I haven't ever seen a period drama that has a fantasy element to it, that's set in London, that's as lavish as it is, and that's made for American TV.

You work with seasoned actors, and sometimes you realize that they phone it in.

I've been offered quite a few network shows, over the past couple of years, and always turned them down because I never wanted the commitment. The way that it works in America, you do a pilot and then you wait, and I just thought that wasn't really what I was interested in doing, in that moment.

When I read the script, I said to one of the producers, "I know you probably want Jonathan Harker really fluffy, but I'm not gonna do that. It needs to be a mask. There needs to be a duel between Harker and Dracula."

I think it's very rare, as an actor, that you get to a script, or an idea of a script, and you go, "Oh, I just have to do that!" It fell into place very quickly.

I haven't ever seen a period drama that has a fantasy element to it, that's set in London, that's as lavish as it is, and that's made for American TV.

It was just hilarious how my first reaction was, "Oh, no, it's another vampire show. I'm not interested." And then, I read the script and thought it was brilliant.