At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, our own Perri Nemiroff was able to sit down with some of the cast members of the upcoming Syfy series Van Helsing, including star Kelly Overton (Vanessa Helsing), Jonathan Scarfe (Axel), and Christopher Heyerdahl (Sam). Similarly to the recent (and very good) Syfy series Wynonna Earp, where Wynonna is the Earp heir to Wyatt’s fabled gun Peacemaker, Vanessa is the daughter of vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, and has been resurrected in order to fight vampires taking over in the future.

There was a vampire craze a few years ago that saw the rise of not only the Twilight movies, but of TV series like True Blood (of which both Overton and Heyerdahl are alums) and The Vampire Diaries, among others. Different varieties of vampires (which this new show has plenty of) have also featured heavily in Penny Dreadful, The Strain, and other gothic series, but according to the cast of Van Helsing, their show is going to do things differently.


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Image via Syfy

Heyerdahl explains that in this world, the primary struggle is between choosing to be a vampire or not, and finding out with the level of humanity and consciousness is for a vampire. The biggest twist, though, is that Vanessa has the power to bite vampires and make them human again, opening up the entirely new experience of humans who were former vampires. That, as Perri notes in the video, is definitely the hook for this series.

Overton also talks about her gender-swapped role, and what a powerful, kickass character she’s able to play. When it comes to the vampires, Scarfe says the show is devoid of cliches (no garlic, holy water, or not being seen in a mirror), and puts a whole new spin on vampire lore, as created by Bram Stoker. While there are “some little flares” to that source material, Overton also said that Van Helsing is more about Vanessa finding out who she is and her role in helping to save the world — and that she’s a “bit of a brawler” who happens to have an arsenal of awesome weapons.

The trio revealed that they have already finished shooting all 13 episodes of Season 1, which will premiere September 23rd. However, you can catch a sneak peak July 31st after Sharknado 4.

Check out the entire video above, including a discussion about Neil LaBute’s collaborative spirit in creating the series, as well as more information a bout the “graphic” nature of the show.

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