Denis O’Hare Sinks His Teeth Into Debate on True Blood vs. Broadway Fans
After a sensationally over the top run on season three of HBO’s uber-popular vampire series True Blood, Tony winner Denis O’Hare (who played the show’s murderous King of Mississippi) has found a new set of admirers on his way back to the stage in the forthcoming Broadway production of Elling. So, which fans are more hard-core: Broadway-goers or vampire lovers? “It’s a tossup,” O’Hare recently told Broadway.com. “Broadway fans have to travel here to see their shows, so they have a level of commitment that’s more than just tuning in every week.” Thanks to TV, however, O'Hare can feel his profile rising: “I get left alone for the most part, but then suddenly somebody will scream, ‘Oh my God! You’re the King of Mississippi!'”
O’Hare got a taste of True Blood fandom at San Diego’s Comic-Con convention earlier this year. “Comic-Con is a special kind of crazy,” the actor joked. “There were around 130,000 people there!” In addition to convention-goers, the actor was surprised to find he had intergalactic fans. “I got surrounded by the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he exclaimed. “First Deanna Troi [Marina Sirtis] walked up, then Data [Brent Spiner], then Worf [Michael Dorn]. I was just like ‘Oh my God!’” But after his character's questionable fate of being encased in a tomb of concrete for the next 100 years, will O’Hare be back for season four? “I love the show and really hope I’m back next year," he said. "It's a very good atmosphere."
In the meantime, O’Hare is prepping to return to Broadway for the first time since 2007’s Inherit the Wind in the mental hospital comedy Elling opposite Brendan Fraser, Jennifer Coolidge and Richard Easton. “I’m scared and nervous,” he said. “I forgot how much work [Broadway] is.” Asked if he's offered any advice to Fraser as the Mummy star makes his Broadway debut, O'Hare said, “I think he’ll be just fine. He doesn’t need any help from me. I’m really looking forward to working with him, and I love this script.”
O’Hare received a Tony Award for Take Me Out and a nomination for Assassins. His other Broadway credits include Sweet Charity, Major Barbara, Cabaret and Racking Demon. Off-Broadway, he played the title role in a 2008 production of Uncle Vanya. Elling begins performances November 2 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre with an opening night set for November 20.
