From AfterEllen.com (the show will apparently air in the fall on CHUM):
- Christina Cox sweetens the small screen
“It’s not often in the entertainment business that the author of a book singles out an actor to play a character, and years later she actually ends up on-screen in the role. But that’s exactly what happened to actor Christina Cox (Better Than Chocolate), star of Lifetime’s new series Blood Ties, based upon the novels of Tanya Huff.”
Christina:
Great new show…you’re handling your role in excellent fashion. However, we see NO real love triangle,as is advertised. Mike is essentially out of the picture in the love catagory… it’s all about the hot vampire! What’s wrong with a competitive traditional and loving relationship with Mike…then the writers can let a true love triangle evolve? Frankly,in the last episode,I don’t think that your character even touched Mike,except to lead him like a puppy dog to lunch to fill in your daytime hours until the vampire lover is up and about! So far, it’s just a typical…hot lady goes with the bad boy lover and keeps the good boy on hold to occupy the daylight time. It won’t hold up with today’s smarter audiences. Change things to the extent you can…you’re the glue holding this new venture together thus far. Thanks for listening.
Thanks for the post! I had no idea this forum existed and was surprised to see it addressed to me so. I’ve never done this I’ll do my best to answer you -from an actors pov.
Respectfully, I feel very strongly there is a love triangle in our show; if Vicki was having as you say “a competitive traditional and loving relationship with Mike” with Henry as the tasty sideline, you’d have an unfaithful lead character trying have her cake and eat it too. Which is a whole other kind of show. Vicki is doing the best she can in complicated and to say the least, unusual circumstances. A new love interest always seems more exciting at first blush because one doesn’t have to address the painful memories associated with resolving a relationship that failed. Never mind dramatically sustaining a love triangle over 22 episodes. It is a constant ebb and flow between her feelings about the two men that will be part of her the show’s journey. Vicki is out of respect for both men not getting physical with either. She is however permitted to and will as a result of the situations she finds herself in, (and how the men respond to her ) find herself drawn to one more strongly that the other at times. This is the nature of indecision. Of course I would love for Vicki to have a great big love affair-but a minute after she chooses, bye bye dramatic tension.
Also, you made mention of religion in a related post; a great deal of the show depends on both our characters and our audiences perception of good and evil, of faith and power-it is Henry, the vampire who holds on to his religion to define good and evil while Vicki, an agnostic, challenges him with the issue of personal choice and positive intention. That magic and pagan beliefs are “evil” is a perception imposed by Christian perceptions of earth based religions and we will delve into this extensively. Thanks for watching. Christina.
Hi Christina.
Please bare with me while I fluff your ego a little. As a self proclaimed tough chick, it is nice to see the female lead of such a great show be strong woman. I get pretty sick of the girly girl come rescue me thing so your role is amazing. I don’t know where people got the idea that strong and smart couldn’t be sexy. I believe you have kicked that myth in it’s preverbal head.
I have read the books and LOVE the show. I do believe you nut shelled the show quite eloquently. Tom is by all means entitled to his opinion but I spend a great deal of time on a forum and site dedicated to the show, http://www.bloodties-bloodlines.com/phpBB2/index.php and I can tell you that a large majority of the folks there understand the concept of the triangle.
Thanks so much for posting here. Feel free to come by and see us at bloodlines. ;) it’s a great community. There is much love for you and the rest of the cast.
Rosie/freg
Hi Christina,
I am one of your french fan since I’m 8 years old, and even if “Blood Ties” is not diffused in France I like it already. I saw the majority of your films (Better than Chocolate, Sometimes a Hero…). I read the first volume of Blood Ties the other did not leave yet in French. I hope to see Blood Ties in French soon. Sorry for my English I know that it is not terrible.
Thank you for posting here and listening me.
Morgane
Morgane, if I am not mistaken, Blood Ties has been picked up in the UK, France, Germany, Israel and some Eastern European markets. I think the UK launches in the summer but as for the rest….I hope to see you on the air soon!
Christina:
Thanks so much for your very thoughtful response to my 3/19/07 message. I continue to follow the show and think you are doing excellent work…some of the best in your career(my wife and have followed your work since the 2 Due South eoisodes… she loved the dog Defenbaker…I loved your character).
Your comments about the relationships with the Mike and Henry characters where excellent…I didn’t think about the effects of the various alternative love story lines. You know your stuff,as we say in the States. However, as we get older,we tend to look for balance in relationships-i.e., traditional v. progressive. So, if a true competition is to take place for the Vicki character’s love, then Mike should get at least some affection…a small kiss,a tight hand holding,etc. Lately,he doesn’t even get touched and didn’t a lunch! While the hot vampire Henry gets alot of touching,gets free blood from your character and rubs your feet tenderly. The Mike character appears to have no chance at such affection…in fact ,he appears to be becoming the heavy.
The series needs more balance inthe treatment of Mike and Henry. Otherwise it will become too obvious to the audience…just my random thoughts.
The best of luck to you!
Tom
To Ms. Christina Cox, actress
I’m an aspiring filmmaker and I am working to produce my first novel “Only Time…” into a motion picture. I’ve thought about many different actresses who might be right for the leading female role but I can’t think of anyone that would be better than you. If you are interested then please read my novel and let me know what you think.
ISBN: 1424115418 at Barnes and Noble
Sincerely,
Eugene.
Thanks to your reponse I’m very happy.
Highly that Blood Ties is diffused in France.
Thanks again for your response.
Morgane
Christina:
I fear that I have awakened the sleeping giant by suggesting that there is no real love triangle on Blood Ties. Please understand, there is a triangle of personalities,but Mike is clearly not a love interest by any definition…a past lover, a helper, a friend (perhaps),a want-to-be protector, but not a love interest. Your explanation that your character should not commit to either Mike or Henry at the start is absolutely correct. However,Mike is becoming the heavy and the brunt of your rath and Henry’s. The series needs to set up a real competition for your characters affection between Mike and Henry. Right now it’s all one way :Vicki and Henry with Mike as them odd man out.
The series success depends upon establishing relationships that the audience believes truely exist. These relationships are not clear as yet…perhaps this will become clearer later, but don’t wait too long… the audience may not wait. I’m a big fan of yours..and I will wait and remain loyal.
All the best!
Tom
Well, Tom, all I can say is that for a show with a 22 episode season, developing the kind of intimacy you mention takes a loooong time. We have to save up our allowance before we go to the candy store. :)
Stick with us, in my opinion, the show just keeps getting better, episodes 7&8 guest star Julian Sands, 12 is spectacular and just wait for “5:55” it is one of my favorites.
Thanks for the support.
Christina
Christina:
Thanks so much for your 4/6/07 response! As a long time fan of yours it means alot…my wife just agreed in the background.
OK,maybe I’m asking for too much too soon. They say that patience is a virtue…I’ll stop complaining and just let the series unfold. I overreacted because I’m a technical person and a forecaster of trends based on the available info/data. Story telling is not intended to be an exact science; so. please excuse the fact that I’m a guy and an engineer…a double whammy!
To compound matters, both my wife and I are “older”and traditional in our views of life in general. Therefore,we immediately identified with Dylan’s character Mike and favor his romantic success with your character Vicki. Although,I must admit my wife is more open minded than me regarding Kyle’s role as Henry the vampire.
You are all doing just a great job with these roles,the series is a refreshing departure for both of us and has already become the highlight of our Sunday TV viewing.
Keep up the spark you uniquely convey in your acting…you’re a pro!
Tom
Dearest Christina, I kind of fell onto your show on Lifetime Channel in Colorado on Sundays and have been glued to the set for the last 2 weeks…You r fab Ms.Chica. I loved u in Better Than Chocolate and in the Riddick Chronicles for a mere brief moment…but absolutley love your flawless characters witt and sensibilty. Kudos for the producers making a woman the hero as well. This off the cuff but would u consider doing a season on the L WORD series in the future? I think u would be most brilliant in the lineup. Better Than Chocolate was my first Lesbian film in my life and I saw it 4x with 4 different people in the theater…that is how intriguing u were to me. Whoever your partner is in real life better know that they are lucky and vice versa to have u as a partner..especially if you’re anything like your character in Chocolate…Fan in Colorado…Lisa-Fly FRONTIER sometime and say hi at the counter in Denver:)
Christina:
I tried to hold off until the developments you described in ealier posting to me re: some longer term balance in the so-called “love triangle” took place,but I fear that no such “ebb & flow” is ever likely in this series. Mike continues to be the traditional good guy punching bag for the alternative life-style couple of Vicki and Henry. Even simple common courtesies such as “thank you” are so difficult for the Vicki character when it comes to expressing such things to the Mike character. There appears to be a great fear on the part of the writers/producers that the target audience ( whoever they are ) would be offended by any show of even the most simple politeness,let alone a show of very mild affection,say a touch on the arm or hand, to Mike by Vicki. Now it is clear that the idea of a relationship between Mike and Vicki is dead…and merely being kept alive to justify the misleading advertising about a “love triangle” on the Lifetime Network. Very,very misleading and so disappointing for your more traditional fans like me and my wife.
I guess we are expecting too much from today’s society wherein marriage, true love, religous beliefs, balanced views, common politeness and other traditional values are considered dead to the emerging new wave alternative life styles. As always we are and will remain big fans of you and your individual work efforts. However, the Blood Ties Series is moving away from the traditional and into the darkness,away from happiness and into saddness/depression (ever notice that there is almost no smiling in this series)…Mike simply does not fit ,no matter how hard the “love triangle” is pushed by Lifetime. The previews of the next episode highlight the heating up of the “hot relationship” between Vicki and Henry and show a less than half-hearted effort at a continuing interest between Vicki and Mike… the only reason for having Mike in the mix is to justify the so-called “love triangle” and hve a traditional good guy for Henry and Vicki to punch around.
It’s all too much for us traditionals…unless there is a major shift in the storyline,and I’m told that there will be no such change, we are not likely to continue as regular viewers of this series. We are very disappointed!!!
Your disappointed,but continuing fan.
Tom
Hi there,
Love your show and have seen everything you have done. Glad to see that the show is not boring or “traditional”! I really liked the Nikki and Nora pilot. Too bad it did not make the cut. Thanks for reading.
Christina:
Is “traditional” a bad thing? I AM a traditional for the most part…but,overall really enjoy BT and look forward to the remaining episodes in the Fall. My hang up is the obvious poor treatment of the Mike character, because he’s portrayed as the token traditional nice guy punching bag…a very popular,but WAY overdone theme these days on TV and the movies. I simply feel that you and others need to be aware that a segment of the audience(small but significant) feels as I do and eventually it could bare on the ratings of BT.Maybe it will…maybe it won’t?
Hope that you and yours are enjoying the time off.
All the best.
Tom
I’ve been hooked on Tanya Huff for years ,this is just soooo great.Only problem I can’t afford cable my vcr blew(a friend records it for me)and now my tv crapped out,so even though I borrowed a VCR the only functioning tv I have is an old 4″ that could plug into the cigarette lighter,can’t hook it to the VCR.I got to watch some while I was Dog sitting but now I’m going through withdrawl .This is so stressful .When will it be out on DVD?
I have to say that I’m so excited to finally find a show to be excited about! :)
“Norman” is my favorite episode so far because it offered up a little bit of everything. I love that the love triangle remains in tact because the scenes between Vicki and Henry were really Norman and Vicki and Norman and Henry…brilliant! It gave us a taste of what it would be like if Vicki finally gave in to Henry, visually, but yet it doesn’t spoil the fact that it wasn’t them together and their sexual tension remains.
Christina – thank you to you and the rest of the cast and crew that work so hard on this show and give us something to look forward to on Sunday nights! We appreciate all of your efforts and I think I can speak for other fans of the show in saying that we support you guys 110% and hope we can make enough noise, when needed, to keep you filming for many seasons to come!
Christina- My lord if god created the perfect women…he created it in you! Thanks for doing Blood ties…I love everything I have seen you in. You are what every man/woman wants. Thanks for your comments… we all hope to see more from you.
i see the date of posting, i don’t know if you’ll read me.
i just want to tell you…thanks.
have a nice day. see you soon.
Lyon. France.
Hi Christina…it looks like this blog/forum might have run its course,but all the same…here’s my 2 cents.
I’ve greatly enjoyed Blood Ties and still have my toes crossed for more…there’s still a chance another network will pick it up…and I cheer on the possibility.
I’ve been an avid Buffy/Angel watcher for many years and I put BT in the same catagory.
The stories/characters and action are great…and it’s a Canadian show with a Canadian cast,set today,in Canada…as rare as a hockey game with no score ;)
Supernatural is heading back for a 4th season…there’s got to be one,hopefully Canadian,network out there with room for a success like Blood Ties.
Good luck in all your endevors…Chris in Montreal
aka: SirLoinn @ Yahoo