MTV published a new interview with Saoirse talking about “Byzantium“. Thanks to asimo for the heads up!

If you value your soul—or your jugular—you best steer clear of Saoirse Ronan. The Irish actress is getting up close and very personal with the human race in a pair of upcoming film roles. In “The Host,” she plays alien Wanderer, who implants herself inside an unwitting woman, taking over control. In “Byzantium,” she plays vampire Eleanor, who—no surprise—enjoys slurping up pints of O-neg.

It’s the latter that MTV News’ Josh Horowitz quizzed Saoirse about while at the Toronto International Film Festival, and while she admitted she isn’t necessarily an avid consumer of vampire mythology, she can relate to the bloodsuckers’ base instincts.

“I am fascinated, like obviously so many people are, with the idea of immortality, and everlasting life, and feeding on human blood,” Saoirse said.

Okaaaaaaay. But how exactly would she spend her time if she were to live forever?

“I’d definitely learn the piano like Eleanor did,” she mused. “I’d want to get really good at it. Learn the drums, maybe. Learn to juggle. Join the circus. Oh my God! A vampire. I’d go to Staten Island or something. Or Coney Island, even. I’d be the freak there they’d all come to see.”

Of course, one of the occupational hazards of portraying a vampire is the icky sensation of being drenched in faux blood for hours upon hours. But Saoirse was able to see the bright (albeit creepy) side of it all:

“It was a bit strange actually when I’d see myself because you forget you have it on after a while,” she said. “There’s a sequence in the car near the end, and Sam Riley and I are in the back of the car and Maria Doyle Kennedy is in the front, and we were in that car for about a week. So I had this blood on me the whole time, and it would get quite sticky…but they made it taste okay. I did swallow quite a bit of it. It tasted quite sweet. If blood actually tasted like that, I wouldn’t mind being a vampire.”
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