Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lauren Bowles and now here’s a new interview with the woman who plays the wiccan/waitress, on True Blood, Holly. In addition to a lot of things she told me, in their interivew, Lauren talks about how landing the role was a dream come true for her, that she lives in fear of ruining the twists and surprises when she does interviews, and how things are going to get even crazier in the Season 4 finale.
Read part of that interview below:
Question: How did you originally get involved with this show and what was your auditioning process for it?
LAUREN BOWLES: It’s the beauty of Alan Ball and HBO. Some jobs are just so long and involved, and you have to go back a zillion times. With this, I just got the audition, went, read for him, HBO trusts him and I literally got the call by the time I was home, that I had gotten the job. I was like, “What?!” It was so out of my realm because it was a big job. I was a huge fan of the show and a ginormous Alan Ball fan. It was so beyond my scope that I would actually book it that my goal was just to have Alan really like me, so that they would bring me back for a guest spot. There were big people there that I recognized, so I thought, “I’ll never get this, but hopefully they’ll bring me back.” It was literally a dream come true, when I actually booked it.
Had you been a fan of the show since it started?
BOWLES: Yeah. I was in from the pilot on. Not that it’s sci-fi, but I’m normally not a supernatural fan. That’s not where my instincts go. But, I love anything that Alan writes. American Beauty is one of my favorite movies, and I was a huge Six Feet Under fan. I watched the pilot with some hesitation, being like, “I don’t think this is going to be my cup of tea, but I have to check it out because it’s Alan,” and the world just immediately drew me in. So, from the pilot on, I was obsessed.
How daunting was it to come into a show that was already so popular with so many devoted fans? Did it help that there’s always new people, every season?
BOWLES: Yeah. The year I joined – last year – there were a bunch of new people added, so I wasn’t the only new kid in school. But, the main thing is that it truly is the most awesome cast. I would normally read that and be like, “That’s bullshit!,” but it’s really not a lie. I’ve worked on a lot of TV shows and hierarchy is always a part of it, but everyone is just so awesome. The fact that everyone is so welcoming really makes it so easy to just jump right in. Because the cast is so large, if your storylines aren’t with certain people, you can go all year and not see some of the cast, other than at table reads. It took me a long time to actually get to meet everybody.
Is there anyone you haven’t really gotten to work with much, who you’d love to do more scenes with?
BOWLES: I don’t have too much with Ryan [Kwanten], who plays Jason Stackhouse, and he is really divine. He is such a lovely guy. I’ve had a little bit with him, but not tons, and he’s just awesome.
How difficult is it to be on a show that’s so popular but so secretive?
BOWLES: Really hard because I can be such a fucking idiot, to be honest with you. I live in utter fear, whenever I talk to anyone or do interviews, that I am going to be the one that spills some major beans. I say nothing because this is the best job I’ve ever had and I don’t want to blow it. But, one of the best things the show has going for it is that element of surprise. The twists and turns that they take are really like a roller coaster ride. All of my friends that are huge fans of the show really don’t want to know. I’m pretty good about not telling anything, but no one wants to know because that’s half the fun. My husband (Patrick Fischler) is an actor who did a season on Lost, and it was the same thing. He would be reading and gasping in the other room, and I would be like, “Don’t tell me!” I really do feel like, if you’re a real fan of the show, you don’t want to know because then you miss the ride. So, it’s really not so much from people coming up to me or friends. It’s really mostly in interviews, with people trying to get you to spill the beans, so they can start with some good, juicy headline. But, I’ve been pretty good, thus far.
Were you excited to learn that this would be the season of the witches, and that you would be much more a part of that?
BOWLES: Oh, yeah, I was thrilled. I came on at the end of last year, knowing that this character was being introduced and set up for the following year, which would be the year of the witch. Alan had announced that, so I entered it knowing that that was going to be the case. But, it’s just such a wild ride. It’s just crazy! Every time I get a script, I’ve gasped out loud when I’ve read stuff. I’m reading it of two minds – first as the actor, seeing what I’m doing and what’s happening within the context of our world, and then as a fan. Normally, you get a script and you look for your own character, but really, that’s not the case. Being a fan of the show, I am as equally interested in the fates of everybody. It’s just such a blast.
Does the show still actually give full scripts to everybody?
BOWLES: Yeah, they give full scripts out, but they’re fully watermarked with our names on them. I treat them like state secrets.
To read the rest of this interview go to: collider.com
