Warning this article contains spoilers – if you haven’t watched last nights episode of True Blood you may not want to read further!
Even though the name of Sunday’s True Blood episode was entitled ‘Gone, Gone, Gone’, I was still waiting for ANYTHING to happen that would stop Hoyt from leaving Bon Temps. I figured Jessica‘s glamouring wouldn’t hold because his bond with Jason was so deep, car wreck, something would keep him around. Sadly it appears that lovable, dependable Hoyt really has left Bon Temps to work on an oil rig in Alaska. Jim Parrack, who has played Hoyt for the last five years, spoke to TV Guide after the episode aired about that glamouring scene with Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten), his feelings on leaving the show, and what is next for him.
Since Hoyt isn’t dead, there was always the hope after the episode aired that he may not REALLY be gone and naturally that was the first question TV Guide asked him. According to Parrack, Alan Ball told him that they did not want to kill Hoyt off, which in True Blood land could mean a return down the road, but that they were sending him away because Hoyt has had enough:
I think that if it did end this way and Hoyt never came back, it would be good storytelling because it’s just a complete journey from somebody who was utterly dependent upon other people, never stuck up for himself, or got to think for himself and then to fall in love and all the betrayal and hardships and him saying, “You know what, I’ve got to take care of myself.” I think it told a whole story.
Parrack goes on to say that he is grateful that he wasn’t killed off and that the writers really took Hoyt’s story through a full progression. This season saw a lot of changes for someone who was usually so dependable and reliable and Parrack said that it was very hard to do. Everything in Hoyt’s life was ripped away from him one by one and that can make people act wildly out of character.
When Hoyt met up with Jessica and Jason at Merlotte’s to say goodbye it appeared that if he really was going to leave at least things would have been resolved with them. But when he asked Jessica to glamour him so he would forget the both of them it was a very emotional scene to watch. Parrack describes filming that scene to TV Guide saying:
It was tough for all of us. Those were my two best friends on the show. When I found out, when Alan called me to tell me what was going to happen, I didn’t want to tell everybody right off. I pulled Ryan and Deborah aside and they both got emotional and I got emotional. The day that we shot the scene, which I haven’t seen it yet, it felt good. I think it was easy enough for all of us because there were parallels there. What was happening in the imaginary situation was us saying goodbye and the three of us were also saying goodbye.
He goes on to say that while filming that scene he had an instinct to keep looking at Ryan and at that moment it hit him that although Hoyt’s love for Jessica was more intense, his love for Jason was deeper and had more meaning. He said he didn’t realize that himself until they were in the moment filming. Parrack tells TV Guide that he expected most of his sadness to be about missing the people he has worked with for the last five years but that he is really going to miss the character as well. The cast and crew made sure he knew he was going to be missed:
Alan and everybody did a wonderful thing on my last day. The directors said, “Let’s get one more take,” and Alan had come down and brought out a cake and said, “Thank you for these five years” and everybody was there. It was just beautiful. It wasn’t the kind of thing where there were any hard feelings in any direction. I wasn’t upset when I heard I was going. I thought it was good storytelling, but there was a lot of feeling because we’d been very close and that part has had a lot to do with opening up some of the opportunities that I have now. It’s been a blessing, but no, it wasn’t hard to go. There’s just a lot of feeling.
Hoyt’s presence will definitely be missed next season but you can catch Parrack in a few upcoming projects. He’s currently in Texas filming ‘A Night In Old Mexico’ with Robert Duvall and Jeremy Irvine and next month he heads to Mississippi to play the role of Cash in ‘As I Lay Dying’ with James Franco and Tim Blake Nelson. No release date has been set for either film.
So Truebies what are your thoughts on Hoyt’s departure? Let us know in the comment section below.
Source: TVGuide.com – True Blood Exclusive: Jim Parrack on Whether Hoyt is Gone for Good
Image Credit: HBO, Inc.
