True Blood News at The Nest

Boone Narr

For over 3 decades Boone’s Animals for Hollywood, Inc has been making us smile with their animal actors in movies, TV shows and commercials. They have worked with many actors such as  Johnny Depp, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, the True Blood cast, Madonna and Vin Diesel, to name a few.

Boone’s Animals for Hollywood, Inc. is internationally known. They have filmed all over the United States with their animals and have worked in: Canada, Czech Republic, Australia, Mexico, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Israel, New Guinea, Germany, Korea, Italy, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Bahamas, and Brazil.

They have  a long list of credits, beautiful animals and fun loving trainers. Below, is a tiny peek into Boone Narr’s animal training life and his love for animals. He and his staff do have really cool jobs, don’t they?

Tina, Sookie's Cat

TB-N: From the monkey and dog in Pirates of the Caribbean, to the rats in Willard, for three decades you have worked with celebrity animals familiar to us all. Can you tell us how you originally got into this profession?

I went to work cleaning and caring for animals at a company that trained animals, then I became interested in training them. Years later I opened my own company. That’s how a summer job can become a lifelong passion.

TB-N: Which species would you say is the hardest to train, the easiest to train, and what was the most difficult animal you’ve ever trained?

The hardest animal to train is humans.  Animals never cease to amaze you and the one you are working with, if you have a good relationship, is the easiest to train at the time. This is always the hardest question to answer. I have really enjoyed all the animals I’ve trained.

The Beagle as young Sam

TB-N: Have you ever had an animal that just didn’t work out for you or any other trainer?

We are interested in an animal having a good time doing their job and we prepare them before they go to camera. There have been some animals just not cut out for this work and we have found them loving homes.

Deborah Ann Woll

When Deborah climbed into her character Jessica’s skin and tumbled out from the trunk of a car we didn’t know what was coming. As she stared up at Bill with her angelic face and pleading eyes at the tribunal, we had no idea she would be a spark that ignited the screen on fire.

With her fiery red hair and blazing blue eyes, Deborah is a force to be reckoned with. After crawling out of the dirt, spending time with Eric and going through the True Blood taste test, she has become one of our favorites. She has left us with many great lines and one hell of a cliffhanger going into season three.

Vitals: Deborah Ann Woll was born on February 7th, 1985. Her first role was in “Life” as Nancy and that lead to several guest spots in “ER,” “My name is Earl” and “The Mentalist.” Deborah has experience playing the piano and  Latin and Swing dancing; she is also a certified lifeguard. Deborah didn’t always know she wanted to be a actress but she knew she wanted to be a performer. We are so lucky she made the choice to be an actress and shares her amazing talent with us. We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah and now we love her even more, you’ll see why…

TB-N: What did you know in advance about the character of Jessica before you read for it?

Just the breakdown:  A conservative religious teenager who is chosen as a sacrifice for a vampire tribunal.  She begs for her life and when death seems inevitable she prays for forgiveness…something along those lines.

TB-N: We’ve read that the role of Jessica was initially going to be a recurring role with only two or three episodes. Do you know when the role was expanded to go through season two?

I heard about it just before we filmed the final episode of season one.  That’s when they told me that I had been offered a series regular position, which I wasn’t expecting at all.  Based on the last episode I thought they might use me for a few more because the story was unfinished, but I had no idea they wanted to expand the role more generously.

Deborah Ann Woll by Tyler Shields

TB-N: What surprised you the most about the popularity of Jessica’s character?

I was surprised at how open the fans were to see the character in a different light.  She was initially presented as a bit of a pain, but other perhaps more tragic sides of the role have been addressed in the second season. I was surprised that people seemed so willing to change their first impressions.

TB-N: Has your life been changed as a result of your popularity on True Blood?

My life has certainly changed because of True Blood and Jessica.  First of all, more roles have opened up to me, and I now have more opportunities to meet other artists.  It has also changed how I am perceived. I think before I may have been seen as a more wholesome type; and now edgier projects are opening up to me, which I am very pleased about.

TB-N: We’ve read in other interviews that the character Jessica is nothing like you in real life, but we do see the shyness in Jessica, which we hear is a part of your persona. Are there any other characteristics of Jessica that you share?

Jessica definitely has shyness to her, but I think the difference is she can’t be alone.  She needs stimulation to come from outside herself, which is the mark of an extrovert – and why she goes looking for trouble.  I am definitely an introvert. I prefer being alone or with a very few close friends.  I would never go to a bar by myself to pick up a strange boy.  She is far braver than I.

I would say that Jessica and I are romantics.  For both of us, the most important thing in the world is to love someone and be loved in return. Everything we do hinges on that.  At heart, Jessica is just trying to do the right thing and find out who she wants to be – and that involves making mistakes. Unfortunately, a mistake as a vampire could lead to murder, but to each their own. ; )  Of course, questioning and searching are marks of humanity that we all understand.  We just all go about it differently.

This is part two of interview. To read part one, click here.

Hello there, patient True Blood fans. Here is the second half of our interview with the fabulous Kristin Bauer. Diverse topics are covered, including hunting for a man, dickheads in giant SUVs, desert island movies and when our favourite show will be back on television. Oh, and how everyone wants more Pam in Season 3. Enjoy and leave a comment to say hiya to Kristin and we’d like to thank her again for taking the time to chat with us! Pam rules!

You studied Fine Arts in Boston, NYC and St. Louis. What made you decide to switch to acting?

The only reason really, initially, was just to eat. I’m kind of a blue-collar actress, I’m very practical about it. I act for food. As a painter, and a sketcher basically, you know I was pretty poor. I was working many jobs and had many roommates and was often eating ramen noodles. I moved to LA from the east coast because it was an easier life here. Apartments were cheaper and the sun was shining, on the east coast I didn’t have a car and I was always taking the bus in the rain. Life was harder. In Boston I was hauling my stuff blocks to the nearest Laundromat and the quarter machine never had quarters in it. And half the time you come back 30 minutes later and your laundry has been moved or it’s gone, or it’s soaking in water because the machine broke.

Kristin on her wedding day...aww!

Yeah, laundromats suck!

And I was always living in some terrible neighborhood because it was all we could afford. At least here you know I could be poor, but at least be in the sun. And so then I got, by complete accident, an acting job and I just said, “How much do you pay?” Because I was working three or four jobs and they paid me more in a week than I would get in a month working my other four jobs.

Wow, that’s amazing.

And it was probably was not very much pay, but to me it was a lot.

So you’re still painting in your spare time and you’ve done some commissioned portraits. What is your favorite medium to work in? Do you work with any galleries?

Well I love… you know most of my life I was drawing and then I started painting and I quickly found oil paint and I really love it. I love painting people, flowers, cars, and dogs, whatever. It was always my secret for years that I do this until few years ago I thought, “I’m going to tell people.” So I put up the web site. At the time it was just to introduce my painting. And then people started to ask, “How much would you charge?” So when I’m not working I’m always painting somebody, something or some place.

That sounds actually quite restful.

It’s incredibly rejuvenating. And right now, a friend of mine, my best friend for a very long time since high school. He’s doing a little art show, and he said, “Would you put a few pieces in?” And I said  “sure!” Well, now that’s two weeks away on September 26th and I have three paintings done. So, every moment I can I’m in there painting. It will be in LA (www.anthonysartandframes.biz).