There will be blood flowing down the aisles in theaters soon thanks to Eva Green's menacing turn as the ass-kicking Artemisia in 300: Rise of an Empire; and for fans of the French-born beauty, they'll get a chance to see even more red come May in her hotly anticipated Showtime horror thriller Penny Dreadful.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Green told me that, while the trailer for the series released last month promises a bloody affair, there's much more to the show than the clip is letting on.
"The trailer for Penny Dreadful has to have an impact straight-away, so there's sex and blood in it," Green told me. "It's definitely bloody, but there's also a lot of complex psychology involved with all the characters."
Created by Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan, Penny Dreadful is set in the Victorian Era, where such literary icons as Dr. Frankenstein, his monster, Dracula and Oscar Wilde’s age-defying creation Dorian Gray are all woven into a new narrative.
Green plays London psychic Vanessa Ives, who invites the likes of Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) to "a shadow world full of sex, drugs and monsters of all sorts," Showtime says.
"All the characters have secrets that make them special and alienate them from society," Green said. "The show asks the question, 'Do you want to be normal or not?'"
Penny Dreadful premieres on Showtime May 11. In the meantime, fans will get more than their fill of the gushing red stuff in 300: Rise of an Empire, Green says.
"There's lots of blood and lots of dead people," Green says, laughing.
The film, which tells a story parallel to the perilous journey of the 300 Spartans in the 2006 original starring Gerard Butler, opens in theaters and on IMAX screens Friday.
Green is also reteaming with 300 creator Frank Miller when she stars as the "dame" Ava Lord in "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," due in theaters Aug. 22.
Tim Lammers is the author of the new ebook "Direct Conversations: The Animated Films of Tim Burton," which includes a foreword by Burton. http://directconversations.com/2013/12/24/available-now-direct-conversat...