bloodthirsty, unforgettable Edgington in the third season of “True Blood,” and now as the disfigured Larry Harvey in “American Horror Story,” a dark series that may be difficult to define.

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Denis O’Hare Talks AMERICAN HORROR STORY, J. EDGAR, and His Return to TRUE BLOOD

American Horror Story is rocking my post True Blood world - how about you ??

FX’s psycho-sexual thriller American Horror Story, from executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, revolves around the Harmons, a family of three who moved from Boston to Los Angeles as a means of reconciling personal anguish and getting a fresh start. But, they quickly discover that their new home comes with its own kind of baggage, as numerous heinous and terrifying acts have occurred there, and the property itself seems to have a strange effect on its residents.

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'True Blood's' Denis O'Hare on Russell Edgington's Return: 'Never Give Up Hope'

After the vampire king of Mississippi, Russell Edgington, changed the path of vampire-human relations last season on True Blood with a televised display of blood thirst, the character’s return may be one of the most anticipated of the series.


The last time fans saw him, Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) sealed Russell in a cement grave, but he vowed that he’d be back.
“He’s been locked away,” executive producer and writer Alexander Woo told The Hollywood Reporter earlier in the season. “So he’s kind of a time bomb. He could come back in any moment.”
THR caught up with Denis O’Hare Saturday at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press tour where he was promoting his new FX series, American Horror Story. We had a moment to speak to him about whether the return to the HBO series will actually come to fruition.
THR: True Blood fans have been waiting eagerly for Russell Edgington’s possible return. Here we are halfway through Season 4 and nothing. Did that ever come to fruition?
Denis O’Hare: I think [series creator] Alan Ball was asked recently about Russell’s return and he said, ‘Russell’s not dead.’ And I can’t do better than that. So, I’ll just reiterate what he said. Russell is not dead.

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O'Hare relishes 'True Blood' opportunity Was a fan before being cast in HBO vampire drama

When Denis O'Hare was asked to play the latest antagonist, Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi on HBO's hit skein "True Blood," accepting the role was a no brainer."It's one of my favorite shows," O'Hare says. "It's rare that you get to do a show that you actually love. It actually made me afraid because I loved it so much that I couldn't imagine being in that world.
"But once I got in the part and started thinking about it, I just got excited about the fact that it was a very powerful and charming character. It was such fun to play."
Edgington comes to Louisiana hoping to begin a war with its vampire queen and ultimately eliminate the human race. But tables turn, and when Edgington's lover and progeny, Talbot, is slain, the almost-3,000 year-old vampire goes on a rampage, including ripping a newscaster's spine from his body during a newscast.
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Denis O’Hare to appear on CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade

Tune in to see Denis on the CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade this Thursday, November 25 at 10:30AM EST.
Oh --I wish he was appearing as Russell ! Haha

What’s Up, Denis O’Hare? The Elling Star on His Peculiar New Play and Camping It Up on True Blood

Your role on True Blood this season was pretty wild.
It’s one of the best sets to work on because the people are incredibly cool and the material is so rich. From the outside, the show can appear to be camp, but it’s a pretty tough acting job. You really have to bring all your skills. It was incredibly emotionally draining. Quite a few of the show’s fans are showing up at the theater, which is great.

As an actor who’s very open about his sexuality did you enjoy playing a gay role on True Blood?
In a strange way you can’t really say Russell is a gay character because ancients didn’t have the same understanding of sexuality as we do. I thought of him as a pagan warrior who was bent on taking over the world. That was the most important thing: The fact that he had a [male] lover was a little incidental.

Do you have any favorite credits from your many film roles?
A Mighty Heart. We shot it in India and it was such a cool project. Michael Winterbottom is one of the great directors of this century. Angelina [Jolie] is really cool and nice to work with, too. She’s as down to earth as she can be given the weird world she’s been forced into. I also loved doing Charlie Wilson’s War because I got to travel to Morroco and hang out with Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Do you have anything planned after Elling finishes its run in March?
Not really, I've been focusing on this. I don't know about True Blood. My character's not dead [Russell was buried alive in a cement tomb]. For all I know, I'm going to L.A. to get out of the cement!

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Building Character: Denis O’Hare by Mark Blankenship

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.”

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Publish Post

TV Characters That Give Us The Heebie-Jeebies : True Blood's Russell Edginton and MaryAnn

True Blood – Russell Edgington

Used to being able to do whatever he wanted allowed this three thousand year old vampire to be more than just a tad sinister. He shared his blood with a werewolf pack, blackmailed Queen Sophie-Anne into marrying him before beheading the Magister, ripped out the spine of an on-air anchorman and staked a human male hooker. This may be characteristic vampire behaviour but Russell goes from the customary bloodcurdling rein of terror we expect of bona fide members of the undead community to utterly unhinged in about point zero seconds. Carrying the sloppy remains of his dead vampire lover, Talbot in a jar is a level of disturbing that there’s just no coming back from. Russell shows what us the true nature of vampires in his TV appearance:

True Blood – Maryann Forrester

Entering the show in her birthday suit beside a pig, she causes Tara to crash her car and tah-dah! She wangles her way into Bon Temps’ community. Behind the towns’ back, she’s cruel and spiteful, holding a grudge against bartending Sam. She attacks Sookie, feeds off town hence making them loose all inhibitions (providing the creepier scenes of in season) until her final sacrifice to her god can be carried out. The show was already notorious but this maenad’s presence forces the realisation that it’s not just jumping on the Twilight bandwagon.

see the whole creepy list here 

Denis O’Hare Sinks His Teeth Into Debate on True Blood vs. Broadway Fans

After a sensationally over the top run on season three of HBO’s uber-popular vampire series True Blood, Tony winner Denis O’Hare (who played the show’s murderous King of Mississippi) has found a new set of admirers on his way back to the stage in the forthcoming Broadway production of Elling. So, which fans are more hard-core: Broadway-goers or vampire lovers? “It’s a tossup,” O’Hare recently told Broadway.com. “Broadway fans have to travel here to see their shows, so they have a level of commitment that’s more than just tuning in every week.” Thanks to TV, however, O'Hare can feel his profile rising: “I get left alone for the most part, but then suddenly somebody will scream, ‘Oh my God! You’re the King of Mississippi!'”
O’Hare got a taste of True Blood fandom at San Diego’s Comic-Con convention earlier this year. “Comic-Con is a special kind of crazy,” the actor joked. “There were around 130,000 people there!” In addition to convention-goers, the actor was surprised to find he had intergalactic fans. “I got surrounded by the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he exclaimed. “First Deanna Troi [Marina Sirtis] walked up, then Data [Brent Spiner], then Worf [Michael Dorn]. I was just like ‘Oh my God!’” But after his character's questionable fate of being encased in a tomb of concrete for the next 100 years, will O’Hare be back for season four? “I love the show and really hope I’m back next year," he said. "It's a very good atmosphere."

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Russell Edgington's monogrammed handkerchief

True Blood’s Denis O’Hare Is Not Dead

Russell Edgington, the 3,000-year-old Vampire King of Mississippi who keeps werewolves as pets, carries around his dead lover in a glass urn, and wanted to save the world by taking it back from humans, is – judging from the end of True Blood, Season 3, Episode 35….Spoiler Alert…– vampire dust.
Whatever the finale reveals (and somehow I doubt they’re doing away altogether with such a colorful character), HBO-watchers learned this season what Broadway theatergoers have known for years: Denis O’Hare, the seasoned actor who played Russell, is electrically alive.

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All Hail Denis O’Hare, the Vampire King of True Blood

Denis O’Hare, who plays Russell Edgington, the 3,000-year-old vampire king of Mississippi, galloped into this season of True Blood on horseback in a crested blazer, charming us with his luscious accent, old-world manners, and mercurial megalomania. With only days remaining until the season finale, Vulture talked to O’Hare about how Haley Barbour inspired his accent, why Sookie should take a page from Queen Victoria, and why Edgington is the show's true hero.
How did you get involved with True Blood?
Funnily enough, I was a big fan of the show and had been watching it —
along with everybody else — and had never imagined that I would be on it. You kind of look at shows and think, Oh, I wish I had done that one. But I didn’t really see myself on True Blood. Sam [Trammell] has that [Sam Merlotte] part taken, he’s great at that. I can’t play Ryan's [Kwanten] part. The Magister is a friend of mine, Zeljko Ivanek. I was like, I could play that part, but Zeljko’s doing it. I was in Budapest doing a movie called The Eagle when I got a phone call from my agent. He said, ‘How would you like to play the vampire king of Mississippi?’ I said, ‘Yes! Yes.

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Hisssssssssssssssss! TV's top villains The seven biggest baddies the small screen has to offer: True Blood's Russell Edgington

• Prime-time good guys save the day, but a memorable villain makes it impossible to look away from the on-screen action.
  Good thing there’s no shortage of bad guys ready to commit creative acts of cruelty. Well, at least there won’t be until Sunday night. That’s when “True Blood” ends its latest round of jaw-dropping vampire violence in a highly-anticipated and no doubt bloody season finale.
  Still, whether on the air, on hiatus or long gone, TV’s assortment of vilest villains won’t be forgotten.
  
  When viewers last left Russell Edgington, otherwise known as the blood-sucking King of Mississippi, he appeared destined to die (again), but in the days before his moment in the sunlight, Russell brought a level vengeance-fueled iniquity rarely seen in a made-for-TV bad guy.
  The small screen may be filled with all manner of killers, but Russell stands out even among his vampire kin. Before a recent bout of rage propelled him into super-villain territory, the 3000-year-old had no interest in playing nice with humans. They are, after all, food as far as he’s concerned.
  But once a fellow vamp killed Russell’s consort of the last several hundred years, the regent turned into the sort of must-see mad monster that carries the remains of his lost love around in a crystal compote and rips open news anchors on live TV.
  
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True Blood’s Denis O’Hare interview on Shade45

Eric and Russell Episode 3.11 Video spoiler

True Blood Sneak Peek: Russell Picks Up a Hooker

Last week’s episode of “True Blood” had one of the most disturbing yet hilarious endings we’ve seen from the show thus far. It featured Russell Edgington going cuckoo for coca puffs over the death of his beloved Talbot. In the next episode entitled, “I Smell a Rat,” he’ll encounter a street walker who looks likes a dirty knock off of “90210’s” Michael Steger. What a minute, he’s no knock-off, he IS Michael Steger! Watch him get pimped out by Denis O’Hare’s Russell below…

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'True Blood' star dishes on shocking news scene

The more unhinged he gets ... the more sloppy he's gonna get,' Denis O'Hare says of his character Russell
LOS ANGELES — For "True Blood" junkies, season three has been a major fix thanks to one jaw-dropping scene after another.
Bill Compton's head-turning (literally) between-the-sheets moment with his maker Lorena, and Sheriff Eric Northman's steamy naked staking of Talbot all raised headlines, eyebrows and left viewers slack-jawed, but the scene that made the biggest waves among the "Truebie" community was entirely clothed. That moment was claimed Aug. 15 by Mississippi vampire king Russell Edgington, played in a deliciously complex fashion by the remarkable Denis O'Hare.
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Denis " Russell Edgington" O’Hare on Good Day New York today -video