It is a cliche Los Angeles day — sunny, breezy, 76 degrees. Not exactly the kind of weather you expect when hanging out with vampires in a morgue. But that is what I got when I went to visit the set of Moonlight, the new CBS drama that reinvents the vampire mythology. Alex O'Loughlin stars as Mick St. John, a vampire who lives as a mortal private detective. He resists his natural urge to drink blood straight from the vein, and instead subsists on blood bank withdrawals. "It's like watching an alcoholic trying not to fall off the wagon," Alex tells me.
His counterpart on the show is Beth, a journalist, played by Sophia Myles. There is a definite sexual tension there, but as Sophia says, "I think the show is over the moment they get together." The two have a natural camaraderie, perhaps stemming from the fact that they are both foreigners, he from Australia; she from England. "It's comforting," Sophia admits.
Rounding out the cast is Shannyn Sossamon, who plays Coraline, Mick's ex-wife - and the vampire who turned him.
The day starts not at the morgue, but on a soundstage. Moonlight star Jason Dohring is showing me around the sets on the Warner Bros. lot. Jason plays Josef, one of the oldest vampires on the show, and one of the few who know Mick as a vampire. "I can't decide if my character is good or evil," Jason muses as we tour his character's imposing office. "I prefer to think of it not as black or white, but 'dark grey.'" His office, with its warrior wall carvings and shadowy paintings of a woman in purple ("She looks like Coraline, don't you think?" asks Jason) leans towards very dark grey indeed.
Article comments
1 - MrsStJohn
Best report from the set so far! I love that last quote from Sophia, although it looks like Alex is the one demonstrating the idea in the picture. LOL That last pic of Sophia and Alex is very cool. I've linked to you from my site, Moonlight-Detective.com.