It’s been almost three years since HBO’s True Blood ended. This summer, NBC seeks to sate audience’s thirst for blood and monsters with Midnight, Texas, another adaptation of a Charlaine Harris-penned book series featuring a collection of supernatural monsters.

Peter Mensah, star of Spartacus and True Blood, plays Lemuel Bridger, the town vampire.

Daily Brief had a chance to speak with Mensah about why he likes the fantasy genre, fitness and the importance of community.

Daily Brief: It’s fun to see you in another Charlaine Harris show. Were you aware of the Midnight, Texas books beforehand?

Peter Mensah: I wasn’t aware of this particular series until I got called in. Then I read three of them, which were fantastic. It was a little bit confusing at first, because I was going in for a character that I couldn’t find in the book. The description did not match me, so I thought maybe I had made a mistake.

That you had read the wrong series?

Exactly. But it worked out perfectly. Charlaine is such a great storyteller. She builds great, interesting characters. That’s the thing that was consistent in True Blood and followed in these novels.

Part of the appeal of Harris’ worlds are the Southern gothic feel, that twang. Why do you think that is?

Because they’re people. Even the supernaturals in her world have ordinary things that we all relate to: relationship issues, they’re trying to fit in, family problems. They have simple values, in a complex light. It’s easy to get in.

Have you done any traveling down south?

Strangely, for someone who hadn’t spent any time in the South, all of a sudden that’s pretty much where I am. The previous year I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Georgia on another project.

You’re filming in New Mexico for Midnight, right?

Yeah, we’re in Albuquerque, in and around the town. The land itself is a major character in the story and you have this incredible vista, sunsets, mountains. The color is fantastic and it suits the unusual setting.

This isn’t the first time you’ve played a vampire. What’s different about playing Kibwe in True Blood and Lem?

Oh my goodness. The similarity is in their title: they’re vampires. But that’s about it. Kibwe’s more traditional, part of the high council, sophisticated. Whereas Lem belongs to a small world and a small group of people.

He’s a very unusual vampire in that he doesn’t feed the same way. He can obviously feed off blood, but he has acquired the ability to feed off energy so he can live amongst people and not kill them. Which has allowed him to find community and have relationships. He leads a very different life from Kibwe.

Do you miss the biting aspect of the feeding? I imagine that was part of the fun.

As you see in the pilot, when there’s some biting to be had, don’t think he won’t do it. He’s more than willing to use the fatal blow to look after the inhabitants of Midnight. While he can sustain himself without that, don’t think he’s not tempted. Blood will always tempt a vampire.

In True Blood, there was this divide between vampires and other supernatural creatures. What I like about Midnight is that all the supernatural beings are in it together. In today’s world, we need to see different people working together. Did you have the same reaction?

Yeah, I think that’s one of the endearing aspects of it. The town of Midnight has these inhabitants, some are unusual in their abilities, but all of them are unusual simply because they’ve found community in this town that is considered weird by everyone else. Even the local law enforcement doesn’t trust them.

They’re all different, but they’ve found community with each other, which has allowed them to build a family. When Manfred comes into this town, he actually finds a place where being different is not a reason to be thrown out. In fact, being different is embraced. It’s a fantastic thing to be able to tell people at this time. Every relationship is unusual but sweet and there’s something that’s real to every bond in the show. The fact that someone is different is no reason why they can’t have relationships, they can’t find community.

You’re in incredible shape. As someone who struggles to stick to an exercise routine, how do you do it?

Thank you. The struggle is real for all of us. The reality is, we all live by our habits. I just happen to have the habit of fitness, sports, and everything in and around that.

I have a hard time not exercising, let’s put it that way. A coach of mine once said, ‘when you make your routine as simple as brushing your teeth, you’ll do it every day. If it’s a chore, and you have to gear yourself up for it, you will drop the habit.’

I thank my parent’s genetics, I thank this wonderful environment in California for a great diet, great food, great organic products and friends that are good at cooking healthy foods. There’s a lot of good fortune involved.

You used to be an engineer in Britain. What inspired you to switch gears and pursue acting?

I’ve always been interested in acting. I was involved in stage performances since I was 6 or 7. When I left England, I went to Toronto and got an audition for an on-camera role, and that’s what triggered the change in focus, because I’ve always loved the arts. Living in multiple cultures has meant every culture’s stories are fascinating to me. The opportunity to play on a show came my way, I pursued it, it worked out, and I just kept working.

They say be grateful for what the universe brings you. It has taken me around the world. I sit here now and yes I’m coming in from Albuquerque, but in previous years, I’ve been in Eastern Europe, Africa, Kauai, New Zealand. It’s been a fascinating ride.

Is there any place you’re hoping to work?

It never ends. I’d love to see China. But the more I see, you sometimes think it’d be nice to wake up in my bed, go to work, and then come back to my bed. That would be nice. And that could save travel for my holidays.

And you could be with family and friends.

Exactly. But no complaints. Going to places you’re not familiar with, you get to inhabit it and see how they live, enrich yourself with the culture, and then you’re able to take that and share it with your family and friends. I’ve now done so much of that, spending more time with family and friends becomes more important.

I’m a huge fan of Spartacus, and loved you as Oenomaus. Do you think there’s still stories to tell there?

Oh, inevitably. Culturally, the Roman’s awareness and acceptance of race and gender… there was no issues in certain aspects. There was a hierarchy based on class. The slave class had classes within the classes. The Romans had classes within their ranks. That show was telling an upstairs-downstairs story. It wasn’t just battle and lust. It was people trying to move themselves within that society, and of course, the Spartacus led revolution is the culmination of hitting a low ceiling.

I often think there is so much in that that can parallel a lot of things going on right now.

It’s even more relevant now.

This is the great thing about Midnight. I love doing fantasy because there are so many things you can talk about that real life shows apparently can’t let you do. We can tackle all sorts of things: prejudice, race, politics, all of that, because as vampires, werewolves, witches, what have you, we’re given a little bit more license to explore. That makes fantasy one of the more interesting areas to work in.

I couldn’t agree more. Speaking of, are you going to be in Avatar 2, 3 and 4? Have you stalked James Cameron?

Who doesn’t stalk him? I would love to be, but I don’t know the details.

If you want to know more details about Midnight, Texas, tune into its premiere Monday July 24 on NBC at 10/9c.

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