BYZANTIUM movie review by Sean Rourke

BYZANTIUM, now on Netflix

If it happens to be dark outside, and you're looking through your streaming services to find a descent vampire movie, then I highly recommend calling up Netflix and watching Byzantium.

Without spoiling anything, you're in for the story of two female vampires and their tale of survival.  The first is Eleanor, played by Saoirse Ronan, (which, btw, sounds like an awesome vampire name,) and her older sister, Clara, played by Gemma Arterton, (which is an equally impressive vampire name!)

Eleanor is an immortal trapped in the body of a sixteen year old.  She appears to be beholden to Clara, who claims to be her older sister, though the two could not be any more different.  Clara is a devious seductress who seems perpetually drawn to the darker corners of the sex trade.  Her fishnet shirts and high heeled boots contrast sharply with Eleanor, who is a cardigan-wearing, introspective  artist. 

But as the movie progresses, we begin to discover the roots of these two vampires and the complex relationship that holds them together.  All the things that a vampire enthusiast hopes for in a film can be found here, from bloodletting victims in remote corners of the urban sprawl, to flashbacks of the vampires' mortal lives, to fleeting glimpses of the larger tapestry of vampire secrets in the world.

If any of this sounds familiar, that might be because Byzantium is directed by Neil Jordan, who gave us Interview with the Vampire.  But whether you hated or loved his interpretation of Interview, this movie deserves your attention.  What he's done with Byzantium is give us a character study of two vampires that is both rich and bleak at the same time.  The nuances of their relationship are new to the vampire genre, and that doesn't happen often these days. 

And when it comes to vampire tropes, Byzantium rarely takes the easy way out, always giving a slightly new interpretation, while never straying far from what is familiar.  The vampire origin story is especially vivd.

There are some nods to previous vampire works in the naming of certain characters, as well as the casting of Johnny Lee Miller in a minor role.  Miller's pedigree includes the debatably important Dracula 2000, where he portrays a young vampire hunter.  In Byzantium, his character is far different, and surprisingly short on screen time.  (I'm assuming he did this one during a lull in his career, before he took the lead in Elementary.)

Tom Hollander also appears in a small role in Byzantium, who was previously seen hunting Saoirse Ronan in another movie, Hanna.

But ultimately, it's the performances of the two leads that make this film.  Both are haunting and devastating in their own way, with Saoirse channeling a girl desperate to break free of the child that she's been playing for over a hundred years.  Meanwhile, Gemma plays counter to the role that we've grown accustomed to seeing her in: as that of the wise and aloof love interest to the adventuring hero.  In this, she is an unapologetic survivor - damaged, dangerous, and cunning, pulling at any thread she can in order to insure that the two vampires are always one step ahead of their enemies.

For the vampire fan, Byzantium is worth your time.  It's tense, indulgent, sexy, and dark, and it's streaming right now.

By: Sean Rourke

Guitars. Beautiful guitars.

Hail to the King, baby! 
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Who's your Mummy?
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It's Murder!

 

Love the color!

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Glorious black and white!

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Supposedly the guitarist for Metallica owns one like this.
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Looks like Frazetta artwork. 
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The ORIGINAL Mistress of the Dark: VAMPIRA!

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Bite me!

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I've had my own website for a few years now, and honestly it's been pretty much nothing but trouble. (Can something be "pretty much nothing but?") Anyway, I'm not out to bash the website provider or anything. Hell, it's probably my fault. I'm not a "techie" and I never will be, and truthfully don't have any interest in being. So I won't be renewing my domain name, both because I'm not really getting any real use out of it and because I can do pretty much (there's that phrase again) the same things here, on this site, for free, that I've been semi-successfully paying to do on the other site. I don't know how much longer the OTHER website will be up and running, but THIS one, right 'chere, will from this point onward be the home and base of operations for all things Evil Cheez. The ONLY home base.

It occurred to me that, before the old site goes away, I should peruse it and see if there's anything there I'd like to preserve for posterity HERE. I'll be moving a few things over, and I'll start with this piece I wrote as the introduction to the other site. It's a little dated, but I kinda have a soft spot for it. It deals with marketing and the need for an author to get his or her name out there, to get "over" in wrestling parlance, and the true motivation behind most people who put pen to paper. Or, more accurately, fingertip to keyboard. Just  for the heck of it.

(Hey, that's not bad as a preamble. Maybe I'll make that the title my autobiography someday. "Just for the heck of it.") 

A few years ago, my father got it into his head to build, during the dog days of one of the hottest summers on record, a lean-to storage shed connecting to his garage, for which he enlisted my help. Because my Dad knows as little about construction as I do, which is to say he don’ know nothin’, he also hired a retired carpenter, Mr. Gilbert, a crusty, salt-of-the-earth type known to all (more or less affectionately) as “Gibby.” It was bad enough for me having to toil alongside Gibby, what with him being twice my age and working circles around me, whistling and hammering away while I sweated and gasped for breath; but to further add to my sense of masculine inferiority, during one of the (too few and far-between) breaks we took that day, while making casual conversation, Gibby asked me what I did for a living.

No problem, I remember thinking. I got this.

I had, at this point in my life, been working for a couple of years as an acquisitions editor for a literary agency. When I told this to Gibby, I was anticipating his response of: “What’s that?” This latter constituting the typical response of, well, everybody upon hearing my spiffy-sounding job title, I had, I thought, by this time in the game, gotten pretty good at explaining exactly what an “acquisitions editor” was and did, breaking down into layman’s terms the inner workings of the publishing world.

“It’s like this, Gibby. When you go into a bookstore, all those books on the shelves, they were published by one of a handful of publishing companies. Let’s say you have written a book, Gibby, a book about carpentry. You couldn’t just send a copy of it to one of those publishers.”

“Why not?”

“Because they only look at works that are submitted to them from literary agencies. It’s because there are so many other people out there who have also written books. You wouldn’t believe how many there are. And the publishers don’t have time to read through all those books, or samples from all those books, to see which, if any, they might be interested in putting into print. Thus they use the literary agencies as a sort of filter. They know that any work submitted to them by an agency has to be good, at least good enough to have captured the attention of the literary agent in question.”

I was on a roll at that point, determined to make my not-glamorous-at-all job sound as fancy as possible.

“But the literary agencies don’t have that kind of time ether,” I continued, “to read through all those potential manuscripts. They get dozens, maybe even hundreds of proposals in the mail every day. That’s why they hire people like me, “slush monkeys” in the jargon of the business, to search through the reams of possible projects and determine if any of them are worthy of the agent’s time and attention.” Taking a breath, I concluded: “And that’s what I do.”

Gibby took a moment, stared at me, blinking, before responding: “Yeah . . . but what’s the point of it?”

I didn’t know what to say to him. What’s the point? The point of what, Gibby, hiring editors? Oh, of writing in general, you mean. Why, isn’t it obvious, Gibby? The point is, uh . . .

Hmm. What is the point, anyway?

To see one’s name in print, in the credits of a magazine or on the spine of a book? To have one’s work read by the masses (a mass or two, at least)? To impart information, to entertain, to communicate? No. That’s not the primary reason. Secondary, maybe. Otherwise they’d just put their stuff on the Internet for free, or go to a “vanity press.” (Vanity presses differ from standard publishing companies. A standard publisher will pay you for the rights to publish your work. A vanity press will publish as many copies of your work as you’d like, but you have to pay them.) Nothing wrong with that, if that’s what a person wants. But all those hordes of people submitting those reams of projects to literary agencies aren’t just looking to see their words in print. So what’s the point, then? The primary point?

To make money.

A writer wants to sell his product, to put it out there for the world to read and enjoy and be financially compensated for it. That’s the point, Gibby. That’s the point.

And the point of all this, my friends, is to explain to you the “point” of this website.

It gets harder day by day for a writer to “make it” in the publishing world. Even a good writer. I learned from my time as a slush monkey, and learned all to well, that every aspiring author believes himself or herself to be good enough for publication, only a scant percentage actually are. What’s the ratio? I’d say 99% to 1%, with the minority being the ones with some degree of talent and ability (and I’m probably being generous, there). Acquisition editors quickly become jaded, numbed by the constant bombardment of flat-out lousy writing. The agents themselves become jaded. The editors at the publishing houses become jaded. It’s hard, really hard, to find that proverbial diamond in the rough when it’s buried in an even rougher trash heap. This is the burned-out, jaded slush monkey in me talking, here.

Even if a writer manages to get noticed amidst all the flotsam, it’s still a hard climb. No publisher is going to invest much money on an unknown commodity. (Those books on the tables at the big bookstores, set out where they’re bound to get noticed by the foot traffic? The publishers pay to have those books put on that table. And if it’s a choice between Stephen King’s latest or the debut book by you, John. Q. Nobody, who do you think they’re going to drop the money on?) How then can a new writer, an “unknown,” even if he actually is good, hope to make his mark, to stand out?

You have to be your own publicist. Drive yourself all over creation to do book signings for no guaranteed compensation, just to get your name out there. Enter your work in various contests; try to win some awards, just to get your name out there.

Or create a website. Put a sample of your work—just a sample, mind you— online, available for free, and try to get people to visit the site, to read your work. Just to get your name out there.

And that, Gibby, is the point. End of preamble.

With that, welcome, friends, to [...] It’s been a long time coming and I’m mighty proud to have you here. Can I offer you a little something to make it worth your while? There’s some good stuff here on this site. Totally free. Because I have the audacity to believe I am a part of that 1% mentioned earlier, that my work actually is worth the time it will take you to read it, and I aim to prove it. It’s like drugs, man. The pusher gives you some for free because he believes you’ll like it and come back for more. Only my work is far more benign than drugs. But, I hope, no less addictive. Heh heh heh.

Right, then. What can I interest you in today? Proceed to our menu, mon friends. Order when you’re ready.

(By the way, you all are going to want to drop by this site not infrequently, as I intend to add new content fairly often. I figure I’ll keep a blog of sorts, containing all my sacred and profane ramblings about anything and everything. I’ll update you on my latest theatrical productions. I also might put some more free stuff on here, sooner or later. You never can tell with me.)

Interview with YA Author Nina Soden

Tell us a little about yourself.

I grew up in Michigan. I have always been creative, be it art, theatre, film – anything but singing – Trust me, you don’t want to hear that! I earned my bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Military Science from Eastern Michigan University where I spent my free time either on stage, rappelling down buildings, or working. After college I moved to Los Angeles, like so many other want-to-be actors, in pursuit of my dreams. I worked to pay the bills… but my love was acting and I was actually somewhat successful, mostly in commercials and independent films and I had a great time doing it.

When did you start writing?

I started writing poetry and short stories when I was younger but went for years without writing. Then out in Los Angeles I got inspired to write again. I started with poetry and wrote what eventually became my first book Private Words Unspoken, a compilation of poetry. After poetry I moved to screenplays. After getting married, my husband and I left California and started our family down south. Needing an artistic way to express myself I joined a number of the local theatre groups. I also started writing again and in 2012 I published my first novel, Awaken.

How would you describe your writing process?

Every writer is different, I don’t outline my stories like a lot of authors do, at least not on paper. I tend to let me characters lead me and the story more than I lead them. I have been completely shocked, more than once, by where my stories have taken me. But, it just proves my point that stories can evolve on their own. Characters take on a life of their own, even if just in my head. In my second novel, one of my favorite characters died, I hadn’t planned it and I was heartbroken when it happened. Although I may not have wanted to see that character die, unfortunately that was just what had to happen.

How did you start writing about vampires?

Growing up, my dad and I would spend late nights watching horror films. From a very young age I loved all the classics; The Changeling, Nosferatu, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, King Kong, Godzilla, It Came From Outer Space, House of Wax, Frankenstein, The Fly, Night of the Living Dead, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing, Psycho, The Wolf Man, Dracula, and so many others. I didn’t even care how well made they were or how realistic. I remember watching The Blob and laughing so hard. I loved it. I guess with my love of those types of movies it was inevitable that my writing would move in the same direction.

Tell us a little about your latest project.

The Hunted is the second book in the SECTOR C Series. The series is set in a futuristic dystopian society governed by a council of vampires and lycanthropes.

From THE HUNTED:

"In the future, most of the world is governed by a council of vampires and lycanthropes. Sector residents are offered the freedom to live as they desire provided they stay and abide by the laws handed down. After being jolted awake by the blaring screech of the sector alarm, Zelina is dragged from her bed, gagged, and tied to a chair. Confronted with the brutal murder of one of her former classmates, she realizes that all eyes are on her as the primary suspect. Whether she was involved or not doesn’t matter. In the eyes of most sector residents, and most Council Members, Zelina is already a pariah—feared for the powers she will certainly come to possess. For she is the first human known to have both vampire and lycanthrope blood flowing through her veins.

Zelina will find herself on a gripping adventure that will take her beyond the borders she’s known all her life in an attempt to save those she loves—and herself from becoming The Hunted."

Can you tell us about your main Character?

Zelina is described as having long dark brown hair with bronze/brown eyes. I envision actress Adelaide Kane when I write her, but I’d love to know who my readers envision. She is strong, loyal, and very determined. She is willing to put herself at risk to protect others or stand up for what she believes in.

Do you have any other books that aren’t part of the SECTOR C Series?

My first three books, Awaken, Beginnings, and Revenge were part of another series The Blood Angel Series.

What kind of vampires can readers expect from your books?

While I love the traditional vampire myths – death before rising sleeping in coffins, not visible in mirrors, sensitivity to garlic, being burned by the sight and touch of a cross, death by driving a stake through their heart, my personal favorite bursting into flames when exposed to sunlight, and so many others, my books don’t really follow those same guidelines for vampires. I write YA (young adult) and NA (new adult) novels, so although I limit the sexuality and gore, it is still in there.In both the Blood Angel Series and the SECTOR C Series I introduce the idea that vampirism is a virus. The host doesn’t have to die, as in traditional myth, but transforms in such a way that they evolve beyond their human abilities or rather limitations.I believe that vampires can be sexy and scary, good and evil, menacing and still intoxicating. I’ve been told that my books give a fresh new look to an old concept and breathe new life into what it means to be a vampire.   

Do you have a favorite place in which to write?

I can write anywhere, I use a laptop, but I guess if I had to pick a favorite place I would say either at my desk in my home office, cuddled up in blankets and pillows on my bed, or sitting drinking coffee at the local Starbucks. I know the author at the coffee shop sounds cliche but it really is a very relaxing, creative environment.

What is your next favorite thing to do besides writing?

Writing takes second seat to spending time with my kids, but other than writing I love acting. I went to college for theatre and that has always been my first calling. I do a lot of community theatre and used to do a good deal of film when I lived in Los Angeles. 

 

What is your most memorable moment while writing?

I love answering this questions because in the four years I’ve been published my answer has never changed. I actually have two moments that are equally special to me. The first was when I was sent a photo of a school project a young girl did. It was a book report, with photos and character descriptions for Awaken, book one in the Blood Angel Series. The fact that she had enjoyed the book that much, and that she could so easily visualize the characters in the story really made me happy. It proved to me that what I had written wasn’t just a story I enjoyed, but that it was a story others could enjoy as well. The second moment was when the first shipment of books showed up on my front porch. I opened the box and there it was, a paperback copy of the novel I wrote. It was like a dream come true. I still get excited every time a box of my books arrive. Maybe it’s silly but even going through the whole process, concept to publishing, it never feels fully real until you hold that book in your hands.

What can your readers expect from you next?

Well, I haven’t started my next book yet, but I’ve been asked by a number of readers to do another book in the Blood Angel Series. So, I will be writing a novella all about Phoebe, one of the supporting characters in books 2 and 3. I’m excited to find out what happened to her after the end of Revenge and where her life has taken her.

Other than that, I will be appearing at the Rocket City Nerd Con, October 23-25.

Event Details

When: Fri., Oct. 23 through Sun., Oct. 25

Where: Huntsville-Madison County Public Library-Downtown Branch, 915 Monroe St SW, Huntsville, AL 35801

Price: $15 for day pass, $35 for weekend pass (children 10 and under free with adult ticket)

 

1. BLOG: http://ninasoden.wordpress.com 
2.  Facebook: https://facebook.com/BloodAngelSeries
3. Twitter: http://twitter.com/Nina_Soden
4. Twitter: @Nina_Soden
5. Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Nina-Soden/e/B00ITHSXC8
6. Awaken (book 1): http://amzn.com/B008Q8ZPE4
7. Beginnings (Book 2): http://amzn.com/B00D3G7RWM
8. Revenge (Book 3): http://amzn.com/B00MUT6XQY
9. The Chosen (book 1 ~ SECTOR C): http://amzn.com/B00VUK6SQY
10. The Hunted (book 2 ~ SECTOR C): Coming soon to Amazon.

Interview with Author Alistair Cross

Tell us about yourself and your latest book.

I’ve been writing my entire life, but was first published in 2012. Later that year, I met horror author Tamara Thorne, whom I’ve been a fan of since the 90s and, without meaning to, we began brainstorming ideas. We decided it would be fun to write a short story together. That story turned into a novel. And then another novel. We have since penned the Amazon bestseller, The Cliffhouse Haunting, as well as the successful Gothic serial, The Ghosts of Ravencrest, which is currently being formatted into a full-length novel. Now, we are working on the next collaboration, a psychological thriller that proves that strangers aren’t the ones to be wary of - that the real monsters are the people we look at every day.

My latest novel, The Crimson Corset, was released in August of this year and has received good reviews and strong readership - for which I am thrilled and grateful. It has also reached Amazon's bestseller list. The Crimson Corset takes place in the fictional tourist-centric town of Crimson Cove, where the night is no one’s friend - where, after sunset, the vampires of the village awaken to satisfy their appetites. On one edge of town is the notorious nightclub, The Crimson Corset, run by undead proprietor, Gretchen VanTreese, where patrons can slake their darkest thirsts. On the other side of town is Eudemonia, a peaceful health spa and retreat, owned and managed by Michael Ward - also undead - who, unlike Gretchen, believes in the peaceful coexistence of humans and vampires.  

At the center of Crimson Cove is newcomer, Cade Colter - a human with a rare genetic trait that will break the uneasy centuries-old truce between Gretchen’s side and Michael’s. As Gretchen’s attempts are stymied by Michael and his Loyals, she realizes she’s going to have to take a subtler, more cunning course if she wants to get her hands on - and her fangs into -Cade. So, she begins laying a sophisticated trap … a trap that will put everyone around Cade in danger.

The Crimson Corset is the first in the Vampires of Crimson Cove series. A few of my vampires will be featured in the sequel to Tamara Thorne’s vampire novel, Candle Bay, which we’ll be writing together, and once this and some other projects are completed, I will be returning to Crimson Cove to find out if the dust of unholy and immortal battles ever really settles.

Tell us about your main character.

Cade Colter is a seemingly ordinary guy with some very unique traits he knows nothing about. On the surface, Cade is pragmatic, easygoing, and level headed. When I thrust him into this new world of monsters and waking nightmares, I was curious to see how he’d respond - and I was quite worried about him in the beginning. Fortunately, he proved himself adaptable, and I realized that beneath his mellow exterior, Cade has the grit and gallantry to do what must be done … assuming he can get past the eerily beautiful woman in the crimson corset who has developed a mysterious - and ominous - interest in him.   

What kind of vampires can readers expect from The Crimson Corset?

I love vampires and wanted to maintain their fundamental integrity, so while there’s sexiness, there’s also much menace. I wanted to write an all-encompassing novel that reached readers on many different levels, and I feel good about the outcome. Readers can expect glamour and gore, beauty and terror, laughter and woe, and fresh ideas with a strong respect for tradition.

Could you tell us something about the other characters in The Crimson Corset?

The characters are my favorite aspect of this novel - some are good, some are bad, but all of them are very real to me. I grew attached to many of them. Each of them has a fully-developed backstory - even the ones who didn’t get much stage time in this book, and I look forward to delving more deeply into their stories with the subsequent Crimson Cove books.

Which character is your favorite?

Her name is Jazminka. Jazminka is Gretchen’s second-in-command, and she’s one of my favorite characters in this book. Born in Yugoslavia in the 1700s, Jazminka has had plenty of time to perfect her skills. She can drain a grown man of blood in six seconds or less without spilling a single drop, and she uses weapons of only the most fashionable kind to do it. From her steel-tipped stiletto heels, to the flowing chiffon of her glove-sleeves that serve as garottes, Jazminka is a woman who dresses to kill. Literally.

Do your characters take on a life of their own and do things you didn’t plan?

Absolutely. Intensive plotting has proven to be an exercise in futility for me as my characters rarely follow the directions I’ve given them. But this is where 90% of the magic comes from. I like the surprises and have learned to trust the characters. I don’t know if this is the case for all writers but I’m better off letting the characters express themselves on their own terms, so long as they don’t wander too far from the plot.

In The Crimson Corset, the character of Gretchen VanTreese was originally cast as a throw-away - her sole purpose being to demonstrate the ways in which my vampires could meet their ends. But she took over, re-shaped the story, and made it all about her … which turned out to be a good thing. If I’d insisted she remain in place, I would have ended up with a much weaker story.

Among your other books, do you have a favorite hero or heroine?

I have a few from each book. In The Ghosts of Ravencrest, Belinda Moorland is endlessly interesting, and her phantom lover, Thomas Manning, is always a lot of fun. In The Cliffhouse Haunting, I get a particular kick out of Constance Welling and Dr. Siechert, although I’m not sure either of those two would qualify as heroes.

In 2014, you began an internet radio show, Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! which premiered to great acclaim. Can you tell us a little more about the show?

Haunted Nights LIVE! is a weekly, hour-long horror and paranormal-themed show that Tamara Thorne and I host. It has allowed me to meet some of the most legendary writers of this era. In addition to fiction authors, we also talk to occasional paranormal experts, and even psychics. Our guests have included Christopher Rice, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jeff Lindsay, Jay Bonansinga, Charlaine Harris, Christopher Moore, and Jonathan Maberry. We talk about writing, the publishing industry, and anything else that strikes our interest. Anyone who’s interested in the show can visit our Facebook page.

What do you see yourself writing next?

Aside from the next Thorne & Cross collaboration, I’m in the beginnings of the next solo novel which, although not related to The Crimson Corset, will feature some familiar faces. While writing, I’m often introduced to what I call “surprise characters.” These are characters that weren’t part of the original plan. Usually, these surprise characters further the story and end up being great additions … other times, they go nowhere and either need to be cut out entirely, or moved to a different story.

In The Crimson Corset, there is one character in particular, Deputy Nick Grayson, who really seemed to have a strong story behind him - more than I could explore in The Crimson Corset. I didn’t want to leave him behind so as I wrapped up The Crimson Corset, I gave him a job offer in a neighboring fictional town, where I will be able to tell his story. While this new book has no vampires - it focuses on angels and demons - it will be a lot of good, gruesome fun and I’m very excited about it.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

“She was petite, no more than five feet tall, with hair that flowed like shining white silk nearly to her waist. The emerald shade of her eyes was a striking contrast to her crimson lips and a black lace collar necklace studded with amethyst pendants emphasized the stark whiteness of her skin. For a long moment she was as still as a mannequin, then her lips spread into a smile. Her canines were odd: too white and too long. The woman before him was, in equal parts, hideous and beautiful, like two sides of the same coin, and Cade was torn in opposing directions; he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to throw her down and ravish her, or kick her out and slam the door behind her.

She leaned in closer, her strange beautiful face just inches from his own. His heart pounded hard behind his ribs and his throat went instantly dry.”

Where can readers find out more about you?

Everything you need to know - and then some - is available at my website at alistaircross.com

Final Transcript

FX NETWORK: THE STRAIN

Aug. 10, 2015/10:00 am PDT

 

SPEAKERS

Kristy Silvernail

Corey Stoll

PRESENTATION

Moderator     Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the FX Network’s The Strain conference call.  At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode.  Later, we will conduct a question and answer session and instructions will be given at that time.  (Operator instructions.)  As a reminder, today’s conference is being recorded.

                     I would now like to turn the conference over to our speaker, Ms. Kristy Silvernail.  Please go ahead.

                                     

Kristy            Hello and welcome to The Strain conference call with series star Corey Stoll who plays Dr. Ephraim Goodweather.  I’d like to thank all of you for joining us today and remind you that this call is for print purposes only, no audio may be used.  The Strain is currently airing its second season on Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.  And in case you didn’t hear, FX announced a Season 3 pick up at TCA last week. 

                     With that said, let’s go ahead and take our first question.

Moderator     Our first question today comes from the line of Heather McClatchey with TV Goodness, please go ahead.

Heather        Alright, good morning, thanks so much for talking to us this morning and congratulations on the renewal. 

Corey                          Thank you.

Heather        So, in the opener of this season, Eph told Fed that he is not a very good vampire killer so he’s going to go back to what he knows.  And now that he’s on to something, what’s sort of driving him at this point?  Is it really vengeance against the master and all of the vampires or is it really just to try and redeem himself in the eyes of the CDC and the people that sort of put him out to pasture because they thought he wasn’t valid in what he was trying to tell them?

Corey            Well yeah, I think it’s really both.  I think obviously it’s personal now that Kelly has turned and is actively trying to turn Zach but I think just his personality is such, too, that he’s won at everything pretty much in his life, up till now.  Now he’s in a situation where he’s lost more in the last week than he has in his entire life.  So he’s obviously a very—he’s always been a very alpha guy and very type A.  He’s been knocked down numerous pegs and is admitting such but he still can’t let go on either front, so it’s personal but it’s also professional.

Heather        Great, well thank you very much.  I’m really enjoying this season.

Corey            Thank you.

Moderator     We do have a question from the line of Christina Avina from On Request Magazine.  Please go ahead.

Christina                      Thank you.  Hi, good morning Corey. 

Corey                          Good morning.

Christina                      Let me ask you, the majority of your roles, and you have a long, long list to your credit, they’re very much more reality based than this scenario on The Strain.  How has it been as an actor for you to sort of operate in this world, especially one created by Guillermo del Toro where anything can really happen?  It must be very interesting.

Corey                          Yeah, it’s an interesting challenge and it’s one where I think we took—Carlton and I at the beginning of Season 2 felt the need to sort of adjust a little bit because so much of what the show is about is about the tone and the look and the style and the feel of it which is unique.  There are other vampire shows and other vampire movies out there but Guillermo brings something unique and so trying to find that right balance to sort of be in the same show. 

                                    I think it’s a pretty good challenge with this show where the stakes are incredibly high but it’s not the same world that we live in, and there’s also a real, sort of a wicked sense of humor that runs throughout the whole thing.  I think in this season there’s a lot of conversations between Carlton and myself about how to have me participate in that sense of humor because I think the danger is often to sort of fall into melodrama.  It’s sort of about being in that same world where these stakes are incredibly high, but you have to sort of keep one part of your tongue in your cheek a little bit.

Christina                      Great answer that really does clear it up.  Thank you so much.

Corey                          Sure.

Moderator                   And we do have a question from the line of Aaron Sagers with NBC Universal.  Please go ahead.

Aaron                          Hi, Corey, thanks so much for joining us today; I appreciate your time.  I’m curious Eph, in last night’s episode, when he throws his former boss off a train, sort of I guess a two-part—

Corey                          By accident.

Aaron                          Did he have a choice or did he make the choice to kill him?

Corey                          No, he didn’t; he didn’t.  It was really a [audio disruption] move to not get hit and before what he knew what was happening, he had killed him.  Now it was in his best interest probably to kill him but this is—it’s still obviously a very big deal, it’s his first human kill.  No, he did not intend to kill him.

Aaron                          Well now that he crossed that line will this open up a door to sort of a darker Eph, a guy that’s willing to do more and cross the line a little bit more easily?

Corey                          Yeah, I think you can say that.  The first time he killed anybody intentionally he was being attacked and that was sort of purely defensive.  As the first season went on, he became more inured to killing to the point where he doesn’t really sort of flinch killing people who are completely turned. 

                                    Then he crossed the line, again, at the beginning of this season experimenting on freshly turned people and then this is another one, and then sort of the ratchet that sort of keeps pushing him past these lines that he never thought he would cross.  But yeah, it definitely from that point on to the rest of the season, he is in a different place, morally.

Aaron                          Thank you.

Corey                          Sure.

Moderator                   We do have a question from the line of Brent Hankins from Nerd Repository.  Please go ahead.

Brent                           Hey, Corey, thanks for taking a few minutes with us this morning. 

Corey                          No worries, Nerd Repository, that’s awesome.

Brent                           Thank you, appreciate that.  Hey, before we jump into The Strain, I just wanted to say real quick Ant-Man was probably my favorite movie of the summer so far, so I hope you had as much fun making it as I had watching it.

Corey                          Probably more.

Brent                           Alright, so at Comic-Con we spoke to you a little bit and you said that this season you would really see a lot more of the relationship develop between Eph and his son.  I wondered for you as an actor, since they’ve recast Zach for this season, if it’s been more difficult to kind of formulate that relationship because you don’t have the first season to kind of draw on working with the other actor?

Corey                          The material was so different from Season 1 to Season 2 in terms of the types of scenes that I had.  It really is almost—it would almost be a whole new sort of relationship even with the same actor.  I think maybe that had something to do with the recasting with a sense of that this character was going in a very different direction from where he had been in the first season. 

                                    So, just the very nature of the scenes are so different.  In the first season, Zach was really an object really in the fight between Kelly and Eph.  Here in this season he’s much more willful and self-governed.

Brent                           Alright, thanks very much.

Corey                          Sure.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Angela Dawson from Front Row Features.  Please go ahead. 

Angela                         Hi, Corey.

Corey                          Hey.

Angela                         I just wanted to ask you, there was a lot made of the “Wig Gate.”  I just wanted to ask you, are you kind of relieved that that’s behind you now and were surprised at all the attention that that got while it did?

Corey                          Yes, I’m relieved and I spoke about this at the TCAs that it was, just from the sense that it was a distraction for the audience.  It’s unfortunate, and there’s an unfortunate bargain that every actor has to make; they don’t have to make, but often makes is that the more you work the more recognizable you are.  That can be helpful in getting you more work but it’s detrimental to your job as an actor because you’re less able to disappear into the role.

                                    I can see why someone like Johnny Depp has gotten so enamored of really intense hair and makeup for his roles because when you get that famous it can sort of be the only way to really do your job, just sort of become somebody else.  So that’s an unfortunate thing that people’s ability to see past the image.  It was limited here.  So yeah, it’s a relief to have that not be an issue in this particular project.

Angela                         Great, thanks a lot.

Corey                          Sure.

Moderator                   We do have a question from the line of Sandra Perez with The Hidden Remote.  Please go ahead.

Sandra                         Great.

Corey                          Hey.

Sandra                         In the last episode we saw the vampire children kind of going into full action now.  Can you tell us how much—what factor will they play in the future episodes?

Corey                          Well, the feelers are—

Sandra                         Yes.

Corey                          —the formidable part of the Strigoi Army.  They’re fast, they can crawl on walls, and they play an important part of the master’s arsenal going forward the rest of the season.

Sandra                         Alright, and what about Eph’s alcoholism?  We’ve seen it gradually increase.  Can we expect to see that affecting how he handles the whole situation?  Will that play a big role?

Corey                          Yeah, definitely.  He does not sober up the rest of the season.  He was never the best fighter in the world; but, no, he’s a little easier and a little bit more handicapped.

Sandra                         Right, thank you so much.

Corey                          Sure.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Suzanne Lanoue from The TV MegaSite.  Please go ahead.

Suzanne                       Good morning, Corey.

Corey                          Good morning.

Suzanne                       I was wondering since Ant-Man was mentioned, has your life changed much since the big hit movie came out.  Are you recognized more?

Corey                          You know, I have not noticed a big difference.

Suzanne                       Oh.

Corey                          I was pretty recognizable before and was stopped pretty often.  The one thing that I was sort of bracing myself for was that children would be stopping me and that would sort of be another level of, sort of, intensity, but I think children don’t quite, they’re not expecting to see people from movies walking around. 

                                    I remember growing up, my elementary school was on the same block as Christopher Reeve’s apartment.  I remember very vividly seeing him, you know we were a group and seeing him walking down the street and you know, everybody just is going crazy that there was Superman.  Then occasionally he would have like a disguise he would put on.  He had glasses and I think he even put on a fake beard or something because you know, that you had Superman living on the same block as an elementary school could be a real problem.  So I was sort of expecting the worst, but that doesn’t seem to be my problem.

Suzanne                       As a quick follow-up, if Ephraim were to get into a fight with Darren Cross, ‘Yellowjacket,’ who do you think would win?

Corey                          Darren Cross.

Suzanne                       He fights dirty?

Corey                          Yeah, and Darren Cross has a daily workout session; he’s in top shape and he’s very aggressive.

Suzanne                       Alright, thanks very much.

Corey                          Sure.

Moderator                   We do have a question from the line of Jamie Ruby with Scifivision.com.  Please go ahead.

Jamie                           Hi, Corey, thanks for talking to us today.

Corey                          Sure.

Jamie                           So, there’s a lot of really great and gross makeup and special effects and everything in the show.  Can you talk about working with them and also was there any that’s ever really grossed you out?

Corey                          This season there were a few things in the beginning in the first season, there was like a bashed in head and a couple bashed in heads and the autopsy.  In this season there seems to be a little bit of, at least from my feelings, this is my exposure to it, a little bit of a break from that. 

                                    Just in terms of my exposure to the makeup, it’s sort of a daily—it’s an amazing thing to see on a daily basis.  You come in at 6:00 a.m. in the morning on a Monday and the makeup people have been there for hours already churning out this army of vampires who all have their own unique, you know, level of transformation and different degrees of turning into vampires.  It’s really an incredible level of artistry and industry.  It’s really a bit of a conveyor belt but every vampire is sort of a bespoke job.

Jamie                           Yeah, and then is there anybody in particular you took inspiration from when you started the role, either a character, well besides the book, I mean obviously?

Corey                          No, I mean, surely I wasn’t modeling the character after anybody.  No, no, I really wasn’t.  There’s all of the, sort of great, cool actors who have played irascible, brilliant, you know like [indiscernible] but I don’t want to name any of them because then that will be the headline.

Jamie                           Thanks.

Corey                          Sure.

Jamie                           Thanks a lot.

Moderator                   We do have a question from the line of Jonathan Correia from iHorror.com.

Jonathan                      Hi, Corey, thank you for talking with us today and, again, congratulations on the renewal for third season.

Corey                          Thank you.

Jonathan                      In the first season Eph was much more involved with the actual hand to hand fighting with the strigoi, especially with the second season there’s been a lot of escalation and a lot of really neat and different fight scenes with them, especially when Dutch and Fet fought the Strigoi in the YMCA.  Now I’m just wondering, especially since Eph has been taking more of a—I mean he’s still a very important character in the war but he’s much more removed from the fighting.  Do you expect him to fight more, and also do you miss doing all the fight scenes at all? 

Corey                          In terms of in total between the two seasons, it’s about the same.  In the first bunch of episodes Eph is taking a much more—he’s using biochemistry to fight the strigoi.  Especially like that fight scene that I had with Barnes was actually one of the more—I think a lot of it was actually cut, but it was one of the more involved fights that I’ve had in either season.  Definitely moving forward there’s more fighting.

Jonathan                      Excellent.  Just one more question, a lot of shows these days, you know, there’s that hard decision of whether or not there’s going to be a definite end, in like, Breaking Bad, they knew they wanted to end around Season 5, and in other shows they’re made to keep going, like The Walking Dead.  Is there any plan for a definite ending of The Strain or are you guys going to keep going?

Corey                          I mean, according to Carlton, it’s a very specific 5 to 6 episode arc, where at the end of—it will go for three more seasons.  The idea is not to feel the need to tread water and sort of stretch it out and the conception of it is as a [indiscernible].

Jonathan                      Excellent, thank you so much for answering my questions today.

Corey                          Sure.

Moderator                   Our last question of the day comes from the line of Evan Griffin from theyoungfolks.com.  Please go ahead.

Evan                            Hi, Corey, thanks for doing the Q&A with us.

Corey                          Sure.

Evan                            This has been a consistent theme with the rest of the cast we’ve talked with, but I was curious if there was this theme, something by Guillermo del Toro, any kind of a creep factor, was there something that was a horror film, horror icon or a creepy story that really stuck with you in your youth that resurfaces when you’re on set with these things?

Corey                          I don’t know if there’s something that resurfaces; it’s hard to explain but it’s just when you’re on the set, there’s a moment when you first get on set where you see the lighting and the makeup and everything and there is a moment of, wow, that’s really cool.  And then by the fourth set up and the twentieth take, you know, it just becomes work.

                                    You’re playing make-believe, so you’re getting yourself into a state of terror.  The stuff isn’t really scary on its own pretty much after your first time doing it. 

Evan                            And—

Corey                          What?

Evan                            Sorry, I was just going to do a quick follow-up question.  You mentioned Johnny Depp briefly earlier, have you had the chance to see a cut of Black Mass yet and is there anything really in particular you’re excited about when it comes out in September?

Corey                          I’m sorry, you broke up a little bit there, have I seen Black Mass?

Evan                            Have you seen Black Mass and is there anything you’re excited about when it comes out?

Corey                          Yeah, I’ve seen it and it’s great.  Yeah, it’s an incredibly complex story to tell with a lot of characters and in sort of a complicated idea of what the power structures are within the Mob and within the FBI and Justice Department.  It’s very elegantly, I think, told and the performances across the board are really fine.  The whole movie, I’m really, I’m proud to have my small part in it.

Evan                            Excellent, thank you.

Corey                          Sure.

Kristy                          Alright, well thank you, again, to everybody for joining us today and especially, Corey, we really appreciate your time.  As a reminder The Strain is Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.  If you have any lingering questions go ahead and give me a call at 310-369-3699, otherwise you may now disconnect.  Thanks, everyone!

Corey                          Thanks.