“True Blood” Week on PopWrap continues with Rutina Wesley, who plays Tara Thornton — potentially Bon Temps most unlucky resident. Admittedly a lot of that misfortune is at her own hands, but if Lettie Mae was your mother, whose to say if you’d do any better,
When we last saw Tara she’d been rocked by the realization that the love of her life, Eggs, had his brains scrambled by a bullet. What she didn’t know was that Jason Stackhouse owned the itchy trigger finger.
In addition to theorizing on what might happen if Tara ever learns about that, I chatted with Rutina about how much worse things could get for Tara (spoiler alert: a lot!),. why she keeps welcoming strangers with open arms and if she’s going to rekindle things with Sam Merlotte!
PopWrap: When we last saw Tara she’d just lost the love of her life and she’s still very much in that mindset at the start of season three, right?
Rutina Wesley: Yea, she’s definitely broken. She’s lost, she doesn’t know where to go from here because the second she thought she had something figured out, the rug gets pulled out from under her.
PW: What do you think Tara would do if she ever found out Jason killed Eggs?
Rutina: I think it’d hit her hard. Jason has always been a hero to her so it’ll be like a punch in the gut. I don’t know if we’re going to find that out this season, but it’ll be a kick ass scene if we do. I also think when she finds out will also play into it, but no matter what it will be devastating because she adores Jason and for him to have killed the love of her life, that’s the ultimate.
PW: Doesn’t sound like as an actor you’re getting a lighter arc this year.
Rutina: [laughs] No, it’s definitely still challenging as an actor, but that’s what I love to do. I love the drama. It keeps my acting muscles going, my juices flowing. It’s really, really cool – it’s definitely a fulfilling job. It’s truly a blessing.
PW: This season Tara gets involved with a vampire, Franklin Mott. I was a little surprised that she’d be so trusting of new, mysterious people after the whole Maryann debacle.
Rutina: You know, I was thinking that too but because she’s so broken, she’s so vulnerable. When you’re at your worst, you usually don’t make the right choices [laughs]. And that’s what we’re seeing here – a girl who is dying for some sort of love or attention and she’s trying to get it wherever she can. Eventually you’ll see her go “wait a minute” but with Franklin, she won’t always have a choice.
PW: Do you find it interesting that such a strong character could continue to be put in such impressionable situations?
Rutina: I do. As Rutina the actor I’m like, come on – get it together! You saw that coming a mile away! But Tara has blinders on. She’s so defensive and gets caught up quickly. That’s when she’s like “oh shoot!” But by then it’s too late. She’s too far down the rabbit hole. I could imagine it’s frustrating as an audience member to see someone go through that because you’re rooting for her to open her eyes and wake up.
PW: Was there a plot line that particularly made you feel that way?
Rutina: The perfect example is her relationship with Sam. I always feel like she was so blinded she couldn’t see how he was kinda of perfect for her. She just couldn’t quite understand it at the time.
PW: Do you think Tara and Sam should get another chance?
Rutina: There’s a lot of “Tam” fans as we call then. Personally speaking, I’d love to see her get another chance with him – they make sense to me. They both need validation and are both lonely souls. They sort of need eachother. I think they could work if Tara lets down her guard, like she did with Eggs. I think there are a lot of people rooting for Tara & Sam.
PW: What else would you like to see with Tara?
Rutina: I would love for her to find some happiness, some stillness – calm and stability,. And I think she might eventually find that.
PW: Yea, maybe in season 11!
Rutina: Yea exactly. Her trying to find that is what makes for the drama. Her turmoil is sort of what’s so great to watch because as human beings we go through that. We go through life trying to figure out who we are and how we fit into this world. I see Tara as a survivor and now she’s trying to figure out how she fits into her own life. This year you see her struggle with that and I think it’s amazing to watch her go through that.
PW: How else would you describe Tara’s journey this year?
Rutina: I think it’s about her climbing out of the hole. She’s a survivor and you’re going to see those survival instincts kick in. Tara will become incredibly strong and grounded in who she is this year. And we haven’t seen that from her because she’s so self-destructive and such a self-sabotager. I think we’ll finally see her go “wait a minute, I actually choose myself. I love myself and I deserve to be in this world and be loved and have a stable life.” I think that’s a beautiful journey.
PW: And in some roundabout way being under Franklin’s spell helps her with that?
Rutina: It’s a very psychotic relationship – he’s tall, dark and handsome with an emphasis on the dark. He takes a liking to Tara but he definitely has ulterior motive. I think Tara is intrigued by him because he kinda comes in and saves the day. But we’ll see the two of them really fight it out because he’s going to take a hold over her and she’ll be caught up in him. Not necessarily by choice, but she’s with him and you’ll see her struggle. It’s a very hard, brutal struggle.
PW: Sounds amazing.
Rutina: I think it’s going to be the best season yet. There is so much going on and I think everyone is doing such great work. I am really excited about it.
“True Blood” Week on PopWrap continues:
Sam Trammell talks about Sam Merlotte’s dark season
Joe Manganiello reveals his buff, werewolf body
“True Blood” season three premieres on Sunday June 13 at 9pm on HBO
Photo: WireImage