The lady is a vamp
MANILA, Philippines - She giggles a lot and she’s so sweet on the phone. Is she even allowed to be sweet? As Jessica Hamby in True Blood, we’ve seen Deborah Ann Woll turn some poor trucker into a buffet at the end of season two. But then again, we’ve also seen her lose her virginity and, to her utter horror, gain it back an episode later due to the vampire’s ability to regenerate. (Yes, she can regenerate a broken hymen.)
Being a teenager for the rest of your life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, as Woll discovers. It’s not endless partying and doing what you want. Think about all the angst that comes with the age and then multiply it to, well, forever.
“When I think about Jessica, (I) really think about being a teenager and how strenuous and difficult that can be,” she says. “Do you really want to live at that age forever and ever? It takes that idea of eternal youth and takes it out of the fantasy world and brings it to reality.”
Her character represents rebellious youth, left to her own devices and having to struggle to discover life on her own. “Nobody wants to deal with her,” she explains. “She’s left alone a lot. I’m always surprised by how many scenes I have to act by myself or with dead bodies.”
It’s the reason why the show is so good: a pretty dark and fantastical reflection on humanity, and in Jessica’s case, teenagers who are pretty much left to do their own thing.
“It’s no wonder she doesn’t think much of herself,” she says.
What was to be a two-episode guest appearance in the first season became a regular gig for Woll, who was making the rounds on several television shows after wowing audiences in the theater circuit. Now she sinks her teeth into the mainstream playing the perpetual teenager.
Young Star gets the bloody good actress on the phone and still she manages to put one hell of a vamp-style “glamour” on us.
YOUNG STARL: What can you share about Jessica and Hoyt’s relationship in Season 3?
DEBORAH ANN WOLL: We left them in a very rocky place. Hoyt found out some truths about his family. I’m still trying to learn about being a vampire and I do something very bad. So both of us have to find a way to come to terms with ourselves before we can start being a couple.
How do you feel about filming the explicit scenes in the show?
You know, actually, I have a lot of fun. They are very silly. You can’t believe you are actually doing this in front of a big group of people. I’m very lucky that the person I have to be intimate with in the show is a very good friend of mine, Jim Parrack, who is a remarkable actor. He and I have become very good friends. We talked extensively about what we will be comfortable with. He and I both have loves outside of the show and we wanted to make sure we were respectful to them and to each other. We plan it all out and tried to be silly with it and have a good time so that everyone can be comfortable about it, including the crew. They are probably not that comfortable shooting us when we are being intimate.
How did you feel when you learned that your character can regenerate her virginity?
Oh, boy! Well, we romanticize the idea of the eternal virgin, of eternal youth and I see that storyline as such a fascinating twist on it. That maybe it’s not all that good. That choosing one’s virginity is not the real representation of being a woman, of becoming a woman. To choose not to be a little girl anymore.
What are the cool experiences that you had as a teenager that you bring to your character?
I think all of us, as teenagers, there’s a lot of turmoil but it’s also a lot of fun. As a teenager, you feel things very strongly. It’s like living eternally in a Shakespearean play. Every little event feels like a huge life-changing event. I think I draw on that kind of drama of what teenage life is. We are very self-confident and very aware of ourselves even if we don’t know who we are yet as teenagers, so I think it’s a very interesting combination.
What are your actual thoughts on the youth today? Would you entrust them with the freedom or power of a vampire?
(Laughs) That’s a loaded question! I think it is hard enough being a teenager without having to deal with the power and the responsibility of being a vampire. Being that strong and having blood lust like that, that’s exactly what Jessica is going through this season, impulses that you cannot control that are going to take a huge amount of time for you to learn control over. I wouldn’t force that on anybody who wasn’t ready for it. So I think we should spare our youth that responsibility.
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True Blood Season 3 premieres on July 19, 9 p.m. exclusively on HBO/HBO HD.
