Anna Camp’s Sarah Newlin made her first season six appearance in this past Sunday’s True Blood. In it, she confronts her gay vampire husband Steve (Michael McMillian) for the first time as a vampire at the vamp camp. Anna talked to Vulture about the character’s return, what she’s been up to in between, and why the actress herself ended up in the emergency room in full Sarah Newlin dress.
Anna was delighted when True Blood called and asked her to return for season 6. She describes Sarah Newlin as one of the craziest and funniest characters that she has had the opportunity to play. Since we saw Sarah, she’s published a tell-all book called Sundressed: The Sarah Newlin Story, a thread that began in the True Blood comic series, which Michael McMillian has had a hand in as well. But the book isn’t revealing everything Sarah has gone through like her season 2 romance with Jason (Ryan Kwanten). That is something she would keep under wraps, Camp maintains, because while she might still like Jason she’s moved on romantically.
But what about Steve? Did Sarah know he was gay and a vampire with a thing for Jason. The answer is definately not:
“No! [Laughs.] What a crazy love triangle that would be; that would be so funny. I was dying for some crazy flashback about their marriage, because the last time you saw me, we were having the argument on TV, and he knows that I slept with Jason at that point. But in episode three, she confronts him for the first time about being gay and about being a vampire. She’s discovered that only recently.”
Steve being a vampire is actually the bigger issue for Sarah at this point. Vampires are what they started off fighting against and now he is one. But being gay during their marriage is something that Anna says Sarah is afraid to admit to herself and may see it as a sign of failure, But she’ll deal with the gay issue later. So how does it feel to be a villain in this season after so many awesome ones came before Anna?
“There are so many supernaturals on the show, which is fascinating — the faeries, the vampires, the werewolves — but it also boils down to how the human beings are relating to the vampire world. The vampires can symbolize any outcast in our society, and there is an epic human versus vampire battle this season, and Sarah Newlin is fighting right along with the humans. She’s a woman who is very steadfast in her beliefs, and that can be scary, people who refuse to change, who refuse to open up their hearts and minds to differences in the world. So she’s scarier. She’s getting scarier by the minute. She’s very dark. She’s really crazy and vindictive. It gets really juicy.”
Sarah is now into politics and could be in the same circles as Governor Burrell (Arliss Howard). But getting into the political arena is more about outshadowing Steve than anything, which is lots of fun for Camp to play:
“She might run in the same circles as Governor Truman Burrell. I think she’s really trying to out-shadow her ex-husband, and she’s taking control of her life, and really wants to take back the power. [Laughs.] She’s in power suits! That red dress, I was so stoked when I saw it. And Sarah Newlin’s hair is such a part of my character; I just wanted to make sure she came back with it bigger than ever. I get in and I sit in rollers for about three hours in my trailer, and then they tease it out and make it really huge. The higher the hair, the closer to God! For one of the scenes, I got to pick whether she was wearing a cross or an American flag pin, like a sparkly pin. I was like, “You know what? I think she’s graduated. I think she’d go for the American flag pin right now.”
Anna also says that every time she hears a good Carrie Underwood song she thinks of Sarah Newlin and sometimes she blasts it in her trailer before going on set. Speaking of the set, Ask Ausiello recently alluded to an incident that landed Camp in the hospital. She reveals it was for a minor concussion and she went in costume:
“Towards the end of the season, Sarah finds herself in a very physical situation, a very confrontational situation, and I was doing a bit of my own stunt work. I was fortunate to have a great, great stuntwoman with me, but during one of the takes, I rolled, I was on the ground, and I hit my head. I was in the middle of a chase sequence, and I had to continue the take and keep going, and I wasn’t going to tell anyone that I hit my head, but about fifteen minutes later, I started getting very nauseous and dizzy. So we went to the emergency room as just a precaution — but in my whole wardrobe and giant hair, which was exciting! Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. It turns out that I had a minor concussion, but I’m totally okay! I just had to relearn how to tie my shoes. [Laughs.] Just kidding!”
Were you happy to see Sarah again? Sound off in the comments below!
Source: Vulture.com- “Anna Camp on Returning to True Blood, Set Injuries, and Sarah Newlin’s Big Hair”
Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images
