Who can keep track of Constantine’s love-life, anyway?
Remember the trailer for NBC’s Constantine? Well you can forget it, or at least you can forget any part of it that mentions his female counterpart Liv. Liv – played by True Blood‘s Lucy Griffiths – was the one with the dead dad who was supposed to be Constantine’s best friend, demons, ghosts, yadda yadda, and she was also the one with no apparent link to the original source’s continuity. The show’s creatives have opted to go a different route, and have cast Angélica Celaya as Constantine’s lover Zed.
“We wanted a more dynamic relationship, as opposed to someone who is a teacher/mentor and a student,” says executive producer Daniel Cerone. “It just didn’t feel as fertile and rich of an area as just a strong man and a strong woman who are both very different.” One of the biggest problems the team had with Liv as a character was that she was very reactive; it’s hoped Zed will be more of a foil for Constantine.
Angélica Celaya is no stranger to supernaturals. She had a recurring role as main love interest Eva Leon in vampires-invade-Miami TV series Gabriel, appeared in cheap horror fun Cowboys and Vampires, and briefly appears in Dallas and Burn Notice, among other credits.
Zed appears in the source’s continuity as part of Jamie Delano‘s run, as does Ravenscar asylum and a host of other things hinted at in the trailer. In the source – without giving too much away – Zed has a secret that eventually lands Constantine right in the middle of a rather more saintly conspiracy than he’s used to. Whether or not NBC sticks with that storyline is an open question; though if it does there’s a chance that we’ll see an adaptation of When Johnny Comes Marching Home, one of my favorite one-offs, so here’s hoping …
Though nobody was willing to come out and say it, Liv may go the way many of Constantine’s friends do, which option has the advantage of allowing the team to keep most of the already filmed pilot. “One of the hallmarks of John is his friends drop like flies,” says executive producer David Goyer. “It’s the price of doing business. He is this classic noir character who often ends up alone, and we thought it was consistent with the character.”
The production team also touched on the subject of smoking – Constantine smokes, but don’t expect to see much of it on screen – and the character’s bisexuality. Though a recurring plot element in the later books, NBC has no plans to explore Constantine’s bisexual side any time soon.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
