Seregon O’Dassey, a New York vampire-model-actress puts other multihyphenates to shame. This month, between attending bloodsucker bashes and filming horror flicks, she’s educating the public in the series Vampires Revealed on Comcast On Demand’s Paranormal TV Channel.
Here's an interview with her :
So. You actually drink blood.
Well, not on a regular basis. It really kinda depends on what I’m feeling at the moment. I would say maybe two, three times a month. It’s never public; it’s not like people think. I don’t have a craving and grab a random person. If my boyfriend cuts himself in the kitchen, or if I really want something, I’ll ask my boyfriend. Or I have a little blade so I can make little nicks in myself. Nothing bad, it’s completely safe, not even a permanent scar.
You don’t worry about health issues?
That’s why I only do it with myself, or my boyfriend. I always compare it to a sexual experience, for more than one reason; one of them’s safety. You have to know the person, trust the person.
What’s the Manhattan vampire scene like?
I can only really compare it against Philadelphia. Manhattan, it’s not really a tight-knit community. I would say it’s more segregated, in that you have more than one court, you have a myriad of houses or orders. And New Jersey is rather small, tight-knit.
The hierarchy of it is complicated, with houses and orders and courts.
I usually compare it to the government. You have people you report to. You go to your sire, if you have one. Then who’s in charge of your house or order. Or if you belong to a court, you go up to your chain of command until you get to your regent. It’s like the President with your legislative branches, and each state has a government, each city has a mayor.
Wow. Do vampires have their own governmental drama, intern scandals and stuff?
Oh, absolutely. Wow. Wow, the stories I could tell you. Yes. [Laughs] Very, very much so. It’s the reason I’m not in a court anymore is that someone hurt me, and there was absolutely nothing done about it.
What kind of hurt?
I can’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say that I was not allowed to model for almost a month. I couldn’t even leave the house, there were marks all over me.
Wow. You going to lead a splinter group? A revolution?
People keep asking me that. I could, I just don’t want to. I act as my career, and I haven’t the time, or the energy to do that kind of thing.
Is there a such thing as a hipster vampire?
You mean, like, trendy?
Yeah, with skinny jeans.
I guess you could call them that. I call them cyber goths, the younger generation or the next generation. They tend to be more punk, with those wire coils in their hair. And the older generation, or my generation—did I just call myself old?—we tend to be more elegant.
Kids today!
The younger generation isn’t as elegant or regal. They don’t wear the corsets as much, they wear those little ballerina skirts and those combat boots. I guess you could call them hipsters. They have their own new take on the old way of doing things.
So what about Twilight? Do “real” vampires hate it?
It’s a different thing. It just seemed very young for me, almost Sweet Valley High–ish. Which is okay, just not my cup of tea. But I’m a True Blood fan. What people need to remember is that they’re things to make money, to entertain people. It’s not meant to be a representative of this community. People can get the wrong idea; you should learn more about something before you become a part of it. Read a lot about psychology and energy and anything that has to do with the vampire culture, and filter it within yourself.
What does blood taste like?
It’s thick; it’s very rich. I wanna say dirty. But it’s not sweet, it’s not bitter. It’s almost like if you were to touch metal and then lick your finger. What a lot of people don’t know is that you shouldn’t ever have too much of it because it’s a natural laxative and it can make you sick. You’re taking in energy, and you don’t want to be greedy. It will overwhelm you. It teaches you control, in a way.
