Sam Trammell says worst moment is being encased in plastic wrap for hours on end

By NINA METZ

Chicago Tribune

Published: 04-09-2020 2:04 PM

On the eighth and final season of Showtime’s Homeland, Sam Trammell has joined the ensemble as the stubborn veep-turned president, which puts him in a position of authority over CIA brainiac Saul Berenson, played by Mandy Patinkin.

“Mandy’s such a legendary actor, so him being deferential to me, in character, it’s definitely a bizarre experience,” Trammell said. “I was blown away by how committed he was even in the eighth season.”

Depending on the age of his fans, Trammell is either best known for the 2014 movie The Fault in Our Stars as Shailene Woodley’s dad, or from the long running HBO series True Blood as the shapeshifter Sam Merlotte.

“My kids are like, ‘What is True Blood and when can we watch it?’ And I’m like, ‘Guys, it’s not appropriate!’ And they’ll be like, ‘But dad, we know all the curse words” — which is hilarious. They’re 8-year-old twins. And I’ll be like, ‘Well, it’s inappropriate in other ways.’ And they’re like, ‘How?’ and I’m like, ‘I can’t tell you.’ When it first came out my great aunt watched the show, and I forgot to warn my parents; I’m always getting in trouble with my mom for that. She’s like, ‘Sam, why didn’t you tell us?’ Oh God, she’s watching a vampire having vampire sex!”

When asked to share a worst moment from his career though, the story Trammell shared is far more intense than that of a family member cringing through one of his shows.

My worst moment

“Way before True Blood I did an episode of Dexter and it was actually the second episode of the show. I think I was the first person that he took to his chamber to enact his revenge. (The Showtime series ran from 2006-2013 and centered on a vigilante serial killer targeting those who eluded justice.)

“I play an alcoholic who would drive drunk, and I’ve killed a few people and I keep getting off because I cry on the stand. And Dexter is watching me during my trial and he doesn’t buy it, so he takes me to his chamber and wraps me in Saran Wrap like a mummy and then he tortures me and stuff. So my arms are to my side, my feet are straight out and I’m lying on my back. I couldn’t bend my knees, I couldn’t move my arms and I couldn’t move my head because there was something holding it in place. I was completely vulnerable and immobile. The only thing I could do was talk.

“And what I didn’t realize is that I would be fully wrapped — and I was fully, fully wrapped. I was supposed to be naked except for this flesh-colored underwear, and I was game for it, but I didn’t realize how long I would be wrapped. And how tight it would be. And how hot.

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“And also I just didn’t think it through. I didn’t think about the fact that we wouldn’t be able to unwrap me until the whole scene was done and that they’d have to do lighting changes and move the camera, which could take hours.

“When they first rolled me in everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s a naked guy wrapped in Saran Wrap!’ and I was paid a lot of respect.

“But then during the lighting set-ups — there were maybe four or five — the actors and the director would leave to get out of the way so the crew could reset everything, and the crew didn’t know what to say to me so they just started working around me and wheeling me around and talking as if I wasn’t there. And they sort of forgot that I was an actual person. Somebody actually rested a roll of tape on my chest, as if I was suddenly a table. Like, they were putting tools on me! And I was too embarrassed to say anything. But also I was like, I’m fine being a table, I want to help out!

“And then everybody would come back in and remember I was there. The director would be like, ‘Oh, Sam! You’re here! Lunch is in an hour and then we’ll get you out of this. Would you mind staying wrapped up?’

“That was one of the first things they asked me, actually: If I would stay wrapped up for the whole thing because it would take a long time to unwrap me and then re-wrap me. And so I was like, it’ll be easier for me just to stay wrapped up. And they wrapped me tight.”

This sounds like an incredible claustrophobic experience.

“Absolutely. Here’s the deal: I thought it would be an hour — they’d get the wide shots they needed and then move in close and focus on my head, so they would be able to cut me out from the waist down. But the way they shot it, somehow I wasn’t able to do that and I had to stay, neck to toe, in Saran Wrap for four hours total.

“They weren’t intentionally dehumanizing me. The crew had business to do. And anybody that could have humanized me, like the directors or actors, had left the room. So there was nobody to say, ‘This guy has a name,’ ya know? ‘This person’s breathing, this isn’t a dummy.’ I think some people thought I was a mannequin because I was so still. I couldn’t move and I didn’t have anybody to talk to. But the funniest part was when the guy put his roll of tape on me. Put your sandwich there too, or your screwdriver. I’m fine.

“I was trying to use this (state of mind) to stay horrified because in the scene I’m completely at Dexter’s mercy and I was pretty claustrophobic by the time we got to the close-ups. I had sustained some, ya know, (real-life) trauma being in the same position looking up at the ceiling for 3½ hours and feeling vulnerable.

“It was exhausting because I was trying to stay in character the whole time, and then I’d lose it and space out and then someone would bump me and I’d be like, ‘Where’s the director again? Where are the other actors?’ ‘Oh, they’re getting snacks.’ Or they’d be on their phones while I’d be staring up at guys on ladders fixing lights and taping wires.”

It’s amazing anyone in charge thought this was mentally or physically healthy.

“(Laughs) You know what, I think they may have offered me a choice and I turned it down.

“My arm started to go numb. And I also really needed to go to the bathroom. I started getting worried and they were like, ‘Just two more set-ups. You can get unwrapped if you want, but it’s going to take a long time,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah, no — just stayed wrapped.’ So I think a lot of it was my fault because I didn’t want to have to go through the 30 minutes of getting unwrapped and wrapped again. I thought I could deal with it.

“And then I realized that I had become a piece of furniture and then it was too late and I had to stick to my guns: ‘No, I’m fine, I’m fine, I don’t have to go to the bathroom. My arm is fine.’ And I was literally falling apart inside.

“When any of your appendages go numb, you know it’s probably just a nerve and feeling will come back, but you don’t know for sure. It’s just a scary thing. And it was like, am I giving an arm for this guest-starring role on Dexter?! The show wasn’t even out yet!

“I didn’t think I could change anything about the situation at that point (laughs) so I think it was my own undoing.”

The takeaway

“Every once in a while you have to think about what your needs are, and I really needed to be cut out of that thing every hour. I didn’t want to be a problem, I didn’t want to be trouble — and it probably wouldn’t have been much trouble. So ask for what you need.

“And I learned that you (shouldn’t) get Saran Wrapped for four hours.”

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