Mariana Klaveno : The TV Chick

Waiting sucks. But on Sunday, the wait for season 3 of True Blood is over. I have seen the first three episodes and I can tell you they are fantastic. If you have read the books (or even if you haven’t) you know that Lorena (Bill’s maker, played by the lovely Mariana Kleveno) takes on a bigger role this season. There’s also werewolves and witches and more crazy action (and also some clothes-less Eric). Whatever the season brings, I am extremely excited for it. I recently had the chance to chat with Mariana Klaveno about Lorena’s complexities, how she’s able to relate to a vampire, and what makes Bill (and Stephen Moyer) so special.

What originally drew you to the project?
When I first read for it, it hadn’t started airing yet. So I all I knew was that it was Alan Ball’s new show, which that in and of itself was enough of a draw. I knew it was his new show, and that it was about vampires, and that it was set in the south. And that’s kind of all I knew, but I was such a fan of Six Feet Under, and I just love his creative genius, that I was drawn to it immediately just because I knew he was behind it.

Obviously, Lorena’s not human, but there are human elements. How do you relate to her?
I try to focus on — in any scene with Lorena — I always try to go back to what’s at her core, what motivates her. And sadly, it’s a tragic love for Bill. And that’s behind everything, and that’s what makes it easier for me to participate in a scene where my character’s doing something really evil (laughs) or really morally questionable. That’s really who she is. She’s a tragic, lonely, desperate character who may be a little unstable as well. And it all stems from her need to be loved and to have this connection with this  man that will never be returned.

She’s also an incredibly powerful  female character– not just because she’s a vampire — so what has it been like playing her?
Oh that’s just been a dream. (laughs) It’s fabulous enough to play a vampire, but to play a very powerful vampire, and exactly — to be in these power scenes with men, and go toe to toe with them, and sometimes literally throw them across the room (laughs) is a fantasy of mine. It’s an insane amount of fun to play her. Again, I have to give Alan the respect that he deserves for giving so many on the women of the show such powerful and complex parts. That doesn’t always happen.

Absolutely. And what has it been like working so closely with Stephen Moyer?
Stephen is fantastic to work with. He’s an amazing guy, and a brilliant actor, obviously. He’s an incredibly generous actor. He’s always concerned about how you’re doing, and even if it’s somebody who’s only there for the day, who has a couple lines and is there for the day, he’s always concerned about if they’re being taken care of, if their experience is as good as it should be on the show, and that’s the qualities of a true leader, when you’re looking for someone to lead a cast and I have to say that Anna’s the same way. And they’re just the most wonderful people and a wonderful couple and extremely funny. And it’s just a joy to be around them and work with them.

That’s good to hear. And you touched on it a little bit, but Lorena is a very complex character with many layers. She’s still a bit of a mystery to us. Is there more to her that we don’t know yet that we might find out soon?
Yes! I can’t give too much away, and not too much is revealed, but you do get to see a little bit more in season three and you see some new sides to her, which I’m excited to see how it comes out, and excited to see how the fans receive that. Some new shades of Lorena, and a little bit more information in terms of who she is.

I’ve read the books, so I know that Lorena has a pretty big role in season 3. Did you read the books before you started the show?
I did, yes. Lorena doesn’t really have a strong presence in the books. Luckily for me, Alan and the writers have changed that when it comes to story lines in True Blood. And I enjoyed the books immensely, they’re very fun, but I did read them looking for insights into who my character was and where she comes from, but it doesn’t really give a lot away. She’s even more mysterious in the books. You hear about her a lot, but you barely even see her. So we’ve expanded on that, and taken some liberties. I did read the books, but I kind of had to do a lot on my own of coming up with storyline and background.

Lorena deep down is motivated by love. She’s turned a lot of people, but what makes Bill so special to her?
I think what draws Lorena to Bill always, is his honor. And it’s ironically the thing that prevents him from ever loving her. I think she obviously if you go back to the scene where you first meet Lorena, in season one, it’s clear that she’s been searching for a partner. And all the men that have come in to her cabin were never deemed worthy enough until Bill. And he showed his true character, he showed his dignity and his morality and his honor and that is what (laughs) planted the seed in her, and that is the switch that made her realize this is the man for me. And so she turned him in the hopes of creating a partner for all time. The problem is that his honor is exactly what prevents him from accepting his vampire life. That’s Bill’s internal struggle is that he doesn’t want to be a vampire, he wants to be human again, and he’s always doing everything he can to reclaim his humanity and live that part of his life again instead of embracing who he is now, which is what she desperately wants him to do. And therein lies the conflict.

Do you think that Lorena shares that same instinct that Bill does in that he wants to reclaim his humanity? Is that even a concern for her at all?
I don’t think so. I don’t want to give too much away, because there may be a little hint of that this season. I think deep down the answer is yes, there’s a part of her, somewhere way deep down that is very troubled about that. I think that a big difference between the two of them is she has let go of her humanity, and that’s just not a part of who she is anymore, and she fully embraces her vampire life. Which that also makes it easier for her to do things everybody else thinks are so evil. Because to her, they’re really not, it’s sort of what you do as a vampire. Yes, she’s sort of playing with her food. (laughs) But it’s not as if she’s doing the horrific things that we see her doing, because to her, well, that’s what vampires do. We’re better than humans, and they’re our food, and it’s perfectly fine for us to do that. In my mind, her human life was quite painful and sad in and of itself. And so I think she does not want to go back to her human life and those memories and what those are. And I’ve not been told that. It was something as an actor, I just made the choice myself. So I think that it’s something maybe deep down she wants to, but it’s too painful for her to remember. And it’s much easier for her to be powerful as a vampire, because perhaps she was not powerful at all, and maybe victimized as a human.

Oh that’s interesting! I never would have thought of it that way. I like that choice a lot. And what has been your biggest challenge in filming the show so far?
The biggest challenge is kind of knowing if you’re correct in the tonality. It’s an easy style to get melodramatic. It is the type of show, and it is very broad, and we are playing vampires, and there’s an element of campy-ness to it. But you can kind of push a little too far into that world. Luckily we have wonderful directors that we work with, and we’re lucky that they know the show very well. So they are very well versed in the world and they can pull us back in when it seems like we’re getting a little too moody or melodramatic, and guide us back into keeping it simple and keeping it real and so on and so forth. But I think that could be the most difficult thing is to find the place where the correct tone of the show lives.

That makes sense. Was it difficult to speak in an accent?
No, no. The only thing that’s difficult for me is that I want to (laughs) get pulled into two things. One: Either going into the romantic Georgian Tennessee Williams accent, which is not really from Northern Louisiana, completely do away with your “r’s” and sound like Scarlett O’Hara. Because there’s a part of Lorena that wants to go to Scarlett O’Hara, but that’s really not correct. And the other thing is to not get too twangy or modern. I want to keep her sounding a little bit old and a little bit more classic, which is what Stephen does. And so I kind of mirrored the way that he speaks and the way that he’s chosen to give Bill his voice, which I think is a great choice because it distinguishes them from the townspeople. Somebody like Arlene — Carrie [Preston] — has this great twangy way of [speaking]. She’s given Arlene this great voice, but I don’t think that Lorena should speak that way, I think there should be hints of a past life there.

One of my favorite scenes is the flashback to the 20s with Lorena and Bill. But I wanted to know if you have a favorite moment from filming the show so far?

Oh I have so many. The 20s flashback was one of the highlights. That whole day was just (laughs) was incredible to shoot. It was so much fun. It was a long day. I think it was 17 hours or something. But getting into costume alone was just a dream for any actor. I showed up on set and nobody recognized me, I went through such a transformation. (laughs) The director thought I was a background player. He didn’t realize that I was me. That was just so much fun. Wearing the dress, doing the French accent, the makeup and the hair, and eyebrow prosthetics…it was just a whole production. As a nerdy actor, those are the days that are the most fun — when you really go through a whole transformation.

Yeah, definitely. I watched the panel that they recently had in movie theater at the Ultimate Fan Experience, and they said that Ryan Kwanten was a big practical joker. Have you been a part of any of those pranks or witnessed any?
(laughs) I’ve heard of those practical jokes, but sadly I never get to work with the majority of the cast. I can’t complain, because working with Stephen and Anna — I get to work with Anna in season two — is just fantastic so I have no complaints there. But I am dying to work with the rest of the cast, because it’s such a brilliant cast and I don’t get to, so I’ve heard [tales] of practical jokes (laughs). I have not experienced them. [Ed Note: I would love to see Lorena go to Fangtasia or even Merlottes. Make it happen, people!]

Have you had any interesting fan reaction to your character?
Everybody that’s come up to me has been really lovely. But I do know that some people out there (laughs) have a hard time distinguishing between me and the character I play. So I had to stop reading stuff online…

Yeah, don’t go up that road.
(laughs) There were some of the nastiest comments ever. I realized “Oh, maybe that’s not the healthiest thing to do, reading up on all the blogs and websites.” So I’m hoping that there are some people out there (laughs) who do like Lorena, or at least are able to distinguish that I am not Lorena. She’s a nasty character, but she’s a lot of fun to play.

(laughs) And I love it, but what do you think sets True Blood apart from other vampire shows that are out there?
I think we are able to incorporate so many genres into our show in every single episode. I feel like every episode is a rollercoaster, and while other shows just focus on one or two scenes, which is great. But what I think makes True Blood the show that it is, is that it incorporates so many different themes. There’s the romantic theme, there’s the scariness of it, the political aspects of it, the horror aspects of it, the sexy aspects of it, the comedy of it. It just has so much to offer and I think that’s what draws so many people, and so many different people, to the show. Our demographics are so varied and I really love that about the show.

Obviously I know you can’t spoil anything, but I wanted to know if you could give us a little teaser of what’s coming up in season three especially for Lorena?
I touched on it a little bit. I think in season three, you will be able to see the new sides of Lorena, and some new dynamics in the relationship between Bill and Lorena. And that’s all I’m going to say.