James: One Metaphysical Vampire

[DollEyes]

  Here's the thread for James, the ex-draft dodger-turned vamp originally played by Luke Grimes and now played by Nathan Parsons, who played Ethan on General Hospital. My verdict on James: I like him. He seems like a sweet, mellow and compassionate sort, as vamps go. The thread title was inspired by what Lafayette called him in the Season Premiere. Speaking of whom, I definitely think that Lala is either crushing on James already or soon will be, not that I blame him.

Edited June 24, 2014 by DollEyes

[joelene]

I like new James! A lot! Super fox. I liked Luke Grimes too but Nathan already made a good impression.

I never ever ship anyone or anything but I think something finally broke in me today because I actually think I started shipping Lala/James.

[DollEyes]

 Re Luke Grimes and his apparently quitting the show because he didn't want to do a bi/gay storyline, I believe that actors shouldn't do anything they are uncomfortable with. If LG left the show because he didn't want to play bi/gay, it's a free country and he's entitled to his opinion, just like everyone else, myself included-and my opinion is that if that's true, then IMO he's an insulting, arrogant, childish and clueless asshole. I'm not the most p.c. person in the world, but I know ignorance when I hear it. LG knew what the show was about from the start and that it has had gay, lesbian and bisexual characters from the start. He apparently had no problems with being part of the "Vamp Camp" plotline which involved killing men, but one that involves him kissing one and suddenly he's squeamish? What the fuck ever, dude. LG also has no problem doing the big-screen version of 50 Shades Of Gray, the "mommy porn" epic with S&M overtones either, but a consentual love story involving two men supposedly offends his delicate sensibilities? Bitch, please!

 

  What if a White actor on a hit show with an interracial love story-like, say, Scandal-quit because he didn't want to do love scenes with a Black woman? He would catch Hell for it and rightfully so. Plenty of gay actors have played straight very convincingly, from Rock Hudson to Neil Patrick Harris and if LG can't play a bi or gay role, there are plenty of better and hotter actors who can, such as Nathan Parsons, who has already turned out to be a vast improvement in terms of looks, talent and attitude. If the story turns out to be true, hopefully LG won't do two things: make a non-apology "apology" and claim that "some of his best friends are bi/gay." Re the former, there's no if he offended people because he already has. As for the "bi/gay friends" trope, if that's true, then he would be much more mature and wouldn't even flinch at the thought of playing a gay part.

 

  LG is an actor. His job is to act. He's not big enough to use a lame excuse to back out of a role and get away with it, especially if he offends a minority in the process. If I were a writer/producer/director of a show or a film with LGBT characters and an actor or actress quits because they're "uncomfortable" with playing one, then I'd be "uncomfortable" with working with them again and I wouldn't be the only one who felt that way by a long shot. There are plenty of shitty things about True Blood, but its willingness to have bi and gay characters isn't one of them; how they use them, however, is another story, but I digress. LG's reasons for quitting the show, if true, say much worse about him than the show, as far as I'm concerned.

Edited June 27, 2014 by DollEyes

[Chairperson Meow]

Nathan Parsons is a vast improvement, so imo it's Grimes's loss.

[Enigma X]

Honestly, as much as I am not happy over LG's departure, I liked him way better than nuJames. 

[roctavia]

Different strokes, I guess... Personally I like the new James much better... he's far more charming and interesting to me than James from last season.

[Amethyst]

While I think Grimes was hotter, Nathan has good chemistry with Lafayette, and that's important if they're going to hook up.  

 

What doesn't make sense to me re: Grimes departure is that anyone who's seen True Blood knows that the vampires have always been sexually fluid, and that most of the relationships don't last longer a season.  Even Bill has been involved in a same sex fantasy scene.  Can he really say he didn't know what went on this show?

[Enigma X]

Amethyst, I did wonder if Grimes had ever seen the show before being cast after hearing why he left.

[Turkish]

Nelsan Ellis just spilled the whole tea on Luke Grimes.  So I guess it is true. I'm surprised he was so honest about the whole situation and it sounds like he wasn't the only one pissed about it. In any case, I'm glad that Nathan Parsons was willing to do the part. I think he is the better James anyway and he has great chemistry with Ellis. 

[oakgal]

It took me an episode to realize NuJames was James from the previous season. No wonder I was so confused initially. New actor! Right, okay. Well, I'm pleased the previous James had such a ludicrous reaction to playing gay because we got NP instead and he's terrific. I just love his scenes with NE. They have terrific, easy chemistry. Win win.

[DollEyes]

  Nathan Parsons' James impresses me more every week. James may hate violence (hence his being a draft dodger), but he can kick ass when necessary, as he proved in "Death Is Not the End," when he volunteered for the rescue mission to raid Fangtasia and save the surviving human hostages  from their H-vamp captors. On the romance front, James and Lafayette's chemistry is off the charts and has been from the start; otoh, James' relationship with Jessica never had a chance because she never asked James anything about himself, as Lafayette pointed out after Jess caught him and James together. In fairness, James could have been more honest with Jess, but given her downward spiral at the time, he probably didn't want to bother her, plus Jess was too busy wallowing in self-pity most of the time to care anyway. Although Jess' anger about James' infidelity was understandable, she lost the moral high ground with me when she screwed Jason-who's not free-moments later.

 

    Then there's James' involvement with Danny Monahan, his best friend/first love, who was killed in Vietnam. My theory about why Danny's father attacked/almost killed James when he tried to pay his respects to the family was because he found out that they were lovers, he freaked out, blamed James and, in a partially grief-fueled rage over Danny's death, tried to kill James. Pa Monahan's not accepting that Danny was gay was bad enough,  but attempted murder as a response was and is unacceptable. Mr. Monahan mourned Danny, but he wasn't the only one, therefore given his reaction, his feelings are irrelevant, IMO. The only good things about Mr. Monahan's hate crime was that it got James turned, which ultimately lead him to Lafayette. If Mr. Monahan was James' first kill as a vamp, it was karma, as far as I'm concerned. Re James' and Lafayette's future, I predict that James will not only be Lala's lover, he'll be his Maker. Lafayette asked to be turned in S2, but it didn't happen, so James' turning him would be a case of the right maker at the right time, plus Lala's turning for love wouldn't be cringeworthy-unlike, say, (unspoiled spec ahead)  Sookie's  possibly turning for Bill.

 

  As for the show's choice to make James bi/gay and Luke Grimes' apparent refusal to do it, this show has deviated/will deviate plenty from the books, but unlike LG, the other actors not only didn't publically bitch about it, they did their jobs. Stephen Moyer, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley and Kristin Bauer Van Straten have all had same-sex themed scenes, but they did them anyway, like the pros they are. Alexander Skarsgard has done full-fledged love scenes with male actors, one in the nude in S4 and the other being this season's very hot dream sequence with Ryan Kwanten's Jason, but they didn't seem to bother him and even if they did, unlike LG, at least he had sense enough not to publically bite one of the hands that feeds him. Thank Heaven for Nathan Parsons, a hotter actor who's much more talented and has a much better attitude than LG, who not only seems to appreciate the chance of being on a hit TV show, he acts circles around and is much sexier than the guy he replaced. Since LG's not smart enough to be grateful for the break he got on True Blood, then good riddance, I say.

Edited July 25, 2014 by DollEyes