Fans Mingle with Stars and Give Blood During EyeCon’s True Blood Convention

During the EyeCon True Blood Convention in Orlando last weekend, Central Florida News Channel 13 caught up with the stars in attendance, including Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur), Ashley Jones (Daphne), Allan Hyde (Godric), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds) and Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte).

No Season 3 secrets were shared with the newscast, though Ashley caught herself nearly giving away something that happens to Lafayette, saying, “He’s gonna get…a lot’s gonna happen to Lafayette.”  Todd also was careful about the next season, telling interviewers:

I’m incredibly tight-lipped. I can tell you I got the first two scripts just before I came here to Orlando and I poured through them veraciously. They’re great and I’m dying to tell someone.

Lucky fans who attended the convention had the chance to talk to their favorite actors with photo ops, panel discussions, a buffet banquet, and Masquerade Ball. A blood drive was held during the convention as well at Florida’s Blood Centers.

Click here to be taken to Channel New 13 for an exclusive video about the event.

SOURCE: Central Florida News 13

(Photo Credit: Central Florida News 13)

VIDEOS: Nelsan Ellis Q & A at the EyeCon True Blood Convention

The following is a series of videos taken by a True Blood fan named TammyDevil666 on YouTube at Nelsan Ellis’ question and answer session during the EyeCon True Blood Convention that was held from November 13 -15, 2009 in Orlando, Florida.  In the videos Nelsan discusses how much his life has changed since being on True Blood and the some of the scenes from the show. Thank you so much TammyDevil666 for the videos so all those True Blood fans who could not attend can take in a little bit of the convention. Enjoy!

(Photo credit:  Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos via exposay.com)

VIDEO: Nelsan Ellis Interviewed By HBO Hungary

Nelsan Ellis who plays the flamboyant short-order cook Lafayette Reynold on Alan Ball’s HBO TV vampire series True Blood conducted an interview with HBO Hungary who will be launching Season 2 this week.  Enjoy this great interview with Nelsan!

SOURCE: HBO Hungary

Nelsan Ellis Offers Season 3 Theories

Not that he’s willing to break the True Blood code of silence and risk getting fired by Alan Ball, but Nelsan Ellis does have some ideas about where the show might go and what he’d like to see for Lafayette. He shared his insights with Digital Spy while he was at the MCM Expo in London.

Nelsan heard Alan Ball say that he’s planning for Lafayette to have a boyfriend, but he doesn’t think that his character is ready to be in a relationship:

“I don’t want a love interest, though, because I think Lafayette doesn’t have time! He has his businesses to deal with. Plus, it would take a special creature to pin him down.”

A special creature, indeed! Not only is Lafayette still traumatized from his time in the Fangtasia dungeon, but he doesn’t seem to put finding love at the top of his priority list. Whatever Alan decides to do will probably be a surprise to Lafayette, as well as Nelsan!

Nelsan does admit that he would feel uncomfortable filming sex scenes, but jokes that he would love to see some of those dreams Lafayette has about Eric! Since drinking the Viking vampire’s blood, Lafayette is forever linked to him, which will probably continue to play out with the V-distribution storyline from the end of Season two. Nelsan thinks that Eric is using Lafayette because he is so resourceful:

“He wants to take advantage of Lafayette’s skills, because Lafayette can maneuver in the environment and take care of himself pretty well. I think Eric knows that and so he will use him, because that skill is pretty rare in Bon Temps.”

Nelsan thinks that another interesting plot twist would be to turn Lafayette into a supe, but he thinks he’s already crazy enough as a human:

“It’s not appealing to me to be a vampire. I haven’t put too much thought on being a werewolf either. Because Lafayette is so eccentric as he is, how far can he go really? Also having all that hair on his face would mess up his makeup.”

Anything could happen! Especially since Lafayette is a character now completely disconnected from the story in Charlaine Harris’ books where he was killed.

Alan Ball can, and has, taken the show to new extremes. Nelsan says that he has gotten a script before and been completely amazed by the insanity:

“The pig and the witch. I was like ‘okay, really?’ I still don’t understand the whole pig situation. It wasn’t quite made clear why the pig is just chilling with her.”

On the subject of Bill’s kidnapping, Nelsan has read the books and knows that Russell, the Vampire King of Mississippi, is responsible, but he suspects Alan will mix it up to keep fans guessing. He shares his theory about it being Queen Sophie-Anne:

“Because if you remember, Bill’s found out that Eric’s been selling vampire blood. But Eric’s been selling vampire blood because he’s been ordered by the Queen to do it, and she didn’t like the fact that Bill knows. This is all just speculation on my part though!”

It’s fun to see the actors trying to figure things out just as much as we are. Of course, soon they will be back at work and know secrets that they still won’t tell us, but we can enjoy all the theories in the meantime until Season three!

SOURCE: digitalspy.com

(Photo credit: tvguide.com)

“True Blood’s” Unsung Heroes

HOLLYWOOD—Nelsan Ellis, who portrays the flamboyantly gay Lafayette Reynolds in Alan Ball’s and HBO’s hit vampire series True Blood, is a distinguished actor who attended the prestigious acting program at Julliard and in 2008 the actor won  the Satellite award for Best Supporting Actor for his work on True Blood. Ellis also won raves when he wrote a play called “Ugly,” an almost autobiographical piece about the devastating effects of domestic abuse, after his sister Alice was shot by her husband in 2002. Nelsan staged the play while a student at Julliard and received the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Martin E. Segal Award for his efforts.

Sam Trammell, Sam Courtesy: Link 81 Collection

Today Ellis is involved with a film called “Secretariat,” which involves the life story of Penny Chenery, owner of the racehorse Secretariat, who won the Triple Crown in 1973. Nelsan is also producing and acting in the film, which is set to be released next fall.

From “The Soloist” to “The Express,” Nelsan Ellis is making his mark as an actor and performer in films and has made many television appearances on hit shows like “Veronica Mars,” “Without a Trace” and “Lost.” Fans, however, have come to love Ellis in the over-the-top fem role as the gay queen of Bon Temps. Ellis embraced the role and throughout his character’s troubled storylines, which have included selling V [vampire’s blood], which is used as an illegal drug in the True Blood series, being kidnapped by Eric and used as food for the vampires for weeks before being saved by his childhood friend Sookie, who is played by Oscar winner Anna Paquin, to dealing with the Maenad Maryann and her coven of evil doers.

Nelsan Ellis, Lafayette, Courtesy: HBO

Fans can always count on Ellis’ strong performance and comedic delivery of lines, which even helps to break the tension of the sometimes overly intense yet incredibly written drama. When cousin Tara, played by Rutina Wesley was being abused by her boyfriend Eggs, you could see the pain in Ellis’ eyes and know that because of the tragedy of his sister due to domestic violence, Lafayette would never tolerate his cousin being treated that way.

In a show with hunks like Ryan Kwanten, Alexander Skarsgard, and Stephen Moyer, unsung heroes like Ellis and Sam Trammell, who portrays shape shifter Sam Merlotte, are important as supporting actors on the cult classic series. Trammell’s career and training is also very prestigious. Trammell made waves and received raves early on in his career when he appeared on the New York stage while building a maverick career in mostly independent features. Sam also attended Brown University where he caught the acting bug in his senior year.

While doing “Ah, Wilderness!” on the Broadway stage in 1997, he received a Tony award nomination the following year for the revival of the great Eugene O’Neill play. His TV work includes,“Numb3rs,” “Judging Amy,” “Cold Case” and Medium,” to name just a few of the prolific actor’s appearances.

However, on the HBO series True Blood, Sam is a shapeshifter, able to turn into any creature once he sees it, then imprints on the species, which came in handy a lot last season when the evil Maryann was chasing him down the dark road ready to devour him, but he was able to see an owl, imprint on it and quickly change to one and fly away for his own safety. Still battling Maryann, he was able to turn into a fly while in a jail cell, before Maryann could get to him.

Outlandish plots is what Alan Ball’s True Blood is all about. Though these two actors, Sam Trammell and Nelsan Ellis, are such capable and brilliant thespians, they keep the show popular as the unsung heroes who not only save the day, but make fans laugh and cry every week while rooting for them to win over evil.

“True Blood” airs on HBO.

[Editor's Note: Interestingly both of these guys along with Tommy's friend Ashley Jones (Daphne), Allan Hyde (Godric) and Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur) will all be at Eyecon next weekend!  See you there!]

Source: Tommy Garrett at Canyon News

(Photo credit: HBO and Link 81 Collection)

Nelsan Ellis Talks True Blood At The London MCM Expo

In True Blood, the character of Lafayette has taken on new life beyond his book existence, and Nelsan Ellis couldn’t be more pleased. The Julliard-trained actor is very different from the sassy, cross-dressing Merlotte’s fry cook, but that just makes the job all the more fun. At the MCM Expo in London, Nelsan answered audience questions and received lots of cheers from fans excited about the possibility of some Lafayette-Eric dream scenes.

In the beginning, Nelsan thought Lafayette would meet the same fate as his character had in Book 1 of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series. He read the books before auditioning, and when he got the part, he signed a one-year contract with the understanding that he would die after 12 episodes. Nelsan says he was “cool with that,” but he was thrilled when he found out that he was surviving:

“[I was] elated! Because I still had a job! Alan Ball told me after we had the table read of the twelfth episode. So, up until that point, I thought I was dead. He went, ‘You know you’re not dying, right?’, and I said, ‘I didn’t, but thanks for telling me!’ “

That turn of events is just a testament to what a fantastic actor Nelsan is and the way that he channels Lafayette. Alan didn’t want to lose him from the show and viewers were overjoyed when they discovered that he was alive in the season two premiere. Nelsan is very flattered when people appreciate his work. I think we can all agree that he deserved to keep his job because he’s so good at it! He really enjoys getting to be bold and crazy as Lafayette:

“Every chance I get to where I could be something that’s not me, I jump at it. Because I’m guarded and I have these rules on how I should behave, but whenever I get to jump out of those rules and go f-ing crazy, I do! Lafayette is a dream role for me.”

His favorite scene to play was the AIDS-burger scene, which he thought was really well written and allowed him to show off his toughness. To create the character, he gathered inspiration from a variety of places:

“It was a collaboration. We all threw in some ideas. The scarf thing is ’cause my momma used to wear a lot of scarves. I think there’s some Prince influence in there. We did research, went to a whole lot of gay clubs, we’d go down on the strip, so we just came up with it. We also threw in some ideas into this stew of his wardrobe.”

The most difficult stuff to portray has been the post-traumatic stress disorder of the second season. That was tough for Nelsan because he was used to Lafayette being fun and then had to shift to being broken down by the disorder. Working on True Blood has allowed Nelsan to bond with his cast and crew and to learn a lot, as well. He has a close relationship with Rutina Wesley who plays Tara, especially because they went to school together, and he has also become good friends with Alexander Skarsgard. Nelsan is making use of all the opportunities he can to learn from Alan Ball:

“He’s a god among men. He really is a genius at what he does. I get to rub elbows with him on a daily basis. He writes some of the episodes, and he directs some of the episodes, so I end up being a sponge, soaking up all his genius. When he directs you – and I’m like, this dude has won Oscars – he knows what he’s doing.”

Nelsan adds so much flavor to True Blood with his portrayal of Lafayette! It will be amazing to see what else happens to him season three and beyond, especially since it will be a surprise even to fans who have read the books.

SOURCE: denofgeek.com

(Photo credit: backstage.com)

Nelsan Ellis Interviewed At London’s MCM Expo 16

True Blood’s Nelsan Ellis who portrays the always fabulous Lafayette Reynold attended London’s Movie Comic Media (MCM) Expo 16.  At a round table discussion with British press, Nelsan discussed his role as Lafayette and gave some great insight into his experience working on the show.

Nelsan spoke about meeting his fans, both in Britain and back in the United States:

It’s cool meeting the fans across the pond. They’re just like the fans over in America, and they say the same things about the show, so it’s like, wow, I guess the show makes the same impact….It makes you feel good that your work has translated across the screen and some person comes from Manchester just to go, “Wassup, I like your work.” You have to appreciate stuff like that.

When asked about his character, Lafayette, Nelsan gushed that he was attracted to the role because:

…he has so many colors! I mean, it’s just, it’s an actor’s wonderland when you can just play so many things and do so many things, and I love putting on lipstick and the eyeliner and the eye stuff and do all this crazy stuff!

While he loves the character, however, Nelsan insists that he is not really like the character he plays on True Blood:

Well, they [fans] think that I’m like Lafayette. I am kind of a shy dude, but I’m not Lafayette. The luxury with being an actor is that all the things you…all the courage you wish you had, you get it out in the character. Because I don’t have Lafayette’s character, his courage, and certainly I don’t have his sexual prowess. Many people think I do, so I’ve had some strange situations happen to me. But I’m kind of a reserved dude. But Lafayette is kind of reserved. He’s big when he needs to be big, but he’s also pretty chill.

Episode 5 of Season 1 is Nelsan’s favorite episode because of Lafayette’s AIDS burger scene in Merlotte’s.  He said he was thrilled when he read the script, because he was going to get to do so much in that episode:

I get to do all this stuff in one episode and so I love that! I know it’s egotistical of me to love the episode that I dominated, but I like that episode. Normally I have two scenes, and I have four in that episode and I got to do some fun, fun, fun stuff.

On the show, Nelsan does all of his own stunts, and in the round table discussion, he talked and laughed about that experience:

Well, I tell you this, bro. The first day that I had to do a stunt, they brought up some stunt dude and stunt dude was gonna do my stunt, and I was like, “Y’all just wasted money ’cause he’s gonna sit there…. I’m doing all my stunts.” And I’d do all my stunts and then they stopped giving me a stunt double. So I do all my own stunts. It’s weird, though, when I’m in a fight scene and I’m fighting another stunt double instead of the actor, ’cause nobody else does their own. Rutina does her own stunts too.

HBO is good like that. They listen to you. You can say, “I wanna do my own stunts” and they’ll go, “Okay.” ‘Cause HBO is cheap, so that helps them save money if they don’t have to hire a stunt double. So they’re like, “Cool!”

…I punched a dude in the face before! And I thought he was gonna hit me back!…It was a stunt man. He was like 6′4″, 235. I was like, “Bro, I’m sorry. It was a accident.” And they were like, “Go on! Why’d you stop? That’s the tape we coulda used, ’cause it was real!” I was like, “But he’s bleeding!”

Nelsan also opened up about some of the more explicit elements of True Blood, the way his family has reacted to the show, and the nudity in some of the episodes:

I don’t have to…well, I’m glad I don’t have to bare all like some of my other cast members, but I am from a very religious background. My father hates the show. My mother hates the show. I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me except if I have to show my ding-dong. Then I’m like, “Really? Really?” It bothers my parents, you know what I’m saying, but they’re closed minded, Southern Baptist, kooky people. The only thing that bothers me is if I have to show my…piece…my bits and pieces. Then I want a stunt double. Show his bits and pieces. I don’t wanna show all my bits and pieces. I don’t want everyone knowing my measurements. It’s crazy. Ryan Kwanten, they have all these zoom in pictures, they throw them up on the internet. I don’t wanna go through all that business!

The one character Nelsan thinks would be the most fun to portray is Eric Northman.  Nelsan says:

He’s 2000 years old, he does not know fear, so he’s just chillin’ all the time. All the chicks want him. All the dudes want him. You know what I’m sayin’? He’s just in the middle just cool, suave, collected, got it together.

Nelsan spoke about his break into showbiz, some of his other work before True Blood, and then said that the important thing he’s learned from working on the show is:

Stay committed to your instincts. Keep listening to that small voice inside of you that tells you what to do. ‘Cause when you start listening too much to people, you can sabotage yourself. That small voice has guided you through life and it keeps you true to the character.

For British fans just now getting a taste of True Blood, Nelsan gave a few hints about what they could look forward to in Season 2, just enough to whet their appetites, but giving nothing away.

The folks at Geek Syndicate posted a link to the full fascinating and humorous ten minute interview. Click here to listen to Nelsan speak, which is fantastic and should not be missed.

SOURCE: Geek Syndicate

(Photo credit: Geek Syndicate)

Nelsan Ellis At The London MCM Expo: A Fan Encounter

Our dear friend in the UK, Joao Vasconcelos, was so kind to send us a write up of his experience attending the London MCM Expo and meeting True Blood’s Nelsan Ellis. Many thanks to Joao for sharing his experience with all the True Blood readers for it must have been a fantastic experience to meet Nelsan in person!  So let us sit back and enjoy Joao’s encounter with the very talented Nelsan Ellis.

During the weekend of October 24th and 25th, the ExCeL Center in East London was the host to the London MCM Expo in which many people gather to celebrate many cult classics. Around the center, there were people dressed as characters from the Star Wars series to Master Chief from the Halo Series. However there was one person that I was particularly excited to see. Nelsan Ellis was there to sign and take pictures with fans. Nelsan was really kind to the fans and had no problem signing the many things that they brought to him or taking many pictures with them.

Nelsan looked completely different to his alter-ego on the show. He was dressed very smart and was unshaven. I first saw Nelsan being shown around the center before he started signing and on first look, I wasn’t too sure if it was him. It wasn’t until I looked over my shoulder that I noticed that it was him. There was a reasonably sized queue waiting to see Nelsan with many carrying various merchandise consisting of DVDs, posters and the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Those without anything had a choice of two promo shots from Season One featuring Nelsan.

Upon meeting Nelsan, he was very kind and gracious. He signed both promo pictures for me and my Dead Until Dark book. After signing, he took a picture with me and wished me a good day and I wished him one back. Before letting the next fan in the queue walk up to Nelsan, I wished him good luck on Season 3 and congratulated him on Season 2 in which he replied, “Thank you very much good sir”.

Joao Vasconcelos

Nelsan Ellis Will Be Appearing At The London MCM Expo

Calling all UK True Blood fans!!! Nelsan Ellis who plays our hysterical and beloved Lafayette on Alan Ball’s hit HBO TV vampire series True Blood has confirmed that he will be attending the London MCM Expo to sit on the True Blood panel. The Expo will take place on October 24th and 25th at the Excel in London. You may purchase tickets for the event from The London MCM Expo website. If you are planning on attending the Expo why not get a picture with Nelsan! That’s right, the Expo will be offering a chance for you to get your photo taken with the star of your choosing. What an amazing keepsake that would be! For more information on these photos you can visit the Expo’s webpage here.  The prices for the photos will be listed on the Expo’s website as the event date gets closer. Who would pass this opportunity up?? So get your tickets now!!

A very special thank you has to go out to the people at UK Truebies on facebook who posted the information first.

SOURCE:  London MCM Expo

Photo Credits: HBO Inc.

Nelsan Ellis And Ashley Jones Also To Attend EyeCon’s True Blood Convention

We now have more exciting updates about the EyeCon guest list! Nelsan Ellis and Ashley Jones are scheduled to appear, along with Sam Trammell and Allan Hyde. So True Blood fans who are able to go to this convention in Orlando, Florida, November 13-15, will not only get the chance to hang out with Sam Merlotte and Godric, but Lafayette and Daphne, too!

EyeCon is a fan-friendly multi-genre celebrity autograph convention for science fiction, horror, television and movie fans! There will be Celebrity Autograph sessions, Celebrity Photo Op sessions, a Celebrity Banquet, a Cocktail Party with the stars, Panels, Games, Guitar Hero, Celebrity Breakfast auctions and so much more! There will always be something to do during the busy, fun-packed weekend!

The variety of events spread out over three days allow fans many opportunities to interact with the actors in a relaxed atmosphere. There are parties on Friday and Saturday night. At the panel sessions, you can ask questions about what it’s like working on the show. Sounds like a very fun convention–spending time with 2 shapeshifters, 1 vampire, and a party-loving human! Who knows, maybe more people from the cast will be added between now and November? Most importantly, it’s going to be thousands of people sharing their love for True Blood.

For fans interested in more information about tickets and programming, check out www.eyeconfla.com.

SOURCE: eyecon.com

(Photo credits: Albert Ortega/PR via exposay.com, Robert Voets/CBS via soapoperasource.com)

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