With Season 4 of True Blood set to air in just about 6 weeks, fans of the hit show have been anxious to get any information they can on what to expect. The cast is being extremely tight-lipped but while attending the premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, About.com caught up with Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds) and talked to him about the upcoming season.
Ellis starts the interview by saying that filming is going really well which we are all glad to hear! When asked about a rumor that he has to eat something really disgusting this year he confirms that he does in fact have to eat something “very disgusting” but he cannot say what that is. Maybe a sacrifice of some sort? He goes on to talk about the adventure that Lafayette and Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) will be going off on this season and he says we will absolutely get to see more of the relationship between the two as it develops. When asked if we will get to see Lafayette interacting with Sookie and everyone else given the adventure he is going on, Ellis says that we will not see that in the beginning. He says, with a secretive smile on his face, that the beginning is Lafayette, Jesus and some other people but he will not confirm if those “other people” are new characters or existing ones. When asked if he will be involved with the witches Ellis responds “maybe”.
When talk switches to being back on the set of True Blood, Nelsan says that it is a wonderful show to work on with a great group of people and he loves all of his cast members. About.com asks Ellis what he thinks of the romance between Lafayette and Jesus and he says that he has learned a lot from Kevin Alejandro because he is such a great actor and he jokes that he’s stealing all of Alejandro’s tricks. When asked what tricks he is stealing, Ellis says that he does not consider himself a charismatic actor but that Alejandro is so he is learning to turn that charisma on. Nelsan goes on to say that he picks apart his performances and doesn’t see what others see in his work and he is always thinking about how he can make it better. He jokes that he doesn’t even know what the hooplah is about Lafayette. Ellis says that Lafayette is a great character and that
“Alan Ball has given him a rope that can go as far as I throw it and that’s amazing.”
When asked if he ever looks at a script and thinks “okay they are pushing it a little far this time” Ellis replied “always”. He says its a good thing though and describes it as “an actors wonderland”. He goes on to say if the producers and the writers continue to challenge the actors, then it is always fresh and new and the actors will not get bored. Nelsan says he will occasionally make the odd suggestion for Lafayette and that Alan Ball listens when he talks, but that he does not generally contribute to the writing of his character. He says that he only started making the suggestions recently because he was so afraid of Alan. After all “Alan Ball is Alan Ball”.
Ellis says that they haven’t finished filming Season 4 year but that they are toward the end. He says that he has not read the final couple of scripts yet so he doesn’t know if the season will end with another big cliffhanger. When asked what his favorite scene has been to film for this season, without giving anything away of course, Ellis replies “the Mavis stuff”. Hmm sounds interesting.
You can view the entire interview with Nelsan Ellis here.
Source: Movies.about.com - Nelsan Ellis Interview
Photo Credit: HBO, Inc.
