Michelle Forbes will be familiar to genre fans for memorable performances in such shows as Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: The Next Generation. She’s now appearing in everyone’s favourite steamy vampire drama, True Blood, as the mysterious Maryann Forrester. She tells Abbie Bernstein about her experience on the show…

Your character Maryann Forrester in True Blood turns out to be a Maenad, a devout worshipper of the Greek god Dionysus. Did you know much about Maenads before taking the role?

I certainly did not [laughs]. But I know a lot about them now.

Did you start reading up on Greek mythology or did you learn about them through the scripts?

I did a lot of reading up on them and I started digging back into Greek mythology. But [before knowing where the scripts were going] it was a little hard to understand what you’re reading and researching – especially when you open the script and you’re dancing to The B-52s! So it’s sort of a post-modern take on Greek mythology and Maenads.

In the past, you often seem to have played what could be termed ‘tightly wound’ characters. When you got True Blood, were you looking to play somebody who lets her hair down?

I actually was. It’s always such a hard battle for me, because it’s very frustrating to be labeled as one thing. I feel incredibly grateful to Alan [Ball] for giving me an opportunity to play someone completely different – someone who is a little mad and fun and mischievous.

Did you have any say into Maryann’s wardrobe? Or did you just show up and they told you, ‘This is what you’re wearing today’?

Oh, our costume designer Audrey Fisher is extraordinary, and she’s incredibly collaborative. It’s such a wonderfully creative show all the way around, but those fittings were really instrumental to building Maryann.

Maryann has the ability to change mood in an instant. Is she acting when she’s being pleasant, or does she really mean what she says at the time?

I think there’s a little bit of both. There’s always a little bit of manipulation on Maryann’s part, but I think she also absolutely does believe what she’s saying. She believes that the way she leads her life is the path to purity and bliss, and she really wants everyone to come along.

Have you been involved in other projects on your downtime?

Yes. In fact, this my first time off in 14 months! I finished another project called Durham County last fall. It’s a Canadian series; it’s visually stunning, very beautiful. It’ll be playing [in the U.S.] on Ion. It’s a 12-hour miniseries.

Is there anything else you’d like to say about True Blood?

I just want to say for all of us on True Blood, we’ve had the most amazing time. Alan has created the most beautiful environment, and we’re the luckiest cast in television.

True Blood Season 2 begins in the UK on FX in February. True Blood Season 3 begins on HBO later in the year.