My AMA is now over. Thanks to everyone who participated!!

Hi, I’m the actor Michael McMillian from TRUE BLOOD. I just finished acting in a great horror film called BANSHEE CHAPTER (and is actually directed by a long time Redditor). Here’s proof it’s me: http://imgur.com/9TdmunE Please check out more about BANSHEE CHAPTER here: https://www.facebook.com/BansheeChapter Ask Me Anything!

Comments: 322 • Responses: 29  • Date: 

MichaelMcMillian530 karma

Hi Guys! Thanks for joining me. This is my first time on Reddit so feel free to laugh at me. Just remember that I am very sensitive and it could be considered cyber-bullying.

yunafire220 karma

How many blood sacrifices will we have to make to get you on American Horror Story with Denis O'Hare so we can enjoy watching you two together again?

MichaelMcMillian240 karma

I think Ryan Murphy requires at least 7 blood sacrifices for this? I'm not sure I don't know the guy. But man, that would be awesome! I'd work on anything with Denis O'Hare. Even cleaning bathrooms.

yesjess130 karma

Hi Michael!

What was your favorite scene to film on True Blood? I loved the frat massacre with Russell.

Also, on a scale of 1 to Fabio, how dreamy is Alex Skarsgard in person?

MichaelMcMillian190 karma

I love that scene too. That was written by Alexander Woo, who has one of the sickest senses of humor on the show (he also wrote that neck-twisting scene between Bill and Lorena in Season 3). Denis and I had choreographers come in and help us with our twirl and dip, which we practiced over on the Merlotte's set. My only regret is that Steve and Russell never stopped by Merlotte's during their night out on the town.

I also loved the scene in Season 2 where Jason comes over for dinner at the Newlin's house. It really establish's Steve's worldview and it was the moment he really bonded with Jason. Plus Ryan Kwanten is just hilarious. My other favorite scene was the one where I come out to Jason in Season 5, for obvious reasons. It was just so rich with humor and weirdness.

SaraMonster100 karma

What's it like in Vampire-Heaven?

MichaelMcMillian353 karma

Steve and Russell are very happy together. I imagine them canoodling on a cloud of blood and draining an endless supply of Abercrombie and Fitch models.

UnawareItsaJoke76 karma

How is Anna Camp in real life? She's a South Carolina girl and I want to make sure she represents us well.

MichaelMcMillian164 karma

The real question is if South Carolina is representing Anna Camp well? Because she is pretty great.

gonzoblair74 karma

What's it like appearing in a movie directed by a redditor? Does the set constantly grind to a halt while he's off staring at memes and kitten photos?

MichaelMcMillian139 karma

Yes our director, Blair Erickson, spent a lot of time directing us with commands like "Make it more like a gif!" or "You just aren't Grumpy enough."

Blair and I actually went to college together. He directed me in a short movie called Night Trip. My character liked to do acid (don't do drugs, kids) and the film was about a drug trip that goes horribly wrong. I shaved my head to look like Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting and we shot out on an old country road in the middle of Pennsylvania. So, working on Banshee Chapter was a fun revisit to those days. Blair still knows how to scare me.

gonzoblair75 karma

Shocking reddit AMA twist: this is actually Blair Erickson posting.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan Blair Erickson

MichaelMcMillian94 karma

You scary bastard.

MichaelMcMillian85 karma

Got me again.

iLiveInAGoKart73 karma

I've actually never seen True Blood, as a Straight male would you recommend that I give it a chance?

MichaelMcMillian335 karma

Let me tell you straight male, there are lots of boobs on that show. It is an equal opportunity offender for all sexualities. Dive in and enjoy.

AubreyPlazasButtHair70 karma

Who is your favorite working actress today and why is it Aubrey Plaza.

Also what's your favorite Christmas song?

MichaelMcMillian125 karma

OH! Actress. Ha ha. Easy: Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence.

AubreyPlazasButtHair54 karma

It's okay sometimes I think girls are boys too it's an easy mistake to make.

MichaelMcMillian86 karma

It is a confusing world we live in.

MichaelMcMillian112 karma

I do love Aubrey Plaza. Parks and Rec is one of my favorite shows and I loved her in Safety Not Guaranteed. My favorite actor list could go on and on, but it always comes down to Phillip Seymour Hoffman and John C Reilly. I've loved them ever since Boogie Nights. Two of our greatest character actors with awesome comedic chops. Everything I strive to be.

MichaelMcMillian69 karma

Oh, man. My time is up. That went by really quick! I'm sorry I didn't get to all of your questions but hopefully I covered the full range. You guys are so great for spending this hour with me and being such supportive fans. If you haven't done so yet, please check out the trailer for THE BANSHEE CHAPTER: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/bansheechapter/ and my new book TRUE BLOOD: STEVE NEWLIN'S FIELD GUIDE TO VAMPIRES, and my comic book, LUCID. Thanks for everything. More to come. My bulldog, Albie has to pee to I must bid you all adieu!

CaptainMoistBeard57 karma

How many beards could you lick in a beard licking competition?

MichaelMcMillian185 karma

Last time I hit 13 before they had to drag me off the floor.

redflagbear57 karma

What has being on True Blood done for your sex life? Whether its more women hitting on you or your gf/wife wanting you to bite her (or something).

MichaelMcMillian287 karma

Well, I'll say this. Strangers have bitten me in public. So you could say my sex life has gotten a lot worse.

SaraMonster49 karma

For True Blood, where there any memorable scenes you shot but were never aired?

MichaelMcMillian93 karma

No. Most everything I shot made it to air. There was a scene in 510 that was fun where Bill, Salome and Russell were coaching Steve on how he should debate Senator Finch. It made that debate seem like a much bigger deal, but ultimately it just didn't move the story along. There was a really fun moment where Denis O'Hare and I made out in the frat house, but the kiss was sadly left on the cutting room floor. Steve needed to get more action!

yunafire22 karma

He did indeed! Any chance that deleted scene might one day get released to the public? Or maybe just a few devoted fans?

MichaelMcMillian57 karma

I don't know? I actually haven't seen the Season 5 DVD yet... did it make it on there? Not sure it was very exciting (cut scenes are usually cut for a reason) but that kiss was pretty hot. It would make a nice Blu-Ray easter egg. I always wanted to do an issue of the True Blood comic book that was essentially the extended date night Steve and Russell had the night they killed all those frat boys. Denis and I decided that they got Steve's black windbreaker outfit off some poor, unsuspecting dude who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Russell takes Steve "shopping," where they just kill one guy after another until Russell has put a more stylish look together for Steve.

SaraMonster28 karma

If you could have written season 6 of True Blood, what would have happened to Steve?

MichaelMcMillian72 karma

Well, it's hard to argue with what happened. I really like the irony that SPOILERS Steve perishes in a prison of his own design (of sorts). He was asking for it. I'm surprised he stuck around as long as he did. That being said, I think Steve is actually a very cunning and resourceful guy. It would have been interesting to see if he could have talked Jason into saving him, or striking some kind of deal with Sarah that would force them to work together and send them off on the run having to deal with one another. But really, once Steve was in that room there was no way he was going to get out of there alive.

CatOnALedge27 karma

What would Vampire Steve Newlin have been like if he'd survived to 100? 1000?

MichaelMcMillian53 karma

Way too powerful for his own good. In his mind, he imagined he'd be like Russell Edgington. Sad he never made it that far.

NinjaDiscoJesus25 karma

Favourite comic book? I see on your wiki that you wrote one

MichaelMcMillian81 karma

Currently it's Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples. I also love Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and various over at Marvel. All time faves include: Planetary ( a HUGE influence on my comic book, LUCID), The Invisibles, Preacher, Promethea, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and more recently Scalped by fellow Kansas City native, Jason Aaron. That book is amazing! If you liked Breaking Bad you should check out Scalped. It's a comic book masterpiece of crime fiction and human drama.

mr_chip22 karma

Tell us about Banshee Chapter. What attracted you to the project? Is it horror/comedy like True Blood, or is it straight up horror? What was the most uncomfortable scene to film?

(I know, I know, softballs, but I'm genuinely curious. I've heard the name of the movie but nothing else about it.)

MichaelMcMillian36 karma

Well, first and foremost I was excited to work on a project with friends. I've known Blair, the director since college, as well as producers Zachary Quinto, Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson. So there was that. But also, it was a great script. It's a genuinely scary, eery, WTF is happening type of horror movie that harkens back to films like Jacob's Ladder or The Shining. It's scary in it's essence, not just it's big horror moments. The subject material - experimental drugs, MK-Ultra, government conspiracies are also fond late-night conversational topics of mine. So doing it was a no brainer.

yunafire22 karma

Any plans for a "Steve Newlin's Field Guide to Vampires (And Other Creatures of Satan)" audio book? Or, if not, any audio books in general?

MichaelMcMillian35 karma

Oh man, that would be so much fun. It's such a visual book I'm not sure exactly how they would do it without losing all the wonderful found objects in the book. But it would be great to get into a studio with Kristen and Alex and record all of that dialogue. I guess anything's possible, but that's a decision for HBO and Chronicle Books.

yunafire19 karma

Banshee Chapter question: Are there many scenes of you that we can look forward to?

MichaelMcMillian28 karma

Oh yeah. A ton. That movie is freaking scary. I can't give too much away but there's a scene fairly early on that scared me just shooting it. I have some of my most weirder/creepier stuff in this movie than others. It's a very real scary, still supernatural in ways, but not at all like True Blood. And pretty much any scene with Katia Winter is one to look forward to because she is very easy on the eyes.

violue18 karma

Hello, who was the best boyfriend character on What I Like About You, and why was it Henry Gibson?

MichaelMcMillian27 karma

This question seems to answer itself.

NeuroMeltingPot12 karma

Heya there sir! Huge fan of the show here! So excited to see you on here doing this AMA! What was it like working/acting with the members of the cast? Was anyone a special favorite to you? Anyone whom you may have disliked? What was it like going from the Anti-Vamp team, then becoming one yourself on the show? Did it affect the fanbase you have? Please and thank you!!

MichaelMcMillian33 karma

Thank you, NeuroMeltingPot. I'm a little scared of what exactly it is you do to brains... It sounds so lame when I say this, but the cast of True Blood is one of the finest, if not the best, that I've ever had a chance to work with. Everyone is on their game. Each actor wants the show to be the best it can and bring that passion to set with them every day. I worked mostly with Ryan Kwanten, Anna Camp and Denis O'Hare. All amazing. But also: Deborah Ann Wohl? Alex Skarsgard? Stephen Moyer? All wonderful. These people are like family to me. Everyone is great. Wish I had more stuff with Anna Paquin and Kristen Bauer Van Straten. They are such tough, hilarious women. Steve vs Pam would have been so wonderful.

Vegoia7 karma

Any new comics in the works, Lucid?

MichaelMcMillian9 karma

I'm not sure what the immediate future holds for LUCID, but I'm confident it will return some day. If people haven't already checked it out, it's published by Archaia Entertainment and is available on comixology as well as Amazon and B&N.com. It's an indy book, so getting new readers will really go along way to green lighting a Vol. 2. I have a few things in the works, including a new series that I can't talk about yet. But yes, I will be doing more comics in the near future!

SaraMonster6 karma

Of the movies that you have appeared in, which one was your favorite & why?

MichaelMcMillian16 karma

I will always hold a soft spot for Dorian Blues. It was my first movie and the script, written by Tennyson Bardwell (he also directed), is still one of the best scripts I've ever read. I think it's on Netflix streaming. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. Sweet and funny indy film.

violue12 karma

I bet it's Beauty and the Briefcase. Which I found so corny and yet have seen two or three times.

MichaelMcMillian18 karma

Not my favorite, but it is good! The best part of about making that movie was that we shot it in New Orleans. I made great friends with the cast and all we did was go out and eat food. I probably gained 30 lbs shooting that movie. My suits got a little light towards the end there.

sloburn13-4 karma

Shouldn't the title read "I played."

So which do you prefer. Working on a long running series or doing movies?

MichaelMcMillian11 karma

Both have their benefits. the nice thing about working in TV, if it is a series regular role that has some longevity, you really get to live with a character for a long time and make him your own, develop them. With true blood I got to play a crazy cult leader AND a gay vampire media figure. That would be hard to squeeze into a 2 hour movie.