I’ve been playing at casting them when I’m looking at people at bus stops, on the subway: Who’s a vampire, and who’s a witch? That’s one of the delightful things about the series. It puts the vocabulary of witches back on the imaginative scale, and it gives you a new eye for them. Can you believe it? So I was very excited to play a witch. I’m glad I’m not a vampire, but I never thought about it beyond that! And you know, I’ve never seen a vampire show before this one. Were you disappointed they didn’t offer you a vampire role? I had to adjust and remind myself that they’re all just actors. But when I started reading the scripts, and the first lot of Latin came my way, I knew there were challenges ahead! And when we had the first read-through, and suddenly seeing all these vampires in person, that was very stunning. Were you a fan of the books or the show before you signed on for this?Īlan Ball discouraged me from reading the books, which I don’t regret I don’t want to hanker for material I don’t have. Vulture phoned the actress in London and talked to her about spotting witches on the subway and trying to conjure the dead. It’s all great fun for Shaw, who didn’t get to do much in the way of magic as Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter series. In her role as the sorceress Marnie (who is possessed by the spirit Antonia), the actress is wreaking havoc among the vampires of Bon Temps: erasing Eric’s memory, melting Pam’s face, and generally bringing unwanted sunlight into their lives. Season four of True Blood is the season of the witch, i.e., the season of Fiona Shaw.

Fiona Shaw as Marnie-slash-Antonia on True Blood.

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