John C. Reilly has become the rarity of Hollywood actors only Robin Williams has truly become skilled at, equally adept of playing both comedy and drama. While having mostly been known in recent years for comedies like Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and Step Brothers, he’s received numerous accolades and nominations for dramatic roles in films like Gangs Of New York, Chicago (of which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), and The Hours.

Reilly’s latest film is his most wide left-turn yet, playing vampire Larten Crepsley in the film Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, based on the book in the series by author Darren Shan. It’s a role the 44 year-old actor says he jumped at the chance to do because it got him acting in his favorite genre of film, fantasy adventure.

“It's a personal high, a personal best,” John says, “I was thrilled because I had been doing a lot of comedies in a row, and I was getting kind of known only for that, especially among younger audiences. I thought, ‘Wow, I've done almost 50 movies, and these kids only know me from these two movies, and they think that's all that I do.’ So, I thought maybe it was time to do something different. And I had always wanted to do a fantasy movie. This kind of movie is the kind of movie I like to see. I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter movies and The Lord Of The Rings films.”

“I like a good fantasy adventure story, so I was thrilled when I came along,” he continues, “And then, to have such a detailed, textured character, this guy has been alive so long and seen so much and gets to be a mentor kind of character, which has been an important relationship in my life, at different points. So, yeah, I was thrilled to just keep surprising them. Of course, in two years, it will be like, ‘John, why are you always playing the vampires and always kissing Salma Hayek? Why?”

While John says he was not familiar with Darren Shan’s original books, he said doing The Vampire’s Assistant got him enjoying to read them.

“I was not familiar with the books before I was offered the movie, but it was great,” he says, “This whole vampire tidal wave that's happened lately wasn't quite cresting, at the time we made the movie. The first Twilight movie hadn't come out. My favorite vampire movie was Shadow of A Vampire. I thought that was really great.”

“And, we were lucky enough to have Willem Dafoe in the movie,” Reilly adds, “I became aware of the books through the script, and then eventually read all of them. I was always the one on the set going, ‘You know, but the books say . . .The book says,’ I came to really enjoy them.”

The film was shot in Hurricane Katrina-struck New Orleans. Reilly says shooting the film there was both a blessing and an eye-opening revelation of how devastated the area still is.

“It was a real special time to get to work in New Orleans,” he says, “Some parts of the city were totally coming back, and other parts were shockingly still neglected and seemingly forgotten, so that was hard to see, some of that. Once you get outside of the French Quarter, it was tough to see how hard people were still struggling in New Orleans.”

“That theater that we shot in hadn't really been touched since the storm, so it was filthy and you felt like it was dangerous just to be in there,” John adds, “But, ironically, that was exactly why they picked it because it looked so atmospheric. It had so much decay going on. It was a challenge to work in that place, but overall, New Orleans was a pretty delightful place to be.”

One of the most interesting aspects, John recalls, of working on The Vampire Assistant was the unusual situations he’d get into in scenes with his co-stars. The first was Salma Hayek, who plays Cirque Du Freak member Madame Truska, a bearded lady.

“Salma look good with a beard, though,” Reilly says, “I didn't have to kiss her with the beard on, actually. That was a special effect that came later. But, a lot of people want to know what it's like to kiss Salma, all day long. I got pretty close.”

Another oddity in filming scenes with Hayek, Reilly claims, is the height differences between the two actors.

“Quality and quantity are not the same thing, you know,” John says, “There is a lot of me, but she's more valuable, she’s like a diamond. They would dig a small pit, and then I would stand in the pit. No, we had a picnic scene where we sit next to each other on the ground, we sit on a bed together. That wasn't a problem. I was just delighted to be with her.”

In bringing up the Cirque De Freak troupe, we asked John if he himself ever considered joining the circus.

“I almost became a clown, actually,” Reilly claims, “My plan was to go to clown college after I finished acting school, and then somebody talked me out of it who was a clown. They were like, ‘No, man. It's a five-year contract and you have to ride in the worst compartment of the train. It's a nightmare.’”

“So I reconsidered it,” he adds, “But, I think I joined the circus when I started doing theater at eight years old. That's when I found my people, my fellow freaks.”

We also wondered if being a Hollywood celebrity targeted by paparazzi ever made Reilly feel like he was part of a real life “Cirque Du Freak”

“Well, only when cornered by people that make me feel that way,” John says, “I stay away from a lot of that stuff, so I think you can create your own reality to a certain extent. But, yeah, it can be a real freak show, sometimes, but I have it easy, compared to some people, so I'm not complaining.”

John recounts that the even more odd were the scenes of flitting between Larten and the young human-turned-vampire teen Darren Shan, played by Chris Massoglia, who makes his Hollywood film debut.

“That involved Chris getting on my back, and me trying to run with Chris on my back, which my knees used to be able to do that much better than they're able to now.” Reilly says, “But, yeah, we only had to run a few feet and then the effects would kick in. But that’s one of my favorite parts of the books actually it was the fact that they can travel so quickly.”

In the wake of the overnight success of actor Robert Pattinson playing vampire Edward Cullen in the popular Twilight films, we asked Reilly if he had any concerns of Chris emerging as a potential teen heartthrob off the success of this vampire film.

“I feel pressured to become the next teen sensation,” he jokes, “I don't have a lot of years left, so I'm really counting on this one.”

Another actor John says he enjoyed working with is Michael Cerveris, who plays Mr. Tiny in the film.

“He's about 100 pounds lighter than he appears in the film, first of all,” Reilly says, “I mean I can't tell you how many people I know, who have seen the film, have said, ‘Where did they get that fat guy from? He was amazing!’ And, I said, ‘That's not that fat guy. That's this actor.’”

“It’s funny,” he continues, “When Michael and I would act in scenes together, I felt like we were trying to out-arch each other. You know, ‘Mr. Tiny!’ ‘Oh, Mr. Crepsley!’ We were both trying to out-sinister each other, but I think he had me beat. He's got it in the bones that sinister quality in the bones. He's just a fantastic stage actor. That's what I know him from. So, I was really happy that he played the part. He really made the movie very rich. He's sort of the puppet master through the whole thing.”

Finally, we asked Reilly if he would be on board for a Cirque Du Freak franchise should The Vampire’s Assistant do well enough.

“We've been filming now for about three months,” John says, “We're almost done. It's a big gamble on Universal's part. No. If the movie does well, I'd assume there will be another one.”