“Vampire Academy” star J. August Richards finally gets to show his fangs.
Best known for playing rogue human vampire hunter Gunn on “Angel,” Richards is on the other side of the table this time, playing a royal vampire, Victor Dashkov, in the Peacock YA series that premiered this week.
“In the back of my mind, I always had a feeling that I would return to the genre and so I’m so happy to be doing it,” the 49-year-old Maryland native told the Daily News.
“I was always kind of jealous of what the vampires got to do, so I was always like, if I ever get to do another vampire show, I hope to play a vampire,” Richards said. “And here I am!”
As Dashkov, Richards has the power Gunn always sought, playing the head of one of 12 royal families who is trying to push for equality among the different classes of vampires.
“He’s such a political animal. He knows who all the players are, where they are and how to negotiate the bullshit,” he said. “I’m so connected to who this character is because we have so much in common in terms of what we both want out of our societies.”
At the center of Dashkov’s struggle is the separation of the pure blood Moroi vampires and the half-breed Dhampirs, who serve as their protectors and guardians. In the case of Rose (Sisi Stringer) and Lissa (Daniela Nieves), the best friends at the center of “Vampire Academy,” they formed a friendship out of their roles, but that’s rarely the case.
“I am this powerful politician who is fighting for equality, yet I still have a guard,” Richards said.
“It was really fun for me to think about what it’s really like to be a person of privilege in a society like this one.”
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