Damien Molony and Toby Whithouse talk ‘Being Human’ and ‘Cool Gothic and the New Vampire’ at BFI
Damien appeared on a discussion panel ‘Cool Gothic and the New Vampire’ part of GOTHIC: The Dark Heart of Film at the BFI last night, alongside Being Human creator Toby Whithouse. Anthony Head (Buffy), Lily Loveless (The Fades), Dominic Mitchell (In the Flesh) and Darren Blackburn (The Fades). BFI
As part of the event, the panel members addressed “the resurrection of Gothic myths on our TV screen and their vast appeal to todays generation”, with Damien and Toby offering unique insights into their own journeys with horror, Hal and Being Human.
BFI
Thanks to BFI Gothic overseer Rhidian Davis for the quotes!
Toby Whithouse:
“I was 14 at the time, and I was watching some very dark stuff” (on his early horror experiences)
“It’s a very primal thing, and you want to test yourself. You’re being scared in a very safe environment”
“We have a noble tradition of suggestion and implication in Britain, because we’ve had to be creative with very meagre budgets”
“In Being Human we didn’t have a lot of money. It had to be inventive. It had to be character-led”
“It’s curious reading Dracula as a grown-up. You realise it’s about fear of the foreigner, fear of women, and the fear of menstruation” Toby Whithouse
“In Science Fiction, aliens became heroes, and exactly the same thing happened with the vampire”
“The vampire is the ultimate bad boy: they think: I can save him.” (on female fans)
“People were furious when the handsome mass murderer was reported to the police. Audiences said: ‘You cow'” (on Mitchell in Being Human)
“In Being Human we had characters discussing what humanity is.. It allows you to ask the big questions – without necessarily coming up with the answers”
BFI
Damien Molony:
“I used to dress up as Dracula. I’ve always been secretly addicted to horror”
“The good Hal is so terrified of blood .. and sex – it’s a very carnal fluid”
“The beauty of getting to play a vampire who is 500 years old, is there are so many facets to that”
“I suppose sex and blood and vampires and the AIDS things all got very intertwined”
“I see it as a joy that Toby gave me so much to play with”
“I did so much when I was working on Hal about drug addicts.. ”
“I’ve never watched True Blood or those shows. I always looked back to Nosferatu and Dracula”
And finally…When asked if he would ike to become a vampire in real life, Damien responded:
“Yeah, why not? It would be great”.
Stay tuned for video highlights coming soon on the BFI Website and BFI Player.
for more ‘Gothic’ screenings and events at BFI Southbank, click here.
