If your idea of top-notch vampire entertainment involves angst-ridden romance between sparkly immortals, than Van Helsing probably isn’t for you.
The Vancouver-shot series – which kicks off its first season on Sept. 23 and stars Kelly Overton (True Blood) as a resurrected vampire hunter in a post-apocalyptic near-future where vampires have risen and taken control – offers a gritty, more nuanced take on the popular genre, according to Vancouverite Simon Barry, one of the show’s executive producers.
“Even though it’s a story about vampires, it’s really a story also about civil war and occupation,” says Barry, whose previous Vancouver-shot series, the time-travel crime-procedural Continuum, was similarly heralded for its nuanced take on genre fare.
Van Helsing is “a story of survival in the way that The Walking Dead is a story of survival,” says Barry; Van Helsing’s post-apocalyptic vampire story is unique in that the existential situation and internal politics of the bloodsuckers are as integral to the narrative as those of the humans. “It’s a story about betrayal and loyalty and taking sides, because like the stories of war, there are collaborators and there are rebels and there are spies and there are all of these things that go on when it’s a battle of power,” says Barry.
Much of Van Helsing’s complexity can be linked to the involvement of award-winning playwright, director, and filmmaker Neil LaBute. LaBute – who wrote the plays Autobahn and In the Company of Men, and directed the films Nurse Betty and Death at a Funeral – serves as showrunner and writer.
“The opportunity to work with Neil LaBute was a real attraction for me, because it was two things that I didn’t think went together: vampires and Neil LaBute,” chuckles Barry, describing LaBute’s presence in the Van Helsing writing room as “the lone normal person in a room full of geeks.”
LaBute’s creative influence is especially evident in the show’s exploration of the darker side of human behaviour, says Barry.
“Neil as our creative leader really had his perspective on how people behave, and what was good and bad,” says Barry, who also wrote and directed on the show. “I think everyone knows that from his plays, that he appreciates that grey area of behaviour and sees that everyone is both good and bad. And so we approached it with strong character work right out of the gate because Neil’s perspective on characters is really specific. We built a really interesting group of characters that we could then mine for stories on the show as we progress.”
As Vanessa “Van” Helsing, distant relative of famed vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing (who made his first appearance in Bram Stoker’s 1897 gothic novel, Dracula), Barry says that Overton communicates the vulnerability of Vanessa’s unique situation – selected by the forces of nature to be this very interesting hybrid of human and vampire – while embodying inner and physical strength.
“[Overton] has this ability to be incredibly raw and emotional, but it’s never expressed in a way that seems weak,” says Barry. “She’s also got a real physicality and a real strength in her own body, and she can fight, and she can run, and she moves like an athlete, so someone you felt was a formidable opponent in the physical world, as well as someone who was well-rounded emotionally, was our bull’s-eye as someone who would represent Vanessa. Kelly has all of that in her DNA.”
Van Helsing also stars Jonathan Scarfe, Christopher Heyerdahl, Rukiya Bernard, David Cubitt, Vincent Gale, Hilary Jardine, Trezzo Mahoro, Aleks Paunovic, and Alison Wandzura.
The television series has no connection to the 2004 film of the same name – although the small-screen version does suggest that Vanessa is a descendent of Stoker’s O.G. vampire hunter, says Barry.
“We’re using the spirit of the name and borrowing from it,” says Barry. “But Vanessa doesn’t realize that there is this history with her name. She’s not aware of her connection to that legend, and she’s going to discover it as the show progresses. We had a little fun with that, because the name evokes certain things and has expectations, and we wanted to use that and also play against it.”
“One thing I’m proud of with Van Helsing, and we all are, is that we didn’t aim for the middle,” adds Barry. “We really tried to do something that was a little bit extreme, and I think some people are going to love that, and some people may not, but that’s okay. I think, in a world where television is so diversified, and there’s so much to watch, you really have to make a little bit of noise, and so we tried to make a little bit of noise on this one, and I think we succeeded.”
Van Helsing begins its 13-episode first season on Sept. 23 on Syfy.
