Demons: Zoe on the dark side

Ian Wylie
23/ 1/2009

DEMONS star Zoe Tapper relished getting her teeth into a role with a twist in the tale.

She plays blind concert pianist Mina Harker in the fantastical drama series, alongside Philip Glenister as Rupert Galvin.

If you’ve read the original Bram Stoker novel, you’ll know that modern day Mina has a dark side, having been bitten by Count Dracula.

“She was forced to drink his blood and this vampiric blood still flows through her veins,” explains Zoe, whose character is, as a result, immortal with eternal youth.

“The prevailing sense of good that she has within her always overtakes that and it’s the act of cleansing her blood which renders her blind. But, of course, that means that when she doesn’t cleanse her blood, then she isn’t blind and she has very scary urges.”

As you’ll see in the fourth episode of Demons (ITV1, Saturday, 7.45pm) when a bad boy vampire called Quincey (Ciaran McMenamim) arrives back in her life.

Again, those who know the legend will realise who he actually is. Will 125-year-old Mina give in to her half-blood heritage as she faces her own demons?

“I like the edge of danger that Mina has and I absolutely loved turning into a vampire. Mina and Galvin have a long relationship and I think it’s an unwritten agreement that if Mina ever got to the point where she couldn’t control herself any more, he has her blessing to kill her.”

She adds: “They have a history. There’s a definite understanding between them and there is a little bit of a twinkle there. It’s not explored fully at this point in the story but they definitely have a fondness for each other.”

Recently seen in BBC1’s re-invention of Survivors and ITV1 drama Affinity, Zoe took the role of Mina precisely because it was so different to anything she’d done before.

“It was such a deep and interesting part. She’s such a complex character and I really relished the thought of seeing if I could bring her to life.”

That included playing someone who is – most of the time – blind. “It was scary because, obviously, you don’t want to portray anything in a light that is going to offend anyone.

“But I think the secret to it was realising the tone of the piece. It’s very much slightly heightened comic book. And, yes, Mina is blind but she’s also got second sight.

“At first I was worried about the technicalities of doing it and getting used to the fact that, obviously, I know where people are when I’m speaking to them but not looking them in the eye. As the months went on, I got very used to it and didn’t ever look anyone in the eye ever again,” she laughs.

Viewers were introduced to Mina in episode one when she was seen in a solo concert, playing the piano on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

“I loved it,” recalls Zoe. “We didn’t have all of the audience members there, they were superimposed afterwards. But it was quite a feeling to be standing on the stage and performing.

“Funnily enough – not that I’m in Mina’s league – when I was younger I used to play the violin and I played at the Festival Hall, within an orchestra. So I did enjoy the sense of standing up and seeing all those people. Or not seeing them, as the case may be.”

Last week’s episode saw Ruby (Holliday Grainger) proving her worth by coming to the rescue of Mina, Rupert and Luke (Christian Cooke).

“She has no special powers, she doesn’t have a knowledge of the half lives. She’s the normal one stuck in the middle,” explains Holliday.

“In episode three she definitely felt that she’d come to a point where she needed to prove her worth, questioning why she should remain in Luke’s life when he’s going through all of this. But she definitely did prove her mettle and that she is part of the gang.”

Is Holliday easily spooked? “I’m far more scared of supernatural horror films, ghosts and stuff. I was terrified for years of dark windows after watching the old black and white film of Wuthering Heights as a child, and that image of Cathy at the window. I couldn’t wash up in front of my dark kitchen window at all.”

Original article here.