Forbes' 'True Blood' hits DVD
By BRUCE KIRKLAND, QMI Agency
Popular culture is loaded with socio-political meaning, intended or
otherwise. When actress Michelle Forbes is involved, it is often
intended -- for the better. With her keen intellect and passion about
politics and society, Forbes responds with enthusiasm to roles that
offer layers of meaning. Even when vampires and serial killers are
involved.
"It is never," she says from her Los Angeles home, "just a TV show."
Her favourite small-screen, big-idea credits range from Star Trek: The
Next Generation through Battlestar Galactica to Homicide: Life on the
Streets, In Treatment, True Blood and Durham County. "In this day and
age, television and film has such a massive impact on us."
What kicks off our conversation is the recent DVD release of two of
these potent TV series. Both feature the strikingly handsome,
45-year-old Forbes as a second-season guest star.
One is the American-made True Blood, Alan Ball's lurid cult hit
starring Anna Paquin. Vampires rule the sultry, southern U.S. town of
Bon Temps. Metaphors abound, as always in vampire lore. Warner Home
Video released True Blood: The Complete Season Two on DVD and Blu-ray
May 25.
The other show is the Canadian-made Durham County, Muse
Entertainment's dynamic thriller series starring Hugh Dillon and
co-created by Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik, Janis Lundman and Adrienne
Mitchell. Set in a fictionalized suburb of Toronto, it explores the
complications of crime in a passive-aggressive, semi-rural setting.
Anchor Bay released Durham County: Season 2 on DVD-only July 27.
Forbes (born Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo in Austin, Tex.) has an
interesting take on visiting Canada. "It's funny to think that a very
thin border separates the two of us. We look alike (in a multi-cultural
sense). We sound alike. And yet it's a completely different feeling when
you cross that border."
For her, the feeling is elation because she is fascinated by Canada's
unique culture, especially after enduring George W. Bush's America, an
era Forbes found suffocating. She also crossed that border to work.
Durham County offered stimulation.
"Ultimately," Forbes admits, "not everything we can do can have great
meaning. But I feel that I have been really fortunate, (including) on
Durham County. That first season especially, Laurie Finstad really
wanted to explore this idea of violence in really fascinating and subtle
ways: How our youth is both seduced by this sexuality that is being
flaunted through our popular culture, but not understanding how directly
this relates to the level of sexual violence that is happening."
So, when she came to play Dr. Penelope (Pen) Verrity to Dillon's
crusty detective Mike Sweeney, Forbes was already committed. "I was
very, very pleased to be part of that team."
With True Blood, she remains a fan of Ball's show, even though her
season two character, the villainous Maryann Forrester, is not in season
three. "I think what is so brilliant about Alan, and the very delicate
tones that he has chosen to be a part of this show, is that the
political undercurrent is there if you want it. And it's there if you
need it. At the same time, it doesn't have to be. He's never preachy
about it."
For many, True Blood is a metaphor for the oppressed, including
homosexuals. But of course it's also infinitely more complicated. "I
often compare it to Battlestar," Forbes says.
"Battlestar was an extraordinary show that was able to use the future
as a political and metaphysical metaphor for today, questioning war and
our ethics and our humanity. As well as being deeply dramatic and
entertaining on an emotional level. The characters on both shows are
deeply rooted in their emotions, making them very real."
bruce.kirkland@sunmedia.ca
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