Stephen Moyer remains best known in America for his magnetic vampire Bill Compton in HBO’s seven-season series “True Blood.”
He returns Monday with AcornTV’s murder mysteries series “Art Detectives” as art-loving Detective Inspector Mick Palmer, partnered with Detective Constable Shazia Malik (Nina Singh).
They’re the Heritage Crime Unit, solving murders linked to art and antiques – everything from forged paintings to Viking gold.
“I loved the idea of it,” the British born Moyer, 55, began in a Zoom interview. “There is a real Heritage Crime Unit – I think it’s called the Art Fraud Department. It’s the smallest department in the whole Metropolitan Police. Just three people.
“So they took the idea of that as my character and I thought that was something I hadn’t seen before. A really, really interesting idea where I’m always interested in the overall arc of the story and like the week-to-week episodic nature of solving the crime.
“But I was also interested in who Mick Palmer was, what has made him what he is.”
As to the reality of this made-in-Belfast show?
“The actual Heritage Crime Unit gave us a bunch of people to get in contact with and we had file folders of actual real crimes. And also ideas that they had followed up on some around the world that were to do with art theft or art fraud. Or modern ideas about sneaker theft.
“All of that kind of stuff, because that would fall under our purview. So we did have folders of historical incidents and facts, but I didn’t actually get to speak to anybody within the department.”
Is he still offered vampires? Would he ever go back for like a “True Blood” resurrection?
“There have been a couple of times where people have tried to come back. Not to exploit but use that connection that I have to vampirism. And I have not said no. A couple of times the projects just hadn’t particularly worked out well.
“As far as ‘True Blood’ is concerned, Anna” – Anna Paquin, his costar and wife – “and I were talking about it this morning. In the end of June it will be 18 years since we’ve been together, which is just nuts, right?
“So I would always go back, under the proviso that we were able to get the same crew together. I would be there in a heartbeat.
“But of course,” he noted, “vampires aren’t supposed to age. And this little sucker is going on 18 years older than when it did that gig.
“I’m sure they could explain that in one sentence: ‘Oh, I had some blood disorder where I aged.’ Yes, the blood ain’t doing its job anymore.”
“Art Detectives” first two episodes stream Monday on Acorn TV. New episodes drop weekly.
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