What’s Up, Denis O’Hare? The Elling Star on His Peculiar New Play and Camping It Up on True Blood

After an over-the-top turn as Russell Edgington, the murderous vampire king of Mississippi, on HBO’s True Blood, Tony winner Denis O’Hare is back on Broadway as the title character in the comedy Elling, based on a popular series of Norwegian novels and subsequent film adaptation. O’Hare plays a man who is unable to cope with the death of his mother and is placed in a mental institution. “It’s part farce, part vaudeville, part psychological drama, part situation comedy,” O’Hare says of the new work. “It’s such a beautiful and unusual play, which is a risk because it’s not easily categorized.” Broadway.com caught up with O’Hare to discuss playing the unstable figure as well as get the scoop on the southern vampire world.

The story of Elling is popular in Europe. Do you think the Norwegian setting and characters will translate well on Broadway?
It will simply because it’s an incredibly universal story. Since the first preview, we’ve been overwhelmed with how much the audience jumps on [board]. In the beginning, the audience isn’t quite sure what to do because they’re confronted with two people who are broken. You wonder if you’re supposed to laugh at them or not. I think we give them permission because we say these guys aren’t pathetic; they’re intelligent and funny and a force to be reckoned with. Ultimately, what you’re laughing at is your own foibles.

What’s the key to balancing the comedic and dramatic aspects of a character like this?
The great thing about the play is it doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects. There are certainly moments where we see Elling’s illness and the pain it causes him, but the play is big enough to encompass both comedy and heavy moments. It’s a tribute to the play’s structure that it can do that without losing the audience.

Did you do any research on people with these attachment issues?
The play is very smart in not diagnosing these guys. I looked at a variety of things including my experience with schizophrenia and severe depression in my family. I also met with some Asperger’s and autistic kids on Staten Island. I went to a mental hospital in Norway and did some reading on those disorders to figure out the similarities between their diagnostic profiles and what Elling says and does. I found it helpful, but I also departed from it. This isn’t an “issue” play; we're not trying to do a play about mental illness.

Brendan Fraser plays Elling’s best friend. Have you guys formed a friendship of your own?
I’ve had a great time with him. From the very beginning, we had a dinner together and got along like gangbusters. I have no hesitation to go on stage with him because I feel like he’s got my back, and I’ve got his.

Your character takes on the quirky alter-ego of ‘the Sauerkraut Poet.’ Do you ever write any of your own poems?
I was actually a poetry major in college before I punted and decided to become a theater major. I wrote the poem that we put on the sauerkraut boxes in the style of Elling. We were sitting in rehearsal one day and [director Doug Hughes] said we needed a poem and I thought, “I’m not going to let anybody else write it!” I was a serious poet for quite a while and had little notebooks filled with poetry. [A taste of O’Hare’s poem: Darkness and the quiet/Night—Almost here/On the wet pavement/Where the sulphur-buzz/Of the goose-necked lamps/Is the only interruption.]

Elling has many quirks like occasionally sleeping in a closet. Will we see your own eccentric characteristics onstage?
I don’t think so. Elling is focused more on the fantasy interior life where as I tend to be a pretty outward and gregarious, but I do I think we can all relate to the sense of fear and defeat he goes through in terms of anxiety. I’m an actor and New Yorker: Trust me, I’ve definitely dealt with my fair share of anxiety.

Your role on True Blood this season was pretty wild.
It’s one of the best sets to work on because the people are incredibly cool and the material is so rich. From the outside, the show can appear to be camp, but it’s a pretty tough acting job. You really have to bring all your skills. It was incredibly emotionally draining. Quite a few of the show’s fans are showing up at the theater, which is great.

As an actor who’s very open about his sexuality did you enjoy playing a gay role on True Blood?
In a strange way you can’t really say Russell is a gay character because ancients didn’t have the same understanding of sexuality as we do. I thought of him as a pagan warrior who was bent on taking over the world. That was the most important thing: The fact that he had a [male] lover was a little incidental.

Do you have any favorite credits from your many film roles?
A Mighty Heart. We shot it in India and it was such a cool project. Michael Winterbottom is one of the great directors of this century. Angelina [Jolie] is really cool and nice to work with, too. She’s as down to earth as she can be given the weird world she’s been forced into. I also loved doing Charlie Wilson’s War because I got to travel to Morocco and hang out with Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Do you have anything planned after Elling finishes its run in March?
Not really, I've been focusing on this. I don't know about True Blood. My character's not dead [Russell was buried alive in a cement tomb]. For all I know, I'm going to L.A. to get out of the cement!