“Is it possible to have a guardian vampire?”
British actress Sophia Myles EPA/GERO BRELOER
Beth Turner works at a TMZ-styled clone, Buzzwire, and she’s on fire combing the City of Angels for the hot scoop; the story that will elevate her from just another tabloid staffer posted outside the latest hot club. Her boss, Mo, sends her packing - “Mama needs new content.” Beth is an overachiever.
Sophia Myles is an ethereal English beauty. Her proper London accent is completely hidden for her role as Beth, the reporter with moxie, and who is also the object of private investigator Mick St. John’s watchful eye and soulful yearning.
“Moonlight” is a new CBS character-driven drama that dips heavily into high production value action sequences, time period flashbacks and true romance. It's clear from the moment “Moonlight” opens that we are in the hands of pros, both in front of and behind the cameras.
Alex O'Loughlin
The show isn’t just typical vampire genre; it integrates layers of intrigue, solid action, tightly wound sexual tension and unrequited love that will not make you feel uncomfortable watching with slightly younger audiences. Not too young though - there are some scary moments, thanks to great visual and special effects makeup artists.
The pilot opens with the horrific discovery of a gruesome murder of a young, college-aged girl in Los Angeles, with tell-tale “vampire” bite marks that capture Beth’s curiosity. Unbeknownst to her, private investigator Mick St. John is surveilling her.
Cast of "Moonlight"
The funeral of the murder victim yields big clues that set Beth off in an undercover path and a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a poseur vampire - a delusional, predatory college professor who sparks morbid curiosity in young co-eds.
Alex
“Moonlight” and the lead character Mick St. John, played by Australian Alex O’Loughlin, are reminiscent of Showtime’s ‘Dexter,” in that Mick sublimates his natural instincts as a vampire the way Dexter fights his killer demons, working in a constructive way by killing only the deserving - if there is such a thing.
O’Loughlin is a charming, self-deprecating typical Aussie, a real decent guy who resembles a young, Hugh Jackman in certain angles. The film crew and cast of ”Moonlight” sing his praises, often enjoying a cigar with him when shooting wraps for the day.
Forever 30-years-of-age, Mick's as handsome and charismatic as he was on his fateful wedding night, back in the 1950’s. When St. John jumps into action, he struggles to maintain the code of ethics that keeps him on the straight and narrow – this code is the tenuous psychological barrier that intercedes between Mick and his lustings toward vampiric cravings of innocents.
When I was on set, co-star Myles shared that she adored her “mate,” O’Loughlin. During the filming of episode 106, “Black Crystal,” Myles continued, “I love him, he’s handsome, he breaks my heart how sweet he is. He’s strong, this is his first (TV) lead, and all the right qualities are there.”
Jason
The juice of any solid drama depends on the quality of the secondary characters. Mick’s pal, an older vampire named Josef, is played pitch-perfect by Jason Dohring. Josef isn’t quite as discerning as his friend, as he feeds by biting into sexy girls’ wrists for sustenance, and offers the abstemious Mick some bagged, ready-to-serve plasma.
“I get to do my own stunts, like eating the girl,” laughed Dohring inside the standing set of Buzzwire on the historic Stage 14 of the Warner Bros. lot.
Dohring noted the impact of being on that particular soundstage. “They filmed ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘Rebel without a Cause’ here,” said Jason. “It’s just amazing to be able to be here, working.”
Josef is an Armani suit-loving hedonist of the highest order; a 25 year-old hedge fund-savant worth millions, who gets to live in the swanky “The Big Lebowski” Jackie Treehorn house designed by John Lautner. Fans of the cult Coen brothers’ film take note; the house is located in Beverly Glen, not Malibu.
Alex O’Laughlin jokingly noted the Treehorn/Josef house had a vibe. “That house felt like it was a porn house or something - the cushions were all vinyl.”
Undead Mick lives by his wits and his superhuman senses, and there is true chemistry evident in the cast. As with any vampire, Mick didn’t start out that way. He had a little help from his beloved wife back on their wedding night. A nuptial necking he didn’t bargain on was his wife Coraline’s gift of immortality to him.
Shannyn
Shannyn Sossamon, who plays Coraline, revels in her mysterious character’s back-story. “This show is darker in a subtler way. The writers veered away from the obvious ‘bitchy’ ex-wife storyline they could have traveled,” Shannyn confided to me at the Morgue set.
“My character likes drama, she came from money, so you will see her in luxe little touches, a mixing of periods because she (Coraline) is so old, she doesn’t ‘fit in’ to today, there’s something strange, an old-world aura about her,” added Shannyn.
“Moonlight” is Beth and Mick’s re-connection as the pilot episode illuminates their shared history when little girl Beth is kidnapped by Coraline years before in a sick bid to build a family with her love, Mick.
Mick has been protecting that little girl ever since. Beth grew up, inspiring a whole new breadth of feelings in him. “Things could unwind quickly for Mick,” shares Alex. “It’s analogous to a drunk falling off the wagon, every day he wakes up and suppresses those urges.”
Alex noted that the show “was sexy, not gratuitously violent, and had solid action packed scenes.” His own cinematic influences for the genre were Joel Schumacher’s 1987, “The Lost Boys,” Warner Herzog’s 1979 “Nosferatu,” and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992, “Dracula.”
The show will grow even more delicious in intrigue as the writers get to slowly reveal Mick as cursed vampire to Beth, who slowly falls for him as they work in tandem together fighting the nefarious forces trying to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting citizens in the big city.
Will Mick succumb to lustfully consuming his human charge, Beth, forever changing her mortal fate? You’ll have to tune in.
“Moonlight” premieres on CBS Friday, September 28, 9/10 PM ET/PT. Check it out…you may find it worth watching…you might get bitten.
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Cast:
• Jason Dohring as Josef Konstantin
• Shannyn Sossamon as Coraline
• Sophia Myles as Beth Turner
• Brian White as Carl Davis
• Jacob Vargas as Guillermo
• Kevin Weisman as Steve Blafour
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