Exclusive: Vampire Documentary A Place Among the Undead Grows from Feature to Series
Part 3 of our interview series with actress turned filmmaker Juliet Landau regarding her upcoming documentary A Place Among the Undead got a bit delayed, but today we have an update for you! “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” co-star Landau sat down with us recently to reveal that her exhaustive vampire doc has undergone a format change, having evolved from the originally intended feature into a full-fledged series.
Co-directed and produced by Landau and her husband, photographer and cinematographer Deverill Weekes, A Place Among the Undead is positioned to become the definitive documentary on vampires in cinema, literature, and pop culture, featuring a wealth of interviews with authoritative individuals on the subject, including director Tim Burton, actors Gary Oldman (pictured below with Landau) and Willem Dafoe, author Anne Rice, and many, many more.
Said Landau, who is probably best known to genre fans for her turn as the deranged yet enigmatic vampire Drusilla in Joss Whedon’s iconic “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” series (as well as for her memorable portrayal of Loretta King in Tim Burton’s celebrated 1994 feature Ed Wood), “ Due to the overwhelming interest of participants and fans alike, A Place Among the Undead has become a TV series, covering movies, television, literature, young adult literature, comics, art, music, and video games.”
Chatting about one of the doc’s interview subjects, Landau said of her conversation with “Buffy” alumnus and “Firefly” star Nathan Fillion, “Nathan talked about his role as Caleb in ‘Buffy’ and his role as Father David in Dracula 2000. He shared lots of personal stories and views about all kinds of things, from the metaphors explored in both to his thoughts about aging. Nathan is a brilliant raconteur and has a wicked sense of humor! It was hard for the crew to hold in their laughter and not ruin the footage. Also, Gary Oldman has been shooting tintype images of some of the interviewees on his camera from 1853, and we all decided that in those images, Nathan looks like he’s a 1920’s movie star.”
Additionally offered Landau of the fan-backed project (you can still get involved here): “Each episode will include a narrative film inspired by the conversations [we’ve had]. We have already shot one of the narratives in New Orleans and part of another in London, and we have tons of exciting stuff brewing with the project! I will keep you posted on the timing of its release!”
Come back next week for a recap of the rest of our conversation, in which Landau discusses the production of Ed Wood, her working relationship with director Tim Burton, her upcoming turn in Todd Tucker’s horror feature The Terror, and more.
For additional info on A Place Among the Undead, see our previous interviews with Landau (Part 1 here and Part 2 here).
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