Anna Paquin and Bill Moyer at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego
It’s an understatement to say that "True Blood" is not a vampire story for little kids. In Season 3 of the hit TV series (which is based on Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels that are set primarily in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana), the violence has gotten bloodier, the sex has gotten kinkier, and some of the characters have gotten darker. Season 3 of "True Blood" has also seen the romance between vampire Bill Compton (played by Stephen Moyer) and psychic Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin) hit a rough patch, when Bill breaks up with Sookie, and he becomes involved again with his vampire ex-lover Lorena (played by Mariana Klaveno) before he gets back together with Sookie. Meanwhile, bad-boy vampire Eric Northman (played by Alexander Skarsgård) intensifies his attraction to Sookie, and a werewolf named Alcide Herveaux (played by Joe Manganiello) becomes Sookie’s protector. (In real life, Moyer and Paquin have been romantically involved since working together on "True Blood," and the couple got married in August 2010.)
There have also been intriguing developments with other "True Blood" characters: The Vampire King of the Mississippi, Russell Edgington (played by Denis O’Hare), has become the target of a vendetta from Eric, who gets help from his trusted vampire colleague Pam De Beaufort (played by Kristin Bauer van Straten). Sookie’s best friend, Tara Thornton (played by Rutina Wesley), is trying to get over the death of a boyfriend, when a menacing vampire named Franklin Mott (played by James Frain) violently forces himself into Tara’s life. Tara’s openly gay cousin Lafayette Reynolds (played by Nelsan Ellis) is trying to leave his drug-dealer/gigolo past behind him when he begins dating Jesus Velasquez (played by Kevin Alejandro), a male nurse who ends up taking Lafayette down a dangerous path of drug use again. Meanwhile, Sam Merlotte (played by Sam Trammell), the shapeshifter owner of the restaurant/bar where Tara and Lafayette work, has to deal with reuniting with members of his dysfunctional family. And Jessica Hamby (played by Deborah Ann Woll), the teenager who was made into a vampire by Bill and lives with him as an unofficial foster daughter, is having trouble coping with the guilt over murdering a trucker and covering up the crime, as well as her conflicted feelings about dating a young man with whom she has fallen in love.
At Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego, several stars of "True Blood" gathered on July 23 for a discussion panel to talk about the show, which is the highest-rated current series on HBO. (The show's Season 3 finale airs September 12.) The Comic-Con audience was told that "True Blood" heartthrobs Skarsgård and Ryan Kwanten (who plays Jason Stackhouse, Sookie’s dimwitted but sincere brother) could not be on the panel because they were each filming a movie. But Paquin, Moyer, Ellis, Manganiello, Harris, Bauer van Straten, O’Hare, Trammell, Wesley and "True Blood" executive producer/writer Alan Ball were there to answer questions from a moderator and people in the audience. Although the "True Blood" panelists didn’t give away any spoilers about future storylines, they did talk about the evolution of some of the characters and what they think about the some of the most graphic scenes shown so far on "True Blood."
Anna Paquin in "True Blood"
Sookie seems to be more of a badass in Season 3. Anna, do you enjoy the character being more of a kick-ass heroine?
Paquin: You know what? I think she kicked ass in her own way, but at this point, her life has beat her up so much that she’s starting to fight back. It’s been really fun. And I get to literally kick some ass.
It kind of harkens back to your "X-Men" days.
Paquin: Except I never got any action in "X-Men," but it would’ve been nice. I wore some really hot gloves.
Are we going to see more of Sookie use her "microwave" fingers again?
Paquin: Well, obviously, we’re going to figure out what they really are, aside from "microwave fingers," there’s got to be something cool behind that. Maybe she likes to make coffee all day.
Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin in "True Blood"
Sookie’s also gotten funnier in Season 3. She did a great impersonation of Bill. Did you workshop that scene?
Paquin: Or maybe I ripped his head off.
Stephen, what did you think of Sookie’s impersonation of Bill?
Moyer: I’d like to hear it one more time.
Paquin: [She says in Bill Compton’s voice] Sookie!
While Sookie has shown more of a sense of humor, Bill has gotten darker. Stephen, has it been fun for you to play the dark side of Bill?
Moyer: I think one of the most amazing things about all of our show and everything in it is that Alan [Ball] very rarely gets you to do the same thing twice. So you get an amazing opportunity to do … something so different like that scene [with Bill twisting fellow vampire Lorena’s head during sex] or other elements .You never know you’re going to do the same thing again. It’s such a joy, as an actor, to work on a job like this where you know you’re not going to be solving the same crime next week. It’s utterly "other," so it’s been amazing for me.
Stephen Moyer at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego
So let’s talk about what was probably the most twisted sex scene in "True Blood": the one with Bill twisting Lorena’s head. How did you film that scene? Obviously, it wasn’t her real head you twisted …
Moyer: Well, she’s not here. Am I allowed to say how we did it, Alan?
Ball: We really killed her.
Moyer: It’s amazing, the detail in working out a scene like that. Alex Woo, one of our staff writers, came up with that scene and came up with that moment. And then the work that goes into it is, "How can we make that visually … How do we do that?’ So Mariana [Klaveno, who plays Lorena] ended having to make a full life cast made of her body, which was then presented to me to go home and play with for the night. I mean, why not? There were two. I just couldn’t help myself.
So basically, it’s me on a bed, with the torso strapped to me, so when I move and hit, the thing moves. And the neck itself was articulated so as you turned the neck, it ratcheted like a ratchet. And it got to a point where it stopped. And then we had to film Mariana on her front, so that they the front of he arms, and then we had to shoot her on back. Then on the front with head down in that position, and they married those two images together. Absolutely insane and fantastic to film!
Deborah Ann Woll and James Frain in "True Blood"
That scene was one of the most grotesque in "True Blood." Do any of you have any favorite gross-out, gory moments from "True Blood"?
Trammell: I have one, but it hasn’t come out yet.
Paquin: Last season, when Maryann takes over Gram’s house, and I come home, there was a small, naked man in my sink who was doing something that looked quite intimate with … intestines. There was also an animal head of some sort on the kitchen table … That was pretty interesting.
Tara seems to have a penchant for picking men who are bad for her. Rutina, why do you think she’s drawn to these crazy people?
Wesley: I don’t know. I think she attracts these types of people who love to see someone play victim all the time. I think when Tara gets close to loving someone or gets intrigued by someone, she immediately runs away. We’ve seen her do it with Sam. We’ve now seen it with James. She’s like, "Oh, um, I think I kind of like you. I think I’m going to go over here."
I think that’s an insecurity that she has and this defense mechanism that she puts up. And I think that’s learned from her childhood, because she has no father around. Usually, women who grow up without a father in their lives have some male issues. She’s a little unstable right now, but I’m hoping for some stability in the near future.
Sam Trammell and Marshall Allman in "True Blood"
Sam Merlotte’s family is trashy. Why do you think he’s so intent on helping them, because they’re clearly not well-balanced people?
Trammell: I think Sam wants to help his brother, and the family kind of goes along with the brother. And unfortunately, that’s not necessarily going to be the best thing for Sam.
Denis, you created a whole back story for Russell. Can you share some of that back story with the audience?
O’Hare: Well, Alan gives us a great skeleton starting point, and then he encouraged us to fill things in. He’s very generous that way. And I would write him these long, scary [notes] where I’d say, "I think it’d be really cool if he was alive in 2800 B.C. when he was a Celt. Or he was a pagan." And I’d get these one-sentences responses saying, "OK, good, Denis."
I laid off after a while, but I love doing research. It doesn’t always end up in the actual script, but to us, it’s really important. It informs how we behave; it informs how we think. And it was a great opportunity with this character to create a vampire who had such an ancient way of thinking, a different morality, a different way of relating to humanity, a different way of relating to werewolves. And I love the fact that I was given the opportunity, and I ran wild with it.
Alan, you’re working on a project with Oprah Winfrey. Does she watch "True Blood"?
Ball: I don’t know. I’ve never actually spoken to Oprah. She won’t take my calls. I have no idea. We’re working on something else. I have yet to actually make her acquaintance.
Nelsan Ellis and Alan Ball at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego
Speaking of celebrities, how did the Snoop Dogg video come about?
Ball: I knew that Snoop was a fan of the show, and he wanted to be on it since the first season, but I am so busy during production, basically, I heard, "Oh, they’re shooting a Snoop Dogg video this weekend." And I went, "Oh wow, that’s cool." And then I saw it on Monday.
What did you think about the video?
Ball: I loved it. I particularly loved the Sookettes. I don’t know if any of you know, but there’s a porn-video version of our show, and I believe the Sookettes in Snoop’s video wore the same wig that the porn Eric wore.
It’s a very Carol Channing-esqe wig. Have you run into any other celebrities who are big fans of "True Blood"?
Bauer van Straten: Well, I haven’t run into her, but a friend of mine passed on to me that Elizabeth Taylor likes "True Blood." My friend’s a lawyer.
Harris: Anne Rice is a huge fan of the show.
Nelsan Ellis and Kevin Alejandro in "True Blood"
Nelsan, your Lafayette character has a new love interest in Jesus, who is the nurse for Lafayette’s ailing mother. Since this is "True Blood," can we assume that Jesus isn’t as nice as he seems?
Ellis: I don’t know. You have to wait and see.
Is it fun to finally have Lafayette in a romantic relationship? Finally, he’s getting some loving!
Ellis: Yeah, normally, we love making Lafayette as a financial transaction. But it’s good to see the other side, the softer side of Lafayette where he’s falling for somebody. It’s good playing him.
Deborah, will we finally see Jessica Hamby and Hoyt Fortenberry (played by Jim Parrack) get back together?
Woll: Well, first of all, give it up for Jim Parrack! He’s so awesome! I always thought that if I did my job, that I would know that, and everybody in the world fell in love with Hoyt Fortenberry. So if that’s true, I feel really good. But I think particularly for young people, you have to figure out who you are and learn to love yourself before you can love someone else. And I think with the confusion right now of being a vampire, I don’t know if Jessica loves herself very much. So we have to wait for that to happen first.
Kristin Bauer van Straten and Deborah Ann Woll in "True Blood"
Jessica really bonded well with Pam. Can you talk about that?
Bauer van Straten: Are you asking for a behind-the-scenes answer?
Woll: That’s a secret. It was fun, and yeah, she’s sort of Auntie Pam. Jessica has no mentor.
Bauer van Straten: I’m "cut up bodies" Auntie Pam. Always here to help!
Kristin, if Eric Northman had to choose between Pam and Sookie, whom do you think he would choose?
Bauer van Straten: [Several people in the audience and Harris say, "Pam."] Well, it’s a different relationship, because I’m his progeny, his child. Sookie is his infatuation, so I think he’d take choice C: all of the above.
Charlaine, is there anything in your Sookie Stackhouse books that you’re looking forward to seeing in "True Blood"?
Harris: I’m looking forward to meeting Sookie’s great-grandfather.
Do you have a favorite episode of "True Blood" so far?
Harris: "I Will Rise Up." That was amazing, but I find something to love in every episode.
Joe Manganiello in "True Blood"
Joe, you have to get naked in "True Blood," just like a lot of your cast mates also have to get naked. And you’ve been inducted into the "brotherhood of the sock." Can you talk about the ritual involved in that?
Manganiello: They bring out this black velvet tray. Kind of creepy. And depending on the angle of the shot, you have three different choices: You have a sock with a drawstring that doesn’t go on your foot. You have a plastic-backed thong, which apparently breaks if you’re running very fast. And the third choice is the man panty or "manty," which kind of reduces you to a Ken doll. You kind of feel like a Ken doll with it on. And depending on the angle, you can put one of those on. I was explaining this to my brother, who kind of half-jokingly said, "Dude, I’m going to sneak into your trailer, and when those wolves are on set, I’m going to switch your sock out with a sausage casing!"
Joe, did you know there’s a big Facebook campaign for you to be the next Superman?
Manganiello: I’m aware of it.
Would you be interested in being the next Superman?
Manganiello: I was a big fan of Superman Underoos when I was a kid, so I’d be happy to bring it back in fashion.
Rutina Wesley and Anna Paquin in "True Blood"
Alan, can you say anything about Season 4 of "True Blood"?
Ball: Everybody goes to therapy, everybody goes on medication, and everybody’s really happy. No, obviously, people who know the books know that there’s a character who doesn’t really know who he or she is and kind of becomes a different person than we know. Maybe someone who has hated this person doesn’t hate them so much anymore. Yes, I’m talking about Mike Spencer and Sheriff Dearborne!
What’s harder to film: graphic depictions of sex or graphic depictions of violence?
Paquin: Well, we get to fake the violence.
Bauer van Straten: I’m thinking it’s all good — a good day at work.
Paquin: I prefer to get naked earlier in the day and kill people in the later part of the day, particularly if it’s going to be anything really messy, because you’re not stuck with it all over you for lunch.
Moyer: Every single one of us has to do naked stuff … Basically starve themselves, apart from Ryan [Kwanten], who’s just this physical …
Paquin: Anomaly.
Moyer: Joined very quickly by Joe [Manganiello].
Manganiello: I eat a lot!
Moyer: Doing the physical stuff is more fun, because you get to eat as well.
Anna Paquin and Alexander Skarsgård in "True Blood"
How do you prepare for the challenges of working with animals?
Bauer van Straten: Skarsgård isn’t so bad once you get used to him.
Trammell: It’s funny, because I’ve had to work with a few animals on the set. The best-trained animal that we’ve had was the deer that Daphne turned into. The trainer had all kinds of toys and bells. It looked like Carrot Top with all his props. But they [deer] seem to do a lot better than the dogs, for some reason.
Paquin: Or the cat.
O’Hare: We had wolves this season, and the wolves are actually very intelligent and very observant. So you have to be incredibly still around them. My first day on set, Stephen and I got to meet the real wolves we were working with. And we were told, "Now, don’t let them smell your fear. It’s very powerful." We’d have like the 6-month-old baby [wolf]. That’s all we could handle. And the 6-month-old baby would promptly knock me over, just smelling my crotch.
Joe Manganiello and Anna Paquin in "True Blood"
Moyer: That was me, Denis!
O’Hare: The wolves were just extraordinary animals, fantastic animals. And to have the opportunity to be that close to that kind of animal was such a thrill. But they had to work with a hybrid: half-wolf, half-dog to do the actual acting, because wolves, like actors, are too neurotic.
Woll: It’s funny. The hybrids, they had all sorts of funny little tricks to get them to do things. I had to work with one that had to cock his head and look confused. And they would play these ape noises. So I had this guy behind me going [she makes ape noises], and I’m trying to look badass, like I don’t care.
How much of a role will Hallow Stonebrook play in Season 4 of "True Blood"?
Ball: Well, we just started breaking stories from Season 4, and she’s definitely a big character. Absolutely.
Nelsan Ellis in "True Blood"
Kristin and Nelsan, what have been some of your favorite lines that you’ve said on "True Blood"?
Bauer van Straten: There are so many good ones, but I’ve been hearing and answering to "hooker" a lot. I’m appreciative of the way Nelsan delivered that. And my retort, that was a gift.
Ellis: There are so many. I personally like "bitch" … There are so many.
Bauer van Straten: There are so many. Every script is full of gems.
Ellis: Our writers are so incredible, I would have to give you 20 lines.
Alan, throughout your writing career, there’s been a constant theme of death and loss. Why do you like to write about death and loss so much?
Ball: Well, it’s so much fun. As I was growing up, I experienced death firsthand, consecutively. There was a period where they were just dropping like flies. And obviously, my relationship with that has been kind of a big part of what I guess I’m trying to explore as an artist.
However, I don’t really see this show ["True Blood"] as death so much, even though it probably has the biggest body count of anything I’ve ever worked on. But I think, to me, it seems like it takes place in a world where death really isn’t the reality that it is in our real lives. And that’s part of what makes it such a fun place to visit, I guess. I hope that answered your question.
Sam Trammell and Rutina Wesley at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego
Out of all the characters and creatures on "True Blood," which one would you want to be?
Ball: I personally would want to be a shifter.
Woll: Maybe a witch, if that’s coming up. I think that’s sounds cool: have some power but not be 17 for the rest of your life.
Paquin: Or a virgin.
Alan, what can you say about the Franklin Mott character in "True Blood"? He’s intriguing in that he seems to care, in his own twisted way.
Ball: He does actually care, in his own twisted way. Unfortunately, he’s a psychopath. I don’t know if we’re necessarily going to delve into why he’s a psychopath, but we are going to luxuriously luxuriate in his psychopathology.
Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer with a life-sized cutout of Alexander Skarsgård at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego
In the Sookie Stackhouse books, something happens between Sookie and Bill that changes their relationship. Will that be seen in "True Blood"? And how much do you believe that Sookie and Bill are soul mates?
Ball: Well, I think I know what you’re talking about … You will definitely need to keep watching to see what happens between them. I do believe that Bill and Sookie are soul mates. I think the Bill and Sookie of the show have become slightly different from the Bill and Sookie of the books just because the way the show has evolved. And I think I personally root for things to work out between them. I don’t know if it will, but I do believe that their love is genuine and really is true.
Harris: Of course, I’m many, many books ahead of the show. And things are evolving differently in my world. So I think you need to regard this, in terms of what relationships will last, as two separate entertainment experiences, because things may not end up in Alan’s world the same they’re going to end up in my world in an ending I’ve known for eight or nine years. So please don’t try and capture me and torture me to find out.
Alan, when is Tara going to get a break from all these terrible things that are happening to her?
Ball: There will be a brief break from her toward the end of this season, with a little mess.
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Rutina Wesley in "True Blood"
Rutina, do you want to see Tara have a break?
Wesley: As an actor, it’s meaty to have all of these challenges to overcome, so to speak. This is what I went to school for: to play the most challenging roles that are out there. And I’ve been lucky enough to have writers like Alan and the rest of the writing team writing this incredible journey. It’s a hell of a journey. It’s hard at times, but I love it. I think that’s what makes for the drama. I think if she was stable, it wouldn’t be fun. So yeah, I like being in this world.
Charlaine Harris says she expects to write a total of 13 Sookie Stackhouse books. In case "True Blood" doesn’t last for 13 seasons, do you plan to combine or omit any books from the "True Blood" storyline?
Ball: We certainly have already combined books in some ways. We do that this season. I would love to see the show run as long as it possibly can. I don’t want to have to get to the point where we have to explain why vampires are aging, but I think the show has many seasons in it. And I look forward to those seasons, because I’m enjoying this job more than I’ve enjoyed any job in my life.
Joe Manganiello at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego
Who’s your favorite vampire that’s not on "True Blood"?
Ball: I like the vampires in a movie called "Near Dark." And I like the little girl in the Swedish movie "Let the Right One In."
O’Hare: There’s a twisted Korean vampire in a Korean film … called "Thirst."
Ellis: There’s a little movie called "Let the Right One In." That little girl vampire is my favorite.
Manganiello: I was a big fan of Kiefer Sutherland in "The Lost Boys."
No Edward Cullen from "Twilight"?
Ball: I haven’t seen "Twilight."
Nelsan, where do you get the inspiration to play Lafayette so well?
Ellis: A little woman named Peaches — that’s my mama — and my sisters. I’ve got both crazy sisters, and they’re crazy … And I take all their crazy, twisted antics and behaviors, and I stuff them into Lafayette.
Charlaine Harris on the set of "True Blood"
What’s been your favorite "True Blood" moment, on or off screen?
Ball: Well this one [being at Comic-Con] is up toward the top of the list for me, because coming here and being on the receiving end of this kind of fervor from fans, that’s the closest I’ll ever get to being a rock star.
Moyer: It’s so interesting to get to watch the show as well. One of the most amazing things for me to see was working with Denis. The other day, there was this very small scene where he questions me about a dossier, and we had a ball on that scene. It was about an hour-and-a-half, two hours, as most of those scenes turned out to be of some of the best fun I’ve ever had as an actor. When I was watching it the other day, it went by in a minute-and-a-half. It was 50, 60, 70 seconds long, something like that.
And it was great. I enjoyed seeing it, but it occurred to me at that point that what I get to do, and enjoying what I get to do, is as much in the playing of it as watching it and getting to see it with you guys. And I’m so thankful for that writing and for the directors that we have and this amazing cast. That sometimes [for which] I really do have to pinch myself.
Manganiello: I know for me, my favorite moment came about three days ago, when I finalized the deal. Alan asked me to become a series regular.
Paquin: I get to turn into a vampire slayer, so I was really happy. And it’s someone with whom it’s actually a fair fight, so I’m not just getting my ass kicked, which I do quite a lot, which I also enjoy. It’s a full-on, fully choreographed, dirty, dirty fight. It was possibly the most fun I’ve ever had. I don’t know what that says about me, but I’m OK with that.
Denis O'Hare and Theo Alexander in "True Blood"
O’Hare: As a newbie, the most amazing thing for me was the welcome that they gave to all the new actors on the set. For us, the set is not just the actors; it’s the crew, the camera guys, the prop guys, the set dressers, the makeup department, the hair department, the dressers — and these people make the culture of the set. And the culture of the set on "True Blood" is the best I’ve ever had in my entire life. And I’ve been around a little bit in this world, and to be able to be with a group of people like that, literally everybody on that set, you fall in love with.
So to be there at 3 o’clock in the morning in Malibu in that cold cabin — watching a mouse walk over the top of your head, and wondering when the mouse is going to fall on your face though the table — with people you truly come to love, that’s a rare thing. They say a fish sinks with the head down. And I think "True Blood" is remarkable because we have someone remarkable at the head — and that’s Alan Ball.
Ball: I just have to say that I feel the same way. I feel so lucky to go to work every day, and I want to thank Charlaine for creating this world. I think part of what makes it such a great set and what makes us all love each other as much as we do is we are having so much fun. So thank you, Charlaine, for creating this world and these characters.
Harris: I have to say my favorite "True Blood" moment was shooting my cameo, because I’d never been on a working set, and I’d never seen how much work it takes to produce a few seconds of usable film. And it was really illuminating to me, and it was also gratifying to be treated with such great respect by everyone I met. Writers don’t get that too often. So that was a wonderful day for me.
Stephen Moyer in "True Blood"
Stephen, how has Bill’s evolution affected you as an actor?
Moyer: Great question. As I said a little earlier, the opportunity to never have to repeat oneself is in the writing. What makes the show so incredible is that you never know what you’re going to get. I’ve also spoken about the fact that the crew and the grips and the sparks and the electric boys are just the same as we are when they get the brown envelope and they pull it open and they get to read the scripts. Everybody’s doing it, 15 hours into a crazy day, when you’re circulating.
This year — I was saying to Alan earlier, because I hadn’t him for a couple of weeks — watching it play out, there were a couple of moments. Obviously, the neck break was crazy, and you don’t know how it’s going to go across. And I know it’s provocative. The scene with the hooker in Episode 4 [in Season 3] — all that stuff I was concerned. Alan and I spoke about it in the beginning of the season, worrying about taking Bill too far, and where we’d come back from. You know, the storm was to come. But the fact that it was so delicious to do, so the more crazy, the better. The romantic, the funny, the dark — we all get to do everything in this show, so it’s been a joy.
Alan, would you consider making Bubba/Elvis the maker of Godric?
Ball: Believe me, when we are trying to come up with stories, we will consider it, because when we are trying to figure out a way, we only have 12 episodes [per season], and those episodes are very packed. So yeah, I would definitely consider it. I’ll consider anything that works.
Here’s the thing: How can we do him without it looking fake? The great thing about Bubba in the books is that you can believe he’s Elvis. You can totally believe it. Whereas [in "True Blood"] we would have to use somebody who’s an Elvis impersonator whose face you never see. [Several people in the audience yell, "Bruce Campbell!" Ball smiles in response.] Bruce Campbell? Who said anything about Bruce Campbell?
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Photo credits: photos #1, 4, 7, 15, 16, 18: Getty Images. All other photos: HBO.
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