Carolyn Hennessy
True Blood’s newest cast member, Carolyn Hennesy will be featured in season five as Vampire Authority Member, Rosalyn Harris and recently she spoke with Lena Lamoray about her experiences with being a member of the vampire authority so far. Below are some excerpts from the lenghty interview. If you wish to read the entire interview, go to: lenalamoray.com.
Lena: First off, I have to thank you because I’ve been held hostage by True Blood for the past week and I’ve loved every minute of it.
Carolyn Hennesy: (Laughter) Isn’t it the best? When I first got the job, and everybody knows this from the production team to Alan Ball, I had not seen the show so I wasn’t familiar with it. I got confused between Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, and what’s what and so on and so fourth, and then I got the job and I watched all four seasons in ten days. I completely understand being held hostage by True Blood, but it’s the best kind of bondage possible.
Lena: I watched all four seasons in five days.
Carolyn Hennesy: Five days, my hats off to you, you got me beat by five days. It’s amazing isn’t it, and really no pun intended but it just sucks you in.
Lena: I can imagine. I can’t wait for season five. It’s going to be fantastic because not only are they bringing in you but they are also bringing back Denis O’Hare (as Russell Edginton).
Carolyn Hennesy: One of the finest actors on the planet. Denis O’Hare is very liberated as an actor. I mean he’s just fearless and as a result he inspires that in others around him, at least he does me. I like to think I’m fearless anyway but then when you see someone that makes it look so easy, it’s really a joy.
Lena: You also have Chris Meloni (from Law & Order: SVU) coming in.
Carolyn Hennesy: Yes, Chris Meloni and you have to give a tremendous amount of credit to the writers. The writing on that show is spectacular. The material that they give us to work with is fantastic, no slouch there.
Lena: I can’t wait to see Chris.
Carolyn Hennesy: Yes, I’ll just give you one word and that’s sexy.
Lena: Definitely! I’m excited for you and that you get to play a vampire because if I was an actor that would be my dream role.
Carolyn Hennesy: It is. I didn’t realize how much of a dream role it was until I finally sunk my teeth into something. It really is tons of fun. You get to be on gorgeous sets, never go out into the sunlight, and really fight for your life as a member of the undead.
Lena: Season 4 ended with Sookie (Anna Paquin) deciding not to choose Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) or Bill (Stephen Moyer) but rather go it alone. Tara (Rutina Wesley) was also shot in the head, but I’m assuming that she recovers (or they work around that because it is True Bloodafterall).
Carolyn Hennesy: What I can say is this; the actress has not left the show at all (laughing).
Lena: What can you tell me about season 5 and of course, Rosalyn Harris?
Carolyn Hennesy: She’s a vampire, very old, from Texas but Texas, in the timeline, is not very old. Rosalyn has come from somewhere else but we are just not quite sure where but she has made Texas her home for the past 100 to 200 years. She’s one of those game gals that helped to settle the Old West. She’s very comfortable branding a calf. She knows that pearls can go with anything, so she is always a lady. She can brand a calf in the morning and go to the opera at night. She’s a man’s woman. She’s what we would call a great broad. She’s very funny and very folksy, but if you cross her she will drain you on the spot. As they say with regards to Texas hair, big is just a place to start. Rosalyn has hair high enough to interfere with air traffic control.
Lena: I am looking forward to seeing that.
Carolyn Hennesy: She’s a lot of fun. I’m not wearing a wig so somehow they were able to get my short bob up into the heavens.
Lena: How did she become an Authority Council Member?
Carolyn Hennesy: She was made an Authority Council Member by the Guardian, Chris Meloni’s character (Roman). This happened centuries ago so what their relationship was like, we don’t know yet. If the Authority has been around 2000 years then she has been a member for 1900 years. As long as the Authority has been around she’s pretty much been a part of it.
Lena: (Laughing) Sookie is an idiot for not choosing Eric.
Carolyn Hennesy: I know but a lot of people are Team Bill. Team Bill and Team Eric, what side do you fall on. I of course, have fallen on the side of Team Sam. I love Sam. I’m a big Sam gal. I just think he’s wonderful. He’s got such heart. He’s just such tremendous heart and we find out some pretty interesting things about him. He’s not squeaky clean, but I still think he’s a wonderful guy.
Lena: What characters are we going to be seeing her with the most?
Carolyn Hennesy: All of my other Authority members as it stands now like Christopher Heyerdahl (as Dieter Braun), Peter Mensah (as Kibwe), and Chris Meloni. There are some huge, huge political battles being fought in the vampire world this season. There are a lot of heavy duty and very important council meetings.
Lena: The cast of True Blood is absolutely amazing and quite possibly the best looking cast on TV.
Carolyn Hennesy: I gave up being intimidated weeks ago because if I hadn’t I simply would not have been able to drive through the studio gate. If it is even possible, they are better looking in person. I’m not quite sure exactly how that happens. I come from a soap opera, I come fromCougar Town with Courteney Cox, one of the most beautiful women on the planet, and still pound for pound, per actor capita, this show is the most gorgeous on television. It’s crazy and yet they are all wonderful and really lovely people. Even the guest stars and the new characters that they are bringing on this season, I just say God bless, I can’t compete. Have fun and enjoy your beautifulness (laughing). I’ll be over here making this funny.
Lena: I would love to get your take on your character’s makeup, fashion, mannerisms, and those little details that really bring her together for you.
Carolyn Hennesy: Rosalyn is what you would call a great broad and at all times a lady. Tease the hair until it reaches God, slap a set of pearls on and you are good to go because everything else will fall into line. She is always impeccably dressed. If you cross her she will stake you, she will snap your neck as soon as look at you. Do not cross Rosalyn Harris. For me, Rosalyn’s key trait is her wonderful sense of humor. I feel that she wants to mainstream because she understands the importance of mainstreaming but she never loses that wonderful sense of humor that has enabled her to survive all these centuries.
Lena: What did it feel like to wear the fangs for the first time?
Carolyn Hennesy: Oh it was so much fun. It’s a little difficult to talk but you look great when you smile. The special effects people have fitted them so beautifully. Each set of fangs is different and each is unique and specifically made for the actor and for the character. When I put in Rosalyn’s fangs, it’s like snap, I’m instantly in that world.
Lena: Alan Ball is stepping down as showrunner next season, what are your thoughts on that?
Carolyn Hennesy: I think it is going to be a tremendous loss but I also know that he will not be gone. I think Alan Ball will be checking in. I think he will always be checking in and saying hello and seeing what’s going on. He’s also left the show so solid, it’s like concrete it’s so solid. While he will be absolutely missed I think he knows that he has chosen the right time for himself that he can go off and pursue other things down other avenues. I’m so confident that this show is not going anywhere. He’s left the mark he wants to leave so other people can take it from there. He trusts Gregg Fienberg, as he should, to carry on.
To read this interview in it’s entirety, go to: lenalamoray.com
