Dracula and his mythos, both based in history and based in Stoker, are well-trod territory at this point and people think they have a good grasp on who and what he was. However, in the immortal words of MTV’s long lamented program, “you think you know, but you have no idea.” In the new film Dracula Untold, we finally get the real (although still quite fictional) account of the life of Vlad the Impaler and how he became the vampire master to beat all vampire masters. Luckily, he remained ruggedly handsome throughout, so that’s a plus for him.

Brian Walton sat down with the director of the film, Gary Shore, along with two of its stars, Luke Evans who plays Vlad himself, and Sarah Gadon who plays Mirena, about how the production was able to make the character of a person who happily was called “The Impaler” someone who can still be a sympathetic protagonist, as well as how shooting a scene between Evans and Charles Dance was just about great actors being great.

Dracula Untold is in theaters today.