Once a royal hottie, Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ reappearance as the oh-so-charming Alexander Grayson in the Sky Living series Dracula over the summer made hearts throb across the nation, including my Dad’s (who I found secretly enjoying six episodes in a row).
Now a flesh-eating vampire brought back from a cursed paralysis, Meyers, playing the legendary Vlad the Impaler, poses as American businessman Alexander Grayson whose aim is to bring revolutionary wireless electricity into Victorian Society.
Very much the Victorian gentleman, Vlad’s long, rugged (and frankly beautiful) locks are swapped for a shorter do’ to allow him to be an upstanding member of society. It’s not only his look that has had a re-‘vamp’: we are introduced to an American accent, and a very good one at that.
Unsurprisingly, despite his charm, Grayson finds it extremely difficult to make friends, and perhaps his only true friend is his supposed ‘manservant’, Renfield, who is his loyal confidante, and aids Grayson in his attempts to walk in the sun again, as well as Van Helsing, who creates the ‘sun serum’.
Within the first couple of episodes, Grayson happens upon a young woman who appears to be the reincarnation of his long dead wife, Ilona Szilágyi, who in historical record was the true love of the real Vlad the Impaler. Spooky. His ideas of walking in the sun now have a purpose – he must have her, and to have her, his humanity must be restored.
The mystery girl is Mina Murray, the partner of Jonathan Harker, a budding journalist. The supposed long-lost wife of Grayson, Mina is enchanted by the vampire’s charms and cannot seem to rid herself of some rather heated thoughts about him. Who can blame her, though?
Meyer’s interpretation of the cold-blooded killer is not only stunning but eerily accurate, and as the series goes on we learn of his horrific, dark past which lost him not only his mortal life, but his wife. As his growing reputation as a fraud threatens to reveal his secret to the world and The Order of the Dragon attempt to reveal his vampirey-ness, we are constantly on the edge of our seats. Will his true intentions of revenge on The Order for their mistreatment of him and his wife centuries before be revealed? Oh the suspense!
So let’s see how Grayson scores on our Classic Vampire Traits Check-list:
1) Invisible in mirrors/photographs ☑
2) Extremely Cold ☒ – No mention of his temperature (though we’d guess HOT)
3) Allergic to Garlic ☒
4) Repulsed by churches/crosses/anything Christian ☑ ☒ – He doesn’t particularly like religion, but he doesn’t burst into flames on the church threshold. Let’s just say he seems uncomfortable around Mina’s cross pendant…
5) Has to be invited into home ☑
6) Cannot walk in sunlight ☑ ☒ (Only for 10 minutes after gruelling injections of sun serum)
7) One bite either kills victim/makes them into a vamp ☑
8) Regeneration (following wounds) ☑
9) Ridiculously good-looking ☑
Convincing vampire out of 10: 9 (He’s the perfect mix of dark and dangerous and charm)
Smoulder rating out of 10: 10 (We loved him as King Henry but a touch of the supernatural adds an amazing amount of smoulder)
