Saturn Awards Nomination

I'm glad to announce that Michelle is nominated for Best Guest Starring Role in Television for her role on "True Blood" in the 36th Annual Saturn Awards. Michelle's fellow nominees are: Bernard Cribbins for "Doctor Who: The End of Time", Raymond Cruz for "Breaking Bad", John Lithgow for "Dexter", Leonard Nimoy for "Fringe" and Mark Pellegrino for "Lost. "True Blood" is also nominated in four other categories including Best Cable Television Series and Best Actor/Actress in Television (Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin respectively). "Battlestar Galactica" also landed a nomination for Best Cable Series.

The ceremony will be held on June 24 in Burbank, California. The full list of nominees.

Just to remind you, if you live in the UK, the 2nd season of "True Blood" will premiere on FX next weekend.



While waiting, take a peek at Michelle's 3-part interview with SKY TV.

AFI Awards and In Treatment Coming to DVD (UK)

Here they are! First pictures of Michelle Forbes in the roaring 2010!

The year has already begun with the AFI Awards' honorary luncheon in LA yesterday. Every year The American Film Institute celebrates outstanding work in film and television during the past year. True Blood has been chosen as one of the best TV programs. In its rationale, AFI singles out "Michelle Forbes' brilliant performance as Maryann Forrester[,] the magnetic center of an audacious and orgiastic season that [...] asks penetrating questions about what it is to be human - to desire, to discriminate and to dig deep into the delights of television."









Pictured below with co-stars Sam Trammell and Carrie Preston:





click onto the images for higher quality

***

Season 1 of In Treatment will be out on DVD in the UK on February 1st. You can pre-order it on amazon.co.uk.

The series has reportedly been picked up for a 3rd season. Production should begin early this year. Let's hope that Michelle will be back as Kate. :)

En garde!

Durham County

"As great as the series is on the acting and writing side, its just as good on the filming side as well, the lighting, the flashbacks and looks into the minds of each character as they remember or imagine scenes, the ghosts that haunt them all appearing in certain places, the constant images of the powerlines, hinting that the electro magnetics of the powerlines are slowly driving everyone insane, just the whole thing is a huge iconic film noir style case study in how to shoot a film or a tv series to give it the very feel you want. Its just so brilliantly done it makes me almost slack jawed in complete and utter awe of its assault from all sides fo the creative spectrum at once. Truly a thing of wonder with no real equal."
Source: thelastangrycritic.blogspot.com

In Treatment UK

"- The first season run of 'In Treatment' ended today after 44 terrific episodes... This is one of the only shows that I have really been excited about seeing each night. I would go as far as to say; In Treatment is the best half-hour straight drama I have ever seen. I haven't done any research but, I can't honestly think of anything that it is comparable to.
- Seen them all so far - brilliant acting, scripts, direction. Top-quality drama."
Source: digitalspy.co.uk

Blog news inside

* We've got a new look&feel. Hope you like it :)
* iHelix takes a time out until Spring. Thanks, iHelix!
* In the background we're working on more 'Revisited' articles. And we'd love to plan even more. Let us know!

Un max de True Blood

Michelle Forbes, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammell and Alexander Skarsgard in Paris, November 2009

"A l'occasion du lancement sur Orange ciné max de la saison 2 de True Blood, Sophie Soulignac a rencontré en exclusivité les comédiens de la série lors de leur venue à Paris. «Un max de True Blood», c'est 26 minutes exceptionnelles d'informations, de révélations et de surprises autour de la série culte d'Alan Ball."

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

More of Michelle in France

This weeks edition of the L'Hebdo Séries programme on Canal + is dedicated to Michelle. L'Hebdo Séries brings you current TV news, interviews etc. in the scope of just 7 minutes...in French. Aside from featuring interviews with Michelle and Alexander Skarsgård on True Blood, the episode also announces the Global Frequency adaptation news. You can watch it online here.



Transcript of the Interview with Michelle:

Looking at her from the outside in, she could be seen as predatory, but, in playing her, standing in Maryann's heart and her body for so many months, I never felt that. It was always a loving gesture. It's just different. It's a different kind of love than what we're used to.

Like any good writer, he [Alan Ball] raises the questions, and he lets the audience answer for themselves. Luckily, in the meantime, we get to have a lot of fun.

Credit and many thanks go to Emilie who contributes to the programme and also our blog. :)

Salome in the Garden

Michelle Forbes: True Blood asks us about our beliefs

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 'The Day Dream', 1880.

Michelle Forbes is a beautiful woman who resembles her characters. She punctuates her sentences with an attentive and patient smile, but it can not dissipate the intensity of her gaze. She smiles and speaks in a deep voice, husky and warm, which she modulates at will and without effort. She smiles and looks at you with her dark eyes, shining with a dusty glaze. We imagine her slipping easily into the skin of Salome and demand the head of John the Baptist from Herod Antipas. Because she carries an element of mystery that one may construe her as a femme fatale. The role of Maryann Forrester in Season 2 of True Blood fits her like a tunic a Greek god.

Before that, she was the wife of Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) in the first season of In Treatment. She was also an enigmatic and tortured mother in Season 2 of the excellent but little-known Canadian series Durham County. The time of three episodes, she was Admiral Helena Cain on Battlestar Galactica, but also among other things Dr. Julianna Cox in seasons 5 and 6 of Homicide: Life on the Street set for NBC by David Simon, the father of The Wire.

The actress was visiting Paris for the launch of Season 2 of True Blood which starts broadcasting on Tuesday, 1 December on Orange cinema series.

How important is the role of Maryann Forrester in your career?

My first important role on television was that of Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life on the Street, which is certainly one of the best crime series that has ever been filmed. In Treatment has also been a role I enjoyed playing. At the same time I turned to True Blood. Maryann is certainly the most flamboyant character I had ever embodied. But Helena Cain on Battlestar was so iconic that people remember me most for this character than the one I played in True Blood.

In hindsight, how do you see her?

It was only last week that I really realized what was the character of Maryann. It is a cliché to say that, but all the actors agree and that's true that you can not see a character that you embody as absolutely evil. When Maryann makes Eggs and Tara eat the soufflé, she really believes in giving them a gift. She is sincere in her whole approach. She is really convinced that it gives them freedom. And she really wants to get closer to the God. When she prepares the dish for them, she does so as a mother would do in preparing gifts for her children. For me, it was love.

Season 2 revolves around several different stories.

In this second season of True Blood, there are actually three distinct parts. The first season tells of a wretched little village, and we learn to know the people who live and work there. During the second season, three stories are pursued simultaneously. It is the journey that Bill takes to Dallas, there is the story of the Fellowship of the Sun, which for me was the funniest one to watch, and then there is the story of Maryann and the people of Bon Temps. What I like about this season is that it clearly addresses the question of our belief system. The purpose of Maryann is to challenge the moral beliefs and ideals of each of us. At the same time, the entire section on Fellowship of the Sun denounces the belief systems that require blind adherence from its followers. With regard to vampires, the question is about being judged, being regarded as different, and this questions our beliefs on the status of minorities. This forces us to ask us questions about our willingness to lead ourselves in a sheep-like manner, to follow a leader, one who can be very disruptive.

Music plays an important role in True Blood.

Yes. It is an essential element. What was amazing during the shooting was that we had one of the best sound engineers, Nathan Barr. In the series, the music is extremely important for Maryann but also for all of us. And the music was already included in the script when it was received. Each week we downloaded music from the episode that we will be filming next. This gave the impression that we had a sort of a soundtrack. And that immediately put us into the mood of the episode. I could not remember the B 52's, I had completely forgotten and when I downloaded the song, I said 'damn, it's really good'. "

To prepare for filming, I read about the maenads on Dionysus and Greek mythology, but what is interesting with Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris is that you can carry out all the searches you want, when you end up with the script in hand and you read that you'll need to dance to the B 52's, you try to understand how two things can agree with each other. And finally, you let yourself be guided by the text.

Working on HBO is a particular experience?

This may sound strange but I tend to work better when you're in a somewhat military environment. It is very difficult for an actor to find a series in which they believe. And when I discovered HBO, I almost felt too weak. They have a philosophy so strongly marked, they have such determination and at the same time such humanity. They really want to tell stories and they support their creators, they maintain their projects and they do not throw them out if they do not seem to work immediately. I am really impressed by their willingness to produce stories. This is not about money, it is like family to me. Perhaps I do embellish things a bit, but the more I worked with them the more I discovered on a personal level and I'm still admiring them.

What are you going to do now?

It has been almost two years since I have been shooting without interruption and I need to take some time for myself. I love gardening and I can not take care of my garden when I'm not in Montreal. I would also like to learn the joy of reading without having to memorize the text. I'll take the opportunity to cultivate my garden, in both senses of the word.
Source: Le Monde des Series (translated from French by me)

Meet the True Blood Hounds

(From left - Rutina Wesley, Michelle Forbes, Kristin Bauer and Mariana Klaveno)

Last night Michelle Forbes was among the cast of True Blood who showed some well-needed love to our homeless four-legged friends on the first night of the “Bow Wow Beverly Hills” dog adoption event. The occasion benefits The Amanda Foundation animal rescue and comprises three days of dog adoptions in some of the most stylish establishments throughout Beverly Hills. Duffy who plays Dean/Sam on True Blood was also in attendance.

About The Amanda Foundation:

The Amanda Foundation was founded in 1976, and has since placed thousands of homeless animals. It is a nonprofit organization that rescues dogs and cats who, through no fault of their own, are spending their last days at City and County Shelters[...]

Every year, Los Angeles County's 28 shelters are forced to destroy well over 200,000 pets. These animals were either strays or brought into the shelters by their owners. We believe they all should have a second chance, and we will work tirelessly to rescue as many as possible.

You may go here to support The Amanda Foundation.

Di-Meat-Tree Fan Award 2009

Team Frak-the-Emmys is overjoyed to announce the winner of the Di-Meat-Tree Fan Award 2009: Michelle Forbes!


We were thrilled and in stitches, we were terrified and disgusted (reportedly over 400 thousands viewers became vegetarians overnight), we were screaming with delight, you freaked us out and left us speechless - but most of all, you charmed us.

Michelle, we love you, for your extraordinary, hysterically funny and powerful performance as Maryann Forrester!







But there's more. A special Marriage-Is-Evil Award to Michelle for delivering the line "My Lord. My husband."



Fan voices:

"SEXY"
"Smokin' hot!!!"
"FUCKING AWESOME"
"Maryann, I want your babies"
"BITCH!"
"Orgies!!!!!!!!!!"
"She's one chic lady"
"Maryann Forrester NEEDS MORE EPISODES AND MEAT TREES!"
"Deliciously evil"

Presentation speech:
"Michelle Forbes has delivered a surprising performance on the small screen. In but a little time, she creeped us out of our wits with her portrayal of the enigmatic Maryann Forrester on True Blood. Now we have joined the ranks of many who squeal with fright at the mere sight of her. Alan Ball's execution of her story arc bored us to tears, and yet we were moved to death every time Maryann appeared. We relished her every scene; we devoured her, just like she effortlessly won over the hearts of others. Her victims and ourselves screamed with delight in unison! The thrilling ride on the True Blood train left us in stitches. After each episode, we found ourselves picking up our pieces. Speechless, we clung to our cosy chairs in front of the TV...or other machine. We were in fear, we were awed, lost and won over, again and again. Michelle Forbes did the impossible and brought the most outrageous character to our living rooms, and to our minds in the name of entertainment. And, boy, we were entertained!"

Friday Snippets

A new video tribute to Maryann Forrester:



"I’m going to miss Maryann. Or rather, I’m going to miss Michelle Forbes, who always played her with wickedly irresistible charm and a brilliant touch of craziness."
Source: A blogger

"With the Mary Ann Forrester arc, arguably the series’ best to date, Ball quite brilliantly mixed Harris’ vision with his own to form a grand, mad stew that featured elements from Greek mythology, zombie movies, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, and Caligula, and was by turns frightening, campy, disturbing, and hysterically funny. This is thanks in no small part to the dazzling Michelle Forbes, who, in her juiciest role to date, managed to take Mary Ann from protective if slightly unconventional do-gooder to enigmatic manipulator to full-on lunatic, playing every aspect of the character to the hilt and maintaining credibility even at Mary Ann’s most demented moments. Harris included a maenad character in her novels, but she wasn’t nearly as central to the series as Mary Ann, whose mythical nature wasn’t even revealed until later on in the season. Mary Ann is, in many ways, one of the second season’s major catalysts, leading all of Bon Temps into a wicked frenzy of Bacchanalian orgies, decadence, and worse."
Source: robwillreview.com



Michelle Forbes and Sam Trammell @ HBO's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' season 7 Premiere, September 15, 2009 in Los Angeles.

"The True Blood season finale has left me in deep mourning. If it was up to me, the pouty, shape-shifting Sam Merlotte would have had his heart ripped out, and the Dionysus-worshipping Maenad would have gone on to rule Bon Temps for centuries to come. Based on the fanvids on Youtube, I’m not the only one who feels this way. In a show filled with guilty pleasures, it’s Michelle Forbes’ Maryann that’s the most delectable.
Most actresses playing a pleasure-worshipping immortal would have chewn the scenery and winked until their eyelids fell off, but Forbes played it straight. She didn’t care if the audience was in on the joke, and that made us love her all the more. In the season finale, Maryann tears up while watching her “bridesmaids” lick a giant egg. Although the situation is absurd, Maryann seems genuinely touched, a blushing bride. Like Bette Davis, Forbes knows that the secret to making camp sing is to endow a character with genuine, recognizable emotion. [...]
Source: thefastertimes.com



Update: Michelle Forbes yesterday at the EW's Pre-Emmy (or something like that) Party, West Hollywood.





Interview with EW from the event

@Michelle :: Keep telling them about Durham County :) --chris

We hated to kill her but we had to

True Blood S2 Finale - Beyond Here Lies Nothin' :: Reviews - Quotes - Recaps - Interviews



Q: As much as I loved Michelle Forbes’ portrayal of Maryann, the story felt like it dragged on a little long. Why did it take her so long to get to the endgame?
BALL: That’s part of what the queen talks about. They’re always improvising. She really can’t conjure up a God. But she’s so fervent in her belief; she keeps trying this sacrifice and that sacrifice. She’s completely delusional. She killed Miss Jeanette and I think she thought that was going to work. She always thinks it’s going to work. It never does because the God who comes never actually comes. But she so fervently believes that he will, and she’s been believing it for thousands of years. That’s how they were able to outsmart her.
Q: Have we seen the last of her?
BALL: Yes, she’s gone. They destroyed her. She will never rise — which I hate because I love [Michelle], and she was so much fun to work with. She’s really delightful and everyone loves her and we hated to kill her but we had to.
Source: ausiellofiles.ew.com

"True Blood fans have been rooting for evil Maryann, the mythical maenad creature played by Michelle Forbes, to bite the dust in Sunday's finale. But the actress didn't expect to wind up playing her swan song scene with a 3,000-pound Brahman bull as her co-star.
"I wasn't that scared," Forbes told Lifeline Live last week in a top-secret pre-finale interview. "I'm a massive animal lover." But she says, "It is intimating when you're standing directly in front of him -- when you see those horns! One quick movement of his head and you're on the ground."
There were two Brahmans hired for the job -- just in case. "Belle and Luke," says Forbes. "Belle got a little funny and aggressive so they decided to bring Luke instead. Ii didn't hear that until I went to shoot and thought, 'Oh boy.'"
There were animal wranglers on the set. "I wasn't concerned until I realized there were 10,000 people on set looking at each other oddly and they were making me nervous." In the end, she says, the "glorious, gory love scene" turned into a death scene. "It was just so much fun to do. I really hope people are satisfied and sated."
Source: usatoday.com

"God with Horns - worship him, bitches!" -- Lafayette



I'm sad that Maryann is gone, mainly because Michelle Forbes is so wonderfully compelling in everything she does. But dragging out that arc any further would have been a disservice to the character and to the audience, so I'm presuming the maenad and her nutty parties are gone for good.
Source: The Watcher by Maureen Ryan

I still find it a profoundly dumb show, and a donut show at that (Bill and Sookie make it empty at the center), but I have to admit that, on a purely pulp fiction level, there was some fun stuff going on this season. Now, most of it involved either Michelle Forbes or Alexander Skarsgard, but still - it's gone from a show I hated to one I... don't hate.
Source: What's Alan Watching

R.I.P. - Di-Meat-Tree



“You mess with the bull, you get the horns.” And so it was on last night’s “True Blood” Season 2 finale.
The big day’s finally arrived for Maryann and the God Who Comes and she has just about everything she needs for her holy union: Mothball-infested old lady wedding dress? Check. Bloody ostrich egg? Check. Slighted, contrary maid of honor? Check. Human sacrifice? Ch—dammit! Sometimes you can do all the planning in the world and still end up waiting til the last minute for everything to fall into place."
Source: creativeloafing.com

The cliffhanger egg from two weeks ago was an ostrich egg, a fertility symbol, that completed what Andy would later refer to as the “giant statue of meat” that Maryann had built on Sookie’s lawn. Sam, as many of you thought, was indeed meant to be sacrificed (”the perfect wedding gift”) to Maryann’s god, Dionysus, who was to take the form of a white bull.
Instead of a white wedding, however, Maryann got her black heart gored and pulled out of her by a shape-shifted Sam. I was sorry to see Michelle Forbes go, but what a great performance she gave: her Maryann was scary, funny, and creepy, and the actress was able to go over-the-top and pull her performance back to human-scale. Her character’s death closed out the first half-hour with such finality (”It’s all over now,” said Sookie as Maryann lay in a heap and the townspeople came to their senses) that I thought, “Where do we go from here?”
Source: ivillage.com

'Electricity - do it again!' -- Maryann



[...] the Maryann character made this season thrilling; but she had served her demon-of-the-year purpose. If Alan Ball, aware that Michelle Forbes was making Maryann into a camp classic, found a way to keep her around for another season, the result would have been forced and disappointing. Maryann left us wanting more, always the better choice. Did anyone else think Maryann seemed almost touchingly pathetic as she stood expectantly waiting for her god, ready with her egg and her meat statue, deluded into thinking she was about to wed? A little supernatural Miss Havisham, with her “old, borrowed, and blue” zombie bridesmaids?!
Source: buzzonthetube.com

And while I absolutely loved how Sam dealt with Ms. Maenad, I was bummed to see it go down so early in the hour -- and even more upset that nothing really happened in the aftermath. Everything that led to Maryann finding herself on the business end of Sam's bull horn was perfection -- Maryann forcing Sookie to search within herself, the whole sacrifice scene, Michelle Forbes gleefully enduring her character's goring ... amazing.
Source: nypost.com



"You're marrying Sam?" Sookie asks Maryann. Nope, Sam is just the ideal wedding gift, she reports. Michelle Forbes hilariously shifts between Dionysian zealot and Ibiza party girl in this scene. She recites an austere oration of the virginal vessel that perfectly segues into her concerns that her crying will smudge her mascara. She explains coldly that Sookie is the bait, that once Sam finds out that she is being held captive, "he'll come running like a dog — maybe as a dog," she says with a cackle. [...]
Maryann is not pleased, and turns her wrath on her followers. "Allow me to sacrifice all of them for you!" she tells her god, as they all cringe and writhe. She plunges her hands into the earth and out pop those gnarly claws. In a flash, a chase ensues that echoes an earlier episode. Just as Maryann is about to bury her claws into Sookie again, a giant white bull appears in a clearing. Dionysus has arrived... maybe?
Her claws retract, and suddenly she's all moony-eyed and in lurve with her bull-headed suitor. "My lord, my husband," she says. "Oh, come, I'm here, my love. We're together at last." I wish I could see the blooper reel from this episode. They must have laughed their asses off between takes with all this ridiculous dialogue.
Source: tvguide.com

* ebassi: and true blood is done for this season; climatic finale (michelle forbes is above and beyond fantastic)
* itsjoewelch: Michelle Forbes should win an Emmy for her role on True Blood... Spectacular performance every episode!
* MewNeko: I'll miss Michelle Forbes. She was divine in that role. Sooo good.
* bananacylon: Soon, so soon, true blood season finale! MICHELLE FORBES!!!!!
* jimstoic: Michelle Forbes deserves a 2010 Emmy for her maenad Maryann on True Blood.
* RoushTVGuideMag: Michelle Forbes nailed that role to the last creepy moment.
* Megalicious09: Michelle Forbes deserves an award. Someone damn well better give her one!
* benelie: Not sure what to think about last ep of #trueblood Michelle Forbes was soooooooo beautiful and classy!!
* thecoldgun: True Blood finale: Michelle Forbes may be the greatest player of villains breathing. Admiral Cain and now MaryAnn Forrester. BEAST.
Source: Twitter

Instead of a white wedding, however, Maryann got her black heart gored and pulled out of her by a shape-shifted Sam. I was sorry to see Michelle Forbes go, but what a great performance she gave: her Maryann was scary, funny, and creepy, and the actress was able to go over-the-top and pull her performance back to human-scale. Her character’s death closed out the first half-hour with such finality (”It’s all over now,” said Sookie as Maryann lay in a heap and the townspeople came to their senses) that I thought, “Where do we go from here?”
Source: ew.com

'Never say never when there's the Internet.' --Sam

Beyond Here Lies Nothin'

True Blood Episode 02x12 Beyond Here Lies Nothin' :: Preview



This finale will be 98% incredible (extra 2% reserved for the inevitable elimination of this Grecian beauty) and anyone who thinks otherwise is nothing more than wrong and probably socially retarded (the two go hand-in-hand).
Three to One

That says it all. :)



The official synopsis:

Bon Temps reaches a fever pitch as Maryann prepares for her ultimate bestial sacrifice, conscripting Sookie to be Maid of Honor at the bloody nuptials. Meanwhile, Sophie-Anne warns Eric to keep the lid on Bill’s inquisitiveness; Jason leads Andy into the heroic abyss; and Hoyt struggles with Maxine’s endless stream of insults. Deliberating on what may be his final move to save Sookie and the town, Sam places his trust, and his life, in a most unlikely ally.

People magazine caught up with Michelle Forbes for yet another interview:

As Bon Temps’s resident maenad, Michelle Forbes has been freaking out True Blood fans since she appeared naked in the road with a pig at the end of season 1. But, “I’m really very nice,” she tells PEOPLE. “Everyone’s getting so scared when they meet me now. I could kill [show creator] Alan Ball.”

This season, her character Maryann used mind control to turn an entire town into lust-crazed zombie-like revelers with black eyes. In a recent phone interview, the actress talked about bringing a mythical creature to life (and into pop culture), hosting TV’s wildest orgies (and a furry uninvited guest who showed up on set one day) and what’s cracking open on Sunday’s finale on HBO (9 p.m. EST). “It certainly went to a place that I wasn’t expecting,” she says. Caution: May contain spoilers! –Aaron Parsley

How was this role described to you?
It just mentioned the more basic points of what a maenad is … That women of this sort tended to run through the woods tearing children and animals to pieces, and they were known as the “wild ones” and the “raving ones.” That was pretty much it.

Did that appeal to you?
It did! It didn’t necessarily line up with what was on the page and that was the exciting thing that sort of gets the hair on the back of your neck standing up. You start looking for a shovel because you just want to start digging to figure out what this riddle is all about.

What do you think of the current vampire craze?
In this age of vampires, what I love about True Blood the most is that it’s a post-modern take on it. [Sookie Stackhouse series author] Charlaine Harris and [True Blood creator] Alan Ball turned that whole mythology upside-down … It’s not just about vampires. It’s about a lot of different things. And that’s what I love about the show … It’s great to see the interaction between all these different creatures and humans.

Do you believe in supernatural creatures?
Not really. No.

If vampires represent forbidden love, what, if anything, does Maryann represent?
I think Maryann represents things going on in the real world since the beginning of time — Woodstock, Paris in the ’20s, the transgressive movement of cinema and music in New York in the ’80s — when people were just really trying to shed all moral boundaries.

Well, you certainly shed a few. How awkward is it to film those wild orgy scenes?
It sort of flip-flopped between very disturbing and just another day at work, as odd as that sounds. You just sort of get used to it and everybody was very respectful … At one of the orgies there was this bunny — there was a rabbit, who was just sitting there staring at us. We all kept saying, “Look that bunny’s still there.” And after about 45 minutes, I thought, “Maybe he’s hurt,” and I started to walk over to it and it took two hops and I was like, “Nope, he’s just a pervert.” … He was pervy Peter Rabbit!

Tell us about Sunday’s finale. What’s up with that egg?
What is up with that egg? I can’t talk about the egg! All I can say is that it was so much fun shooting it. We had one hell of a time. It was pretty surreal at times. I don’t want to say anything because I don’t know what people are expecting, especially after that last glimpse of that egg. It certainly went to a place that I wasn’t expecting. … You can’t say that our gang didn’t take a risk that is really exciting. All we can hope for in life is that storytellers take risks and tell the story that they want to tell and that they need to tell. I think that we did this. We took a risk and it’s bold.
Source: People.com

Just a little update to tickle you with before the finale...

Expert Witness: Michelle Forbes

On labelling, storytelling without constraints, and what True Blood is really all about...



Book love! :D

"Forbes has been stealing scenes in the finest television shows ("In Treatment," "Battlestar Galactica," "Lost," "Boston Legal," "24," "Alias," "Wonderland," "Homicide") for a very long time now; her participation on a TV show seems to practically translate to a Michelin star rating. Along the way, she may have cut a more imperious figure through the world of pop culture than just about any actor of her generation (Forbes is 44) .
When she sat down to talk to us, she expressed some bewilderment at why she's alway cast as such strong women, such as Battlestar's power-mad Admiral Helena Cain. She said her recent role as Kate, the vulnerable -- and exasperated -- wife of the conflicted therapist Paul on "In Treatment" was more like the real her than just about any character she's played."
Source: Salon.com

Sensual - Enchanting - Tantalising

I feel a little sad. I liked Maryann, when she was sensual, enchanting, tantalising. And I loved Michelle Forbes playing her.

A Maryann fan video:

Maryann's Quadruple-alic Glory is in the Audience

"Excuse me, but f—k awards!" says Forbes, who plays the very evil but deliciously sexy Maryann Forrester in the hit vampire series.

"That's not where the glory is. The glory is in the audience," she adds. "That's who we tell the stories for. It's not for, with all due respect, the critics and not for the awards shows, but for the audience."

[...]

"[Maryann] doesn't have a duality, she has a quadruple-ality," Forbes says with a laugh. "They came up with this character that is running around in evening dresses and playing in the dirt and she has mad domestic skills and a butler and then there's dancing and the food. It's been so much fun."

Also fun? Getting to watch the real-life romance blossom between Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.

"It really is a beautiful partnership to witness, and I don't say that lightly," Forbes says. "It's not often that you meet two people so wholly suited for each other."
Source: E! Online

No Maryann in Season Three

True Blood breaking news ::

Q: Will she be in season three?

Alan Ball: Maryann is not going to be in season three.

Source: tvsquad.com

So Long, Maryann?

Renée Nault - Crowned

I stopped to listen, but he did not come. I began again with a sense of loss. As this sense deepened I heard him again. I stopped stopping and I stopped starting, and I allowed myself to be crushed by ignorance. This was a strategy, and didn't work at all. Much time, years were wasted in such a minor mode. I bargain now. I offer buttons for his love. I beg for mercy. Slowly he yields. Haltingly he moves toward his throne. Reluctantly the angels grant to one another permission to sing. In a transition so delicate it cannot be marked, the court is established on beams of golden symmetry, and once again I am a singer in the lower choirs, born fifty years ago to raise my voice this high, and no higher. - Leonard Cohen



Well, you know that I love to live with you,
But you make me forget so very much. - So Long, Marianne

People haven't really been liking the Maryann storyline. What's your reaction to that?

I'm baffled because I think she's a fantastic character and a fantastic actress. I also know a lot of people who really love her. I think people are impatient, you know what I mean? When her story pays off, it is really, really gratifying.
Source: Alan Ball for TV Squad

Michelle Forbes is so overwhelming as a force of evil on the show that…I mean, it’s reached a point with some of the readers of our “True Blood” blog, where they’re, like, “Okay, she’s good, but she needs to go.”

(Laughs) Yeah, she’s so good. She’s really one of my favorite actresses on the show. She’s just fantastic. She really embodied that role, and she had such an ease with it. She really just kind of captured the fun of Maryann as well as the evil…because Maryann’s all about fun, really. It’s just that, to have that fun, you have to manifest the evil. But she’s great, and we got to work together a good bit, so that was fun.
Sam Trammell for bullz-eye.com

True Blood's 'Maryann': Cut out Sam's heart or have sex?

As HBO's True Blood barrels headlong toward its second-season finale on Sunday, audiences are on the edge of their sofas waiting to find out how Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her cohorts will survive the wicked chaos summoned by Maryann Forrester. The deliciously decadent and rather insidious maenad (an immortal follower of Dionysus), played by sci-fi veteran Michelle Forbes (Battlestar Galactica), has been creating a lot of trouble in Bon Temps, La., this season. (Spoiler alert!)

In her initial guise as a helpful social worker, Maryann managed to prey on the most vulnerable in town, including Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley). But now she possesses a magical hold on the majority of its denizens as they're helping her prepare to sacrifice local bar owner Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) to her god.

Kinky, violent, seductive and just plain bizarre: Forbes has played it all as Maryann this season. "I've gone to some deep and dark places where I have had to be fairly brave in the past, but it's always been emotionally internal," Forbes said in an exclusive phone interview with SCI FI Wire. "This [show] is a different animal, but boy, is it fun!"



With Maryann as the instigator of many a Bon Temps orgy in the last 11 episodes, Forbes said that she's been surprised by everything executive producer Alan Ball and company have asked of her this season. "Before I started the show at the end of last season and I was talking to a director, and we were chatting about how far we would go, and he said, 'You'll be asked to do things you've never been asked before.' I remember thinking, 'Yeah, sure.' I've been asked to do some pretty crazy things. I didn't take him seriously. But I opened that first episode for the second season and went 'Okayyy. Now I understand what he meant!'"

Forbes added: "What's wonderful is that everyone is so game and fearless on that set that it just galvanizes you and makes you excited about being fearless, too. It makes you feel silly if you feel shy. By nature I am a fairly shy person, but I think Alan and the writers may have knocked that shyness right out of me," she said with a laugh.

Forbes added: "What's wonderful is that everyone is so game and fearless on that set that it just galvanizes you and makes you excited about being fearless, too. It makes you feel silly if you feel shy. By nature I am a fairly shy person, but I think Alan and the writers may have knocked that shyness right out of me," she said with a laugh.

Fans of Charlaine Harris' novel Living Dead in Dallas will know that Maryann is based on the book character Callisto, who is a similar supernatural maenad with a dark agenda. Alan Ball decided to tease Maryann's introduction at the end of season one to set up her expanded arc in season two. Forbes said that she was approached for the role not long after she completed work on another HBO series, In Treatment.



"I'd heard rumblings about Alan Ball's new series, but I sort of walked in rather clueless," the actress said about her audition. "What I remember most about the meeting, to be honest, was that Željko Ivanek [the Magister in season one] was in the waiting room, and I hadn't seen him in ages. I was really happy to catch up with him. But I did go in and meet with Alan. It was mysterious, and it wasn't clear what or who she was, but we chatted, and it worked it out fine, because I got the call later that day."

Her first scene as Maryann was taking a naked, late-night stroll on a rural road while walking a huge pig. Not a bad entrance, but Forbes says it didn't give her much to work with in terms of character motivation.

As season two has evolved, Maryann has since been revealed to be the Big Bad of the story as she's manipulated and possessed the townspeople to give in to their carnal, basic instincts through wild parties and hedonistic behavior. With her sexy Grecian togas and sumptuous temptations, Forbes is playing the rare role for her—a girlie girl—and she admitted that she loved it.

"Finally!" she enthused. "It's either five-inch heels or bare feet, and that sums up Maryann for me. She either wants her feet firmly in the earth or to be high in the air. There is no middle ground. These gowns and jewelry, the Maryann hair and makeup, as soon as that happens, you fall into this environment."



But Forbes admits it was hard to embrace Maryann's fearless ability to just let go. "The thing that was the most difficult for me to settle into was Maryann's freedom," she explained. "She has ultimate freedom, and strangely that's a very difficult thing to play. She has a different moral construct and a different construct altogether from the rest of us. She is not shackled by any of the things that we are shackled by."

As the finale looms, the stage is set for one hell of a battle as the only good guys left in Bon Temps—including Sookie, Bill (Stephen Moyer), Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) and Andy—try to stop Maryann and her minions from carving the heart out of Sam so that Dionysus will finally appear. How it will all end Forbes won't tell, but she does rank the character as one of her favorites.

"She loves her mischief and having her fun along the way," Forbes said with a laugh. "She has a different understanding of the world and this particular plane. She doesn't see an end in the road the way everyone else does, because she has no time constraints and no moral constraints. And in playing her it is impossible for me to see her as a villain. But the same can be said of any character that I have played. Admiral Cain [of Battlestar Galactica], you could say she was a villain, but the beauty of Ron Moore's writing is that there was logic in what she did and said. The thing about Maryann, too, is that the writers have always given her a beautiful logic in what she says. I just love the entire story. I had no idea where it was going in the beginning. I, however, especially with Maryann, really enjoyed the sense of not knowing."
Source: Sci Fi Wire

Excess is a Maenad's Quest For Purity

TV Guide caught up with Michelle yesterday for a quick interview and had her reveal a little on the upcoming finale, the adventures of being onTrue Blood, the Maenad's weakness and what she is in a nutshell. TV Guide urges you to submit questions (as comments to the article below) after the finale since Michelle has kindly agreed to answer them.

Her time has come…we think. After months of cooking up trouble -- and a bloody heart soufflé, True Blood's Maryann Forrester may be going down on this Sunday’s second season finale. Before we lose her, actress Michelle Forbes took some time off from vibrating her body to speak with TV Guide Magazine.


So, what was it like shooting the finale with your cast?
We were all out in the woods having so much fun. I kept losing focus because I was watching them do these hilarious and insane things. Anna Paquin (Sookie) and I were in stitches through most of it because we had some pretty loony things to do together.

What’s up with that vibrating egg we saw in bed with Tara and Eggs in the last original episode? There’s gotta be a connection to Eggs’ name, right?
I’m going to pass on that one because I want people to be surprised as they go into it.

Speaking of eggs, you’ve been doing about as much cooking this season as Meryl Streep does in Julie and Julia. Have you learned a few culinary tricks?
My cooking skills are not to be discussed. That’s what God provided restaurants for. I did however
have a 5 a.m. flambé lesson to cook that heart. I thought I’d better have some coffee before I started. I was nervous I was going to burn the studio down, but it was pretty easy.

I assume you weren’t cutting into an actual human heart. Please tell me you weren’t.
No, no. I’m not sure what it was, but we all got creeped out when I cut into it because it made the worst squishing sound in the world. The irony is that I’m a 30-year vegetarian. I’ve been an animal activist my entire life, so the role of Maryann has been a bit challenging – especially with the lovely meat tree – Di-meat-tree, as he became known.

That tree is repulsive. Tell us about it.
It was filled with real meat and reeked as the weeks wore on. There are bobcats and coyotes roaming around that ranch where we shoot, so they had someone sit by the tree with a gun at night to protect it.

That’s the wors[t] job ever.
I know.

So, we learned from Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne that Maryann is actually a maenad. What the heck is that?
A maenad is also known as the raving one or the wild one. They’re mythic creatures in Greek mythology who followed Dionysius and Bacchus and revel in chaos and destruction. They drink wine, have sex and have no boundaries. That excess is their quest for purity. As they sing their praises to their god, they hope that he comes.

And how can she be destroyed?
Once she believes the god is finally coming, that will be her vulnerability. Or shall I say her Achilles’ Heel.

The whole town of Bon Temps is gunning for Maryann. Should we be worried for her?
Sure. The whole town does want her gone. She has the whole town in her clutches except for a few stray ones like Sam and Sookie. Her final goal is to grab everyone so that she can achieve her goal. But she should have cause for caution.
Source: TV Guide

Chez Maryann - Revenge for the Pumps!

No 'True Blood' finale today, but ...

'Everything that exists imagined itself into existence.' HUH?



Michelle Forbes is probably the only person I can ever see playing Maryann.
Sookie: "I'm sorry, I'm usually really good at placing accents, but where are you from?"
Maryann (smiles): "Cape Cod."
The funniest lie ever.



How Do You Kill A Maenad? Or: The Party's Over

Bill: “So how do I kill it?”
Queen: “You can’t. She’s convinced herself she’s immortal and so she is.”
Bill looks puzzled.
Queen: “Well I’m sure you know that everything that exists imagined itself into existence.”

Queen Sophie Anne goes on to say:
Queen: “So, you’re f*-ing everything in the dirt - why not kill something and eat it raw? Hey you’re super extra pious, there’s nothing you can’t do. And each time you do it brings you one step closer to the divine.”
Bill: “Isn’t that delusional?”
Queen: “Never underestimate the power of blind faith. It can manifest itself in ways that bend the laws of physics, or break them entirely.”
Bill: “I bit her, and it poisoned me.”
Queen: “Of course it did. We can only drink the blood of humans and she’s no longer remotely human.”
Bill: “But she started out human?”
Queen: “Helloo, evolution? We started out that way too.”

And in the next scene:
Queen: “Maenads are sad silly things. The world changed centuries ago and they’re still waiting for the god who comes.”
Bill: “Does he ever come?”
Queen: “Of course not. Gods never actually show up. They only exist in human’s minds, like money and morality.”
Bill: “If I can’t kill her how do I get her to leave Bon Temps?”
Queen: “She has to believe that she’s successfully summoned forth Dionysus. In hopes that he will ravage her - quite literally devour her. Until she’s lost into oblivion.”
Bill: “So she seeks death, the true death. The one thing she’s evolved beyond.”
Queen: “Ironic isn’t it? You know they’re really not that smart, these maenads.”
Bill: “So how does she summon this non-existent god of hers?”
Queen: “I never said he was non-existent. I just said he never comes. She believes if she finds the perfect vessel, sacrifices and devours part of him, or her, while surrounded by the magic of her familiars, then her mad god will appear. And at that point when she willingly surrenders herself to him - “
Bill: “That’s the only point she can be killed!”
Queen: Smirks. “Who’s the smartest boy in class?”
Bill: “The perfect vessel, um, human?”
Queen: “They prefer supernatural beings.”
Bill: In awe. “The two-natured!”
Queen: Shifter, yes. And weres. Fortunately they show little interest in us. Something about our hearts not beating. But will try other being that straddles the two worlds.”
Bill: “As long as it has a beating heart.”
Queen: “You have to remember they’ve been trying for centuries. They’re constantly improvising the recipes in hopes of finding that one magic element that will make it all happen. Idiots.”

So, let’s recap:
1. Maryann started out as human but really embraced the mantra “I think, therefore I am.”
2. Maenads tend to talk about a god that’s coming and seem to always be preparing for that day, but the god never comes.
3. The god actually exists.
4. Maryann is actually seeking death, true death, which will occur after she devours part of her “vessel” and surrenders herself to her god.
5. Maryann is at her weakest at this point.

In my mind, here are the key clues from Sophie Anne:
1. “She believes if she finds the perfect vessel, sacrifices and devours part of him, or her“.
2. “They prefer supernatural beings.”
3. “They’re constantly improvising the recipes in hopes of finding that one magic element that will make it all happen.”

Source: bestfantasystories.com

The world changed centuries ago -- and Maenads are still into marriage??
Maryann, marriage is the source of all harm in this world. Just saying.
Bye bye love, bye bye happiness, hello emptiness, I feel I'm gonna cry.





'I’m just glad that the bug-eyes haven’t decided to jump on the internet to spread their madness. The internet’s crazy enough with any gods who come.'




"The show excels, however, as a "Perils of Pauline" serial, one with lots of sex and crazy shenanigans in the woods. "True Blood" works best a suspenseful beach read come to vivid, southern Gothic life. It's not about vampires as metaphors, it's about calling your friends and exclaiming, "Oh man, how are they going to top that scene where the possessed minions of the Maryann the Maenad ate the human heart that had been chopped up and put inside a souffle?"
"True Blood" is a show that mostly defies analysis, intellectual probing and the search for subtext. As Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) put it, "The time for thinking is over." Exactly.
Every Sunday night, it's a chance to turn off your brain and enjoy a show that jams four or five episodes' worth of incident, plot and jaw-dropping moments into 50 minutes. [...]
What's most surprising about "True Blood," though, is how funny it has been amid Maryann's feverish preparations for a human (or half-human) sacrifice. Sometimes the show's characters take actions that are just plain dumb (because the hurtling plot regularly requires them to), but Jason, as played by the deft Kwanten, is the most entertainingly stupid character on television."
* As I said to a friend last night... "True Blood is trash, but it's such fun trash."
* Mo here: Exactly! I am loving the emails and comments that I'm getting that tell me in no uncertain terms that I don't "get" the show. Oh, I get it. It's fun trash! 'Nuff said.
* Mo here: My take is that when it comes to logical inconsistencies, the writers just don't care. That's sort of the impression I've gotten a couple of times when I've asked Ball about different aspects of the show I found problematic -- you get the verbal equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders and a fairly dismissive variation on the "Whatever, it's a vampire show" theme. So, you know, I've just given up on any sort of rigor being applied to the show's weaker aspects. It is what it is, I guess. And given the show's success, there's less reason than ever to change the modus operandi.
*Mo here: The last two seasons of 6FU weren't very good, imho. Headline on my "farewell to the show" piece: "Good riddance." What had been compassionate and heartfelt had, as you say, become random, shrieky and unpleasant. I can definitely see TB heading WAY off the rails if 6FU is any guide to what happens to Alan Ball shows.
Source: Maureen Ryan@chicagotribune.com

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"I don't understand what is the purpose of this post :P" -- Randy
"Me neither" -- Chris