Alan Hyde : Thomas Conradsen

”I realised at once, that this would be a unique and intelligent series. Vampires are an allegory for the darksides of humanity. Their race is prone to a mixture of homophobia and racism, and that’s what the series deals with in a brilliant way, I think.”

Did you enjoy the drama in the gangster series “The Sopranos”? Or the realism in “Band of Brothers”? Maybe, you prefer the more sensual scenes in “Sex and the City”?

The three critically acclaimed tv-series share two things: They’re all produced by the American pay-per-view channel HBO and have cast a spell on millions of viewers in the US as well as in Europe. Week after week. Year after year.

 

19-years old Danish star

Now, the stations latest creation, “True Blood”, is the reason for deserted streets, with the best view count since the aforementioned “The Sopranos” and between the serie’s biggest stars, a Danish teenager, 19-years old Allan Hyde, is hiding.

“When I agreed to do it, I had no idea how big it (=TB) was. I hadn’t heard about “True Blood” yet. And to be completely honest, I felt that vampire series were a little boring. I only knew “Buffy” and that was a girls’ show,” Allen Hyde, in Denmark best known for a small part in TV3’s soapopera “2900 Happiness”, explains.

Alan Ball, the man behind “True Blood”, happened to need a Scandinavian teenager for one of the key parts on his show. Allan Hyde’s agent heard about the part and convinced him to make a tape and send it to Alan Ball. This impressed Ball so much, that the Academy Award-wining writer of “American Beauty” immediately hired the young Dane.

There was no need for a formal audition. Allan didn’t even have the time for a cup of coffee before he found himself sitting between the show’s already established stars, ready to rehearse his scenes.

At this point, the young Dane was only two months short of graduation from his highschool on Zealand (AN: that’s the island where Copenhagen is located). In other words – he threw the proverbial schoolbooks away, packed his suitcase and moved to Los Angles when the chance arose.

“It was my dream. To be a professional (full-time) actor. To live off what I love. And it wasn’t the most important thing about highschool to get a certificate with grades on. Most important were the knowledge and friends I’d already won through those three years,” Allan Hyde says about his hasty decision.

 

From cliché to success

The show had already been broadcasted into American homes for a year, when the teenager became a part of it. The thin episodes of the first season got only lukewarm reviews by tv-critics.

“Filled with clichés” and “predictable vampire action” were expressions used. But when the twelve episodes of the first season gradually got watched by a bigger audience, the critics attitude began to change and they started to write about the show’s unique charm.

“True Blood” is a little bit like “Twin Peaks” with bloodsuckers. And Alan Ball’s entirely unique skill to convert everyday moments into aesthetic, colorful gems bewitches millions of diehard fans every week.

In short, the drama series takes place in a tiny town in the American South. In the middle of nothing. People live side by side with vampires, since the deathly pale creatures have exchanged warm blood with a satisfying bottled surrogate: The so-called True Blood.

This new approach to the vampire genre has since developed into a Pandora’s box with original ministories from the shows group of writers. There are love stories, in which humans and vampires fall in love across the races. And murder stories, in which supernatural creatures exploit their animal instincts to find solutions.

 

Added to this mixture is a black and constantly border seeking humor. But “True Blood”’s biggest strength is its appeal to male and female viewers alike.

”I realised at once, that this would be a unique and intelligent series. Vampires are an allegory for the darksides of humanity. Their race is prone to a mixture of homophobia and racism, and that’s what the series deals with in a brilliant way, I think. That’s what I fell for “True Blood” – instantly and completely,” the young actor who can be seen in four episodes of the second season explains.


 

Youngest member

Allan Hyde was the show’s youngest man and least experienced actor on set. This fact stood in contrast to the character he’s playing. Godric is an immortal leader, older than Jesus and the top of the food chain.

“I was utterly inexperienced and everything was overwhelming. To be the shows alpha among the vampires on top of all this, felt like immense pressure on me. The directors wanted me to be exactly like I was on the videotape (AN: the aforementioned audition tape) they fell for. But they had never seen me “live”. That’s why I had a certain insecurity in the beginning. Would I really be able to deliver or was the tape just a lucky coincidence,” Allan Hyde, who had to develop his character and his acting mostly by himself, says.

There’s a new director for every episode in American tv-series and therefore the main responsibility to develop the characters in the right direction lies on the actors. This meant for Allan that he had to take his own decisions because the most directors he worked with didn’t say much more than “action” and “cut”.
“There I was, in a foreign country and was supposed to play a character who was as different from mine as may be. At the same time, everything took place in English which meant that I needed to repeat my lines many times before every take or I’d stumble over the words.

But I felt that I caught the character and people around me backed me with praise and recognition. That was a fantastic experience when tiny little me stood in front of the camera and my two meter tall cast mate Alexander Skarsgård (son of Stellan Skarsgård, red.) fell to his knees in front of me. I felt the magic of being an actor then,” he recollects.

 

Hot with the big shots

But four episodes later, the fairytale was over. The twelfth and last episode in this season has just been broadcasted in the US and as it looks now, Allan Hyde won’t be back again for the third season (AN: yes he will, yes he will!!!). Not because Alan Ball or the other bosses didn’t wanted him to but because his role – as of now – is over.

The movie scene in Los Angeles has opened its eyes for Hyde in spite of the relatively short screen-time. He auditioned for a new movie by Gus van Sant, director of last years double Academy Award winning “Milk” only a couple of days after this interview with MS.

“It is as if all the big shots want to see what I am able to do now. I’m going to lots of auditions that aspiring actors who have lived in Hollywood for years don’t even get close to. There’s no doubt that I have to play my cards now. I have to try and get more parts as long as my name is hot over here because the clock’s ticking in L.A. It’s all business,” Hyde explains. He will come back to Denmark soon and there a stage role will be waiting for him in 2010.

There is one thing standing against the Dane in many auditions: the language. He grew up in Denmark with a Danish mother and a British father. This means that he’s speaking English fluently but it’s difficult for him hide the British as well as the Danish accent.

And at American auditions actors speaking American are usually preferred.
“That’s my biggest issue right now. I’m doing everything I can to change it. I practice all the time and work with a dialect coach on a daily basis. I almost got the accent now because at my last audition they didn’t even realize that I’m a foreigner,” Allan Hyde says.

While the biggest moviemakers in Hollywood stand in line to have a look at the Dane, there’s an even bigger group of people looking up to him. Real fans of “True Blood”.

Homepages in his honor pop up everywhere and the net is swarmed with adoring superlatives from teenagegirls and verbal pats on his shoulders like “actor discovery of the year” by movie fans. Ever since the first episode did people stop the 19-years old actor in the streets of the American city to congratulate him.
“It needs some getting used to and one has to forget about the Danish Jantelovn (AN: 10 rules starting with “Don’t think that you are special.” Over here, people would be offended if you wouldn’t show your pride and appreciate the chance you got. To downplay your own results is a Danish thing and one you should avoid here,” he says.

 

Sweet words from strangers

It took some effort to adapt to handling hundreds of love letters from girls online. His official profil on the world’s biggest movie database, IMDB.com is crammed with sweet words for instance.

“At home it’s not like everybody and anybody is writing to me that I’m “supercute” and “superhot” and therefore I’m immensely flattered. But on the flipside, I have no idea what kind of people they are. I’m not looking for praise on the internet but sometimes it’s unavoidable. And my mum’s reading it too. She’s my biggest fan and she’s sending me links whenever she finds something funny about me online,” Allan Hyde says about the fan hysteria.