If your excitement were a virus, the CDC may have a difficult time trying to contain it because the premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Strain’ is just weeks away. ScienceFiction.com got a chance to chat with Drew Nelson who plays Matt Sayles on the highly-anticipated new FX show.
Based on a trilogy of novels written by del Toro and Chuck Hogan, ‘The Strain’ follows the investigation of a team from the Center for Disease Control, led by Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll). Goodweather and his crew are sent to probe a literal DOA plane that lands at JFK Airport only to discover that a highly contagious virus that causes vampirism has made its way onto US soil. The team now is in a race against time to protect New York City and the ones they love from becoming bloodthirsty monsters.
“It’s definitely that sort of viral-outbreak-conspiracy kind of story I think is really intriguing. The action sequences with the vampires, with all the kill scenes, are just going to be phenomenal. It’s stuff you’ve never seen on television before,” Nelson states.
Nelson plays Matt Sayles, the new love interest of Goodweather’s estranged wife, Kelly. While we should certainly expect to see a lot of “rivalry” scenes between Sayles and Goodweather, Nelson states that his character serves as the voice of the reason on the show. He’s the practical thinker who wants to understand the facts before a plan gets set in motion.
Working with Guillermo del Toro was certainly a highlight for Nelson, particularly in terms of the magnitude of production for a TV show. Major streets were shut down in Toronto to recreate New York City. As Nelson explains, “The scale of it was unbelievable.”
We can expect to see a lot of gory action sequences and a truly “epic world” that (perhaps luckily) doesn’t involve brooding, sparkly high-school aged vampires with a penchant for journal-writing.
Yes, there’s a ton of vampire lore out there, but ‘The Strain’ is definitely going to divert from the vampire mythology that our culture has grown accustomed to.
“‘The Strain’ is going to turn the vampire genre on is head,” says Nelson. “Guillermo is the master of horror. He’s been into vampire lore since he was a young boy. He’s a master at it and he’s revolutionizing the vampire genre, I believe, at least giving you a totally different side of vampires that no one’s really touched on before. These vampires are primal, feral creatures that are out to drain anybody and anything they can find.”
Take a look at the trailer!
In addition to appearing in ‘The Strain’, Nelson also appears in the upcoming sci fi thriller ‘Man Vs’ co-staring Chris Diamantopoulos. It’s expected to hit the festival circuit this year, so keep an eye for it!
You can follow Drew Nelson on Twitter at @drewnelsonlive, on Instagram at drewnelly, or check out his Facebook page.
‘The Strain’ premieres on July 13 at 10 pm on FX.
