Hemlock Grove's Daren Sarafian Talks About His Experiences Working With Eli Roth and His Departure From Hemlock Grove in an Interview on AfterBuzz TV
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) August 02, 2013 -- Hemlock Grove's Daren Sarafian made an appearance on AfterBuzz TV's Hemlock Grove aftershow Tuesday night. In his appearance, Sarafian talks about his experience working with Eli Roth, his inspiration for the werewolf transformation scene, working with Netflix, and his departure from the show.
On his experiences working with Eli Roth:
"I've always been a fan of [Eli Roth's]. He's always thought outside the box. I've always liked him. First, when we started this project, we had a lot of dinners and talked about [Hemlock Grove]. He's has an interesting off beat view of things and it was nice to meet him. Basically he [created the project] and then handed me the reigns. You don't want to mimic anybody because you want to bring your own style and energy to it, and I think that goes with all the other artists in the show too. We all took it in a new direction. Since this show is really a living, breathing beast on its own, it was great watching it grow into what it did ultimately."
On his inspiration for the wolf transformation scene:
Sarafian says, "When I took on [Hemlock Grove], I knew I had a big challenge because I knew it was something that had sort of a retro vibe to it. I looked at [other films], but at the same time, with the technology we had these days we used Zoick do all of our special effects. So I give them a lot of credit. We really took time to get the wolf face bursting out. That to me was everything, if we could pull that off. We were also very lucky to have a great cinematographer that shot it. What I told him, Fernando Aguelaz, I said that 'I don't want to do this at night. I want to do this at the end of the day and I want that bright sun behind him.' It's hard because it took all day so he had to create that bright sun to give it a new fresh interesting look. Then, Landon, the actor, brought energy to it. When we talked, Landon said, 'I want it to hurt so good. I want it to really feel like you can't tell if it's pain or pleasure.' He did an amazing job of pulling that off. I'm really proud of it and I'm glad we pulled it off, but it took a lot of people to pull it off. Greg Simon filmed a lot of the close up elements like the eyes hitting the ground. It was just one of those things that the way it turned out I'm just super proud of it."
On the difference of working with Netflix and his departure from Hemlock Grove:
Sarafian says, "I got to do exactly what I wanted to do. I'm so proud of the show and I'm really happy [Hemlock Grove] got picked up. I'm sad that I'm not coming back this next season. I'm doing Starcrossed for CW and Andre Nameck... but we got to do what we wanted to do. If you talk to David Fincher as well, they're very hands off and very encouraging. The show's doing well because of it. It's a 13 episode movie and you've got to watch all 13. I'm so proud of it. All the actors did a great job.”
On how difficult it was to film using real wolves:
Sarafian says, "We did a combination of real wolf and CGI. If I had to do it again, I don't think we'd use real wolves because they're very difficult. It took us five days to shoot that sequence. In fact, I was talking to the trainers and they said you have to be very patient. You can't train a wolf, you have to negotiate with them. Which I thought was really interesting. They were throwing food at them and I was saying, 'Stop throwing food at them! I can't get a shot!' They kept eating and when they're done eating they won't give you the time of day. If I had to to it again, I'd probably use half breeds, but those are real wolves. They're very dangerous. What's interesting is the wolves would pick one person out and usually both wolves would be looking at the same person. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered. It's true, and when they focus on you, with the crew and I sitting there, it's a scary eerie feeling. They look right through you."
On his background and how he got into entertainment:
Sarafian says, "I got started [in the industry] because I grew up in the business. I was fortunate to have a father, Richard Sarafian, and my uncle, Robert Ultman. I'd watch them as artists in the business. I was just fascinated with what they did. Being on the set was so magical and I just dreamed about it my whole life. Fortunately, I got to do it and am doing it. It's great.”
Links to Daren Sarafianl's full appearance can be found on YouTube and iTunes.
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hemlock-grove-afterbuzz-tv/id640419400?mt=2
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2kHlr1dMIY
AfterBuzz TV's Hemlock Grove aftershow, hosted by Marisa Serafini, Tiona Hobson, JJ Jurgens, and Sean O airs live at 7pm Pacific and is available for download the next day on iTunes and YouTube. Hemlock Grove aftershow is a weekly wrap up show that broadcasts worldwide from Los Angeles, CA as part of Extra's Maria Menounos and filmmaker Keven Undergaro's online broadcast network, AfterBuzz TV. AfterBuzz is dedicated to producing daily post-game wrap-up shows for fans' favorite TV shows, covering shows like Dancing With The Stars, American Idol, Once Upon A Time, House of Cards and countless others. Currently, AfterBuzz TV receives over 20 million weekly downloads on iTunes from over 75 countries. For further information about the network, visit afterbuzztv.com.
Cathy Kelley, AfterBuzz TV, http://www.afterbuzztv.com, 203-508-2801, [email protected]
Share this article