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Season 3 Speculations & Theories

Rygee — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:59:03 CST

This page is under construction. Selle Castaigneda, 11/08/09

The Faulty Narrator Theory
This theory is that certain scenes are not from the omniscient POV; they are, in fact, from Bill's faulty/unreliable POV. One scene in particular is the bullet sucking scene in which it is theorized that Sookie acts out of character. She is not concerned at all for Eric's well being and is melodramatically disgusted by sucking a bullet out of his chest despite the fact that he just saved her life. Her melodrama continues when she finds out she's been tricked and runs into Bill's arms. Bad acting? Bad direction? Or, could it be that in reality Sookie eagerly ran to Eric's aid and sucked with gusto, but the scene we are shown is through the unreliable eyes of Bill who creates a scenario that is more palatable to him: his Sookie was tricked, did not want to touch that Viking god and was disgusted by the whole thing.

The theory also extends to the maenad wedding and killing scenes. It may explain Eric's whereabouts during those scenes. Alan Ball says Eric was "busy." Perhaps he helped kill MaryAnn but we did not see it because of Bill's faulty POV.

The reveal that these scenes have been from Bill's POV would likely be during his torture in Jackson while he reflects on recent events.

You can go to Midnight Charm's page and read more about it. (see link below).

http://midnight-charm.livejournal.com/1619.html (Bullet Sucking Scene)
http://midnight-charm.livejournal.com/3615.html (Maenad Wedding & Killing Scenes)

Lorena has the Gift of Dream Manipulation

Sookie's dreams of Eric are not what they appear to be. They are shared dreams similar to the ones Amy and Jason experienced in season one. Even when Jason and Amy took the blood directly from Eddie, he did not appear in their dreams. This indicates that in addition to the shared vampire blood, there must be a spiritual connection for them to occur. In some vampire fiction shared dreams are a sign of life mates.

While Eric is not manipulating these dreams, he would understand that they are shared while Sookie would not. The only question is how soon would he realize that he and Sookie are connected this way.

Jason and Amy made a point of saying that in their dreams everything was connected. They also said that their dreams were crowded because it was like the whole world was in there with them. That is exactly what seems to be going on in Sookie and Eric's first shared dream with the intrusion of Lorena. Sookie is connected to her through Bill's blood, and it appears that Lorena's gift is that of lucid dreaming which allows her to enter the dreams of others at will. The fact that she shares blood with Sookie but not Eric explains why he was not aware of her presence, but Sookie was.

There are a few clues that confirm this is what is going on with Sookie's dreams. The first is Lorena's theme music which plays throughout the dream, not just during her appearances. Also, the little head wobbling giggle that she makes is exactly the same giggle that was put in as a voice over when Lorena was spying on Eric from behind a screen in the hotel lobby when he was with a blood prostitute. Apparently the fact that she can put one over on the ancient Viking is amusing to her.

Another clue goes back to Jason and Amy's last dream. While Rene was strangling Amy as she slept, his invisible presence was felt in the dream as Amy was snatched out of Jason's arm and carried off to the heavens establishing a pattern of these most private dreams being intruded on by a third party.

Also the fact that the dream occurred while Sookie and Eric were staying at the Hotel Carmilla has relavance. Carmilla is the first vampire in literature. She preyed on innocent young women while they were sleeping and caused them to believe that what was reality was nothing more than an innocent dream.

*** WARNING: BOOK SPOILERS **
Lorena & Bill Have A Connection That Could be Re-Established

At the beginning of Club Dead, Sookie & Bill's relationship was on the rocks and then she found out that Bill had become enthralled with Lorena again. It was under these circumstances that Sookie flirted with both Alcide and Eric during her search for Bill. However, on the show, these two characters are nowhere near breaking up. Unless True Blood plans to keep them together during Season 3, and to forego Sookie's flirtations with Alcide and Eric during Season 3 (as per the book), Sookie & Bill need a reason to break up. Otherwise, Sookie's flirtations would look out of place. So, this theory is only in the case that True Blood will follow the book in this respect.

The basis of this theory is primarily on what we've read in the books: Eric tells Sookie that Lorena and Bill's relationship is very unusual because vampires do not normally have sex & share blood for more than one night because it gives them too much power over each other. He continues that Bill became enthralled with Lorena all over again after seeing her. When Sookie & Bill eventually talk about what happened, he never claims that everything was against his will. There was an element of consent, at least in the beginning (probably before he refused to give up the information they sought).

On the show, we've seen Bill's bloodlust while he was with Lorena and it could have been the effect of their unusual relationship. If Bill is kidnapped, Lorena could seduce him with both sex and a blood exchange so that he becomes enthralled with her again and his sex with her consensual. Of course this effect is only temporary - he would eventually snap out of it - but not before he willingly engages in sex (and lord knows what else.) Sookie could learn of this as she does in the books: through Eric relaying Bill's phone call to him saying that he will not return to Bon Temps and then Bill's failure to check in (which prompts the search for him). After this, Sookie is torn because he has betrayed her but yet she feels obligated to assist in his recovery. However, she may be open to some flirtations with a particularly rugged were and/or stunning viking along the way.

*** WARNING: BOOK SPOILERS **
Alter Egos Predict Season 3

alter ego: counterpart: second self
a) one remarkably similar to another b) one having the same function or characteristics as another
True Bloodis structured around character pairings. Each major character and some minor ones have alter egos who share many characteristics and find themselves in very similar situations. Eric’s alter ego is Jason. I establish why and explain how each season Jason sets the pattern that Eric will follow the following season on my blog.
http://blog.ancientpythoness.com/?p=189
Bill’salter egowas Rene in S1, Luke in S2, and will be Steve Newlin in S3. Youcan read about Bill and Rene here: http://blog.ancientpythoness.com/?p=106
Jessica and Hyot’s alter egos are Lisa and Coby. This has some interesting implications for S3 when Bill is out of commission just as Arlene was once the black eyed syndrome took her over. http://blog.ancientpythoness.com/?p=142
Beforereading the predictions,please read the theory about Lorena’s dream manipulation which is assumed in some of these predictions.
Club Dead Predictions *Because Coby and Lisa run away when mom is taken over by MA, Jessica runs away when Bill is kidnapped, Hoyt follows
*Because Coby and Lisa are asleep during maenad climax, Jessica is asleep during Bill’s daytime rescue
*Because Coby and Lisa are runaways who end up at Fangtasia, Jessica ends up at Club Dead (Does Sookie get staked when she is trying to protect Jessica?)
*Because Coby and Lisa uncover Rene’s secret when they find his box in the garage, Jessica uncovers Bill’s secret when she reads Bill’s journals.
*Because Coby and Lisa forgive Arlene who pledges to be a better mom, Bill begs forgiveness of Jessica. Does it take her death or near death to get to that point? *Because Sarah was mistaken for a vampire and nearly staked in a role playing activity, Sookie will be staked at Club Dead.
*Unfortunately, I really don’t see Eric playing much of a part in this story with one exception: Because Lafayette persuaded Jason to dance for him on his website while in disguise in order to get some V (ultimately for Dawn’s pleasure), Eric, disguised as Leif, will have a homosexual encounter at the palace to get a car for Sookie’s escape. Dead to the World PredictionsI believe that Club Dead will be wrapped up in the first half of theseason, andDead to the World will take place the second halfof S3. Sookie and Eric’s shared dreams, which Jason and Amy described as betterand more realthanreality,willspan the whole seasonandwillreplacemost of the sex in Dead to the World. Jason’s excursion to the FOTS is the pattern for Amnesia Ericin the second half of S3. Sookie’s place becomes the Farmhouse of the Sun.Steve and Sara Newlin are the pattern for Bill and Sookie as they try to hold together their relationship and deal with Amnesia Eric. Theywill still be together for most of S3. I think the breakup will come near the end of S3 before the witch war. That frees Eric and Sookie to have at least one wild and passionate night, fight the witches, and then kill Debbie Pelt. Sookie and Eric return to book positions for S4 with Quinn.
Secondary Dead to the World Predictions: *Because of the practical joke of the vampire massacre at FOTS, Ericwill have a flashback, probably in a shared dream,ofslaughtering an entire village with Godric. *Because Jason was celibate for most of his time at FOTS, Eric will be for most of his time at Sookie’s house.*Because Sarah accosted Jason in the tub, Eric will accost Sookie in the shower. *Because both Steve and Luke were enamored with Jason, Bill will be having conflicted feelings about Amnesia Eric staying at Sookie's *Because Jason told Amy he feels responsible for his parents death, Eric will feel responsible for Godric's. (Why hadn't they seen each other in 70 years?)

True Blood News - Issue #21

glamoured69 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:21:24 CST

True Blood News - Issue #21

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Another from Truebloodnet.com:

Bill and Edward - Vampire Gentlemen or Bloodsucking Monsters?

Antonio aka Shifterman
Issue date: 11/09/09

What is it about vampires these days that captivates us, draws our attention, and keeps us enthralled as if under some irresistible enchantment.

Is it the “Lifestyle”? Is it that they can act with full autonomy and freedom to love as they please or do as they wish without consequence?

Two of the most popular vampires these days are Vampire Bill Compton of True Blood and Edward Cullen of Twilight.
Both of these men try to be noble. Both are deeply troubled. Both have learned to despise what they have become. Both men are fiercely devoted to the ladies in their lives or un-lives. Both of these story lines involve love triangles: In Twilight, its Edward-Bella-Jacob, wherein True Blood its Bill-Sookie-Sam at first, then its Bill-Sookie-Eric… or so it would seem.

The common thread that seems to bond these two together seems to be their ardent desire to try to evolve beyond what they have become.

Bill seeks to “mainstream” with humans. He wants desperately to be accepted and move toward integration. He would like people to judge him on merit and how he treats people, rather than the fact the he is a vampire and, to some people, a social pariah. Edward Cullen feels the same way. He also wants to be accepted and integrated with the humans. Both of these undead gentlemen appear to want the same thing: tolerance, compassion, and respect of who they truly wish to be, not what people would characterize them as.

Both Bill and Edward seem to have been written as tragic anti-heroes; maybe not so much for Bill in the books, but very much in the HBO television series.

Bill Compton may be more of a tragic anti-hero though. Partly because Edward Cullen does win the affection of his beloved and is able to build something of a life together with her. For Bill Compton and his beloved Sookie, the road to lasting love may not be as smooth; not that it was for Edward and Bella either.

Both of these vampire gents want their special ladies to look beyond their vampire “deformities” and see them for who they truly are. Both Bill and Edward are seeking acceptance, compassion, and respect for who they truly wish to be and not because they happen to be “monsters”. These “Undead” gents want nothing more to “fit in” and “find their place” in a society that has all but rejected them. It seems that when these men were “turned” that both of their “makers” saw some good in them and wanted to bring them into their “world.”
Carlisle Cullen saw a “son” perhaps one that he could never have otherwise. Lorena saw a “good man” with a “kind heart” and wanted him for herself. It seems that both of these vampire gents have known love, longing, sadness and being deeply troubled. Both Sookie Stackhouse and Bella Swan saw this “brooding lovable anti-hero” aspect in their respective men.

glamoured | 11/09/2009 | Post Comment

Another from Truebloodnet.com:

Carrie Preston and Lost's Michael Emerson in "A Woman Killed With Kindness"

Amy Beard
Issued date: 11/09/09

True Blood’s Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler) and her husband Michael Emerson from ABC’s ‘Lost’ will star in the Thomas Haywood production of “A Woman Killed with Kindness” at The Theatre at St. Clement’s on December 28th. This domestic tragedy chronicles the fall of a pure wife, the fate of a young virgin, and dissects the nature of revenge.

The plot tells the story about a married couple, John Frankford and Mary Acton, whose marriage is ruined when Master Frankford invites an impoverished gentleman into his house as a companion and his wife falls for the interloper’s wiles. She is caught in her adulterous affair and, instead of being given a harsh or death sentence, is sent away to live a lonely but comfortable life. Full of remorse, she gives herself a harsher punishment and starves herself to death, but receives forgiveness from her husband in her dying moments.

The main plot is contrasted with a subplot about virtuous Susan Mountford, who is prostituted by her brother out to Sir Francis Acton (Anne’s brother), as Susan’s brother is deeply in debt to him. Susan retains her virtue, and in the end, Sir Francis Acton falls in love with and marries Susan and discharges her brother’s debt.

The domestic tragedy play is considered to be Thomas Haywood’s masterpiece and was first performed in 1603 and published in 1607. The play will be directed by Kay Matschullat.

Tickets are going quickly, seats may still be available for purchase at Ovationtix.

(Photo credit: IMDb.com)

glamoured | 11/09/2009 | Post Comment

Another from Truebloodnet.com:

Marcia de Rousse, True Blood's Dr. Ludwig, as a holiday elf!

KS Rose
Issue date: 11/8/09

No, I’m not kidding! Watch this hilarious commercial for Verizon Wireless with True Blood’s very own Marcia de Rousse! Great job Marcia!

glamoured | 11/08/2009 | Post Comment

Excerts from interview at Truebloodnet.com:

Shades of Grey: True Blood Talks to Michael McMillian

KS Rose
Issue date: 11/8/09

True Blood is a very complex show where good and evil are often mingled and mirrored and flipped on their heads. People who start out being heroes end up having hearts of darkness like Rene and Maryanne and some, like Sam and Andy, start out looking like heroes and get lost along the way but come through in the end. And then there’s Jason, for whom we have few expectations but who rose to the occasion and did the right thing… only to fall from grace again when he killed Eggs.

The vampires, on the other hand, have many nuanced characters who have stepped away from the abyss. Vampire Bill struggles daily to be more human; Jessica is so sweet one moment and then so evil the next; sweet, wonderful, gentle Eddy who, like the hero in ‘The Old Man and the Sea,’ was destroyed but not defeated; dangerous, complex and manipulative Eric who balances himself on the blade of lawful evil; and Godric who rose from his own long, dark journey until he met the rising sun. One of the most disturbing aspects has been the role of religion in the show. Alcoholic Lettie Mae’s return to the church via a fake voodoo woman led her to abandon her daughter, Tara, when she needed her most. Hoyt’sSteve Newlin Fellowship of the Sun and hater of all things vampire –who has a broad streak of misogynist and a dab of mischievous little boy; the True Blood version of the worst of the televangelists.

We had the great pleasure of interviewing Michael McMillian who lends his face and his talents to bringing Steve Newlin to life and found him to be very wonderfully different than the character he portrays. He was one of the most fun, interesting, intelligent and sweet interviews I’ve ever done. Michael kindly opened himself up to show us how he weaves complexity into what could have been too flatly evil a character and let us see more of how Steve thinks and what his motivations are. We also spent a lot of time delving into who Michael McMillian is and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what a great guy the man who plays the most easily hate-able character on television is.

TBN.com: What did you think of Steve Newlin’s character when you first read the part?

Michael: Well, when I first heard about it, it was for the audition and there really wasn’t much there. They just described him as being this far right wing religious zealot that is running this anti-vampire church. In the first season he wasn’t really around much, but I was immediately like, “Sign me up!” I could see the opportunity to play a villain who saw himself as the hero and those are the best kind of villains. I think it’s a really easy trap for a lot of actors when they go in to play the bad guy on something, to play the bad guy as the bad guy. No villain sees themselves as bad. Nobody thinks they’re the bad one. The villains often think that they are doing the best for the world in which they live. They may be motivated by selfish reasons but they think that even their selfish reasons are good reasons.

So I was thrilled with that character, and for the audition Alan had written a scene that was adapted from the second book became the scene in season two when Sookie and Hugo meet with Steve in his office. That was the audition scene. It was slightly different then. It was more like the scene in the book where Sookie’s name wasn’t Holly, it was Marigold, and there was more Steve describing what the church did. I think by the time we had gotten to that point in the actual season two, we had already learned that stuff so we didn’t need to repeat it. I went in and read it through once and Alan said, “Okay cool, now try it again and just do the whole thing with a smile.” And there was something so delicious about that approach.Playing the smiling nice guy who’s talking about chopping off vampire’s heads and burning their bodies. There’s just a wonderful juxtaposition between the nice guy he’s portraying and what he’s talking about that I just really, really loved. And I thought, “there’s really great opportunity to make it fun, and funny!”

TBN.com: Oh definitely it is, it’s marvelous watching him and how he just puts this smile on his face and talks about this hatred of vampires and he it’s obvious he really believes everything he says.

Michael: You know, it’s true and I think to some degree that Steve’s vampires in True Blood. While there are some parallels in terms of marriage rights and definitely the attacks from the conservative church, at the end of the day, I think people have to watch the show and realize that it’s asking you to take vampires a little bit more literally — not so much as a metaphor. There’s a little bit of fun with that. Some of the criticism has been that the parallel doesn’t quite work — the Fellowship of the Sun vs. vampires as gays — because vampires ARE doing a lot of evil things at the end of the day. And that’s true. And that’s what I think actually works about the Fellowship of the Sun stuff, not what doesn’t work. There is a part of Steve that’s right in believing vampires are a threat. Even Bill has done some real deplorable things, and if you are a follower of the books, you know there’s more to him then we know in seasons one and two that are being hinted at very strongly in the last couple episodes. I’m not exactly sure, but I imagine the writers are going there.

I think what the show is trying to explore is that things aren’t always black and white and especially if there were something like vampires out in the real world there would be something like the Fellowship of the Sun because vampires being a threat to humankind really is something that so few people could argue with. The brilliant thing about the existence of vampires, for somebody like Steve Newlin, is that it engages a debate that no one can beat him at. If there’s proof of vampires then, to Steve, there’s proof of Satan. And then if there’s proof of Satan there’s proof of God and therefore he’s on the right side, you know what I mean? So really if you are at all in allegiance with vampires then you really are on the side of Satan and on the wrong side.It’s a much more of a complex debate if you take it literally then if you’re just using the vampire thing as a metaphor for homosexuality. I think it’s fascinating.

I think where Steve goes wrong is that he’s motivated by revenge mostly, he’s motivated by wanting to get back at the vampires for his father’s and his family’s deaths. I think that there’d probably be a more realistic, diplomatic way to discuss the dangers of coexisting with supernatural creatures but he takes the hard line all-or-nothing approach.I think no matter what we’re talking about, with a few exceptions, any time you fall into a black and white belief of things you’re going to paint yourself into the corner.And I think really that’s what Sookie’s character is about. She’s the character that accepts Bill for who he is, accepts that vampires are not all bad, but to do that she constantly keeps her morals in check. There are often times Bill will do things that she doesn’t agree with and she will draw the line and say, “No you can’t do this and no you cannot kill people just because they’ve hurt me.” I think that character really is the example to live by.It’s like have your fun, have your passion and hot vampire sex but also know where to draw the line at the end of the day. ~laughs~

TBN.com: Were you aware of how pivotal Steve Newlin would become in season two when you tried out for the part?

Michael: They had said that he would be a much larger role in the second season and shortly after I got cast I read the book so I knew that he was going to be a really big character. Alan had said he would be one of the big arch villains in the second season so I knew. There was a long time between when I got cast in season one, which was almost two years ago, and when we got to season two. We had the writer’s strike and in an actor’s anxious timetable it took a while to get there. But once it did, it was just great. I didn’t know how fun the character would end up being. I didn’t know how colorful he would be. I thought maybe at first he would be a little more uptight and conservative and straight faced and I loved that he got to blossom into this. The smiling, joking aspect was there a little bit but he became much more three-dimensional than I imagined. There’s a lot more of an emotional life to the character. I never would have expected that we would have a scene where we are driving around in an ATV firing paint balls. That stuff was just great and it made me realize that Steve really had this 14-year-old boy trapped inside of him that just wanted a friend, just really wanted a community of people, a brotherhood. I think that’s what was behind so much of the Fellowship. He was a kid that was living in his father’s shadow. I think his mother died when he was very young and he sort of grew up in this Christian empire and he didn’t really have much of a life.

He grew up, he inherited his father’s church and got his beautiful wife and he just wanted to force his own image into his world, he wanted to have everything he didn’t have growing up. I found him to be a sad character at the end of the day.And even the way it ends with Sookie and Jason and Bill walking out; he’s left alone in his church. He’s been punched and kicked and shoved around. He really is, at the end of the day, a victim of circumstance and the vampires did kill his family so he has legitimate reasons to be traumatized. So I hope as the character comes and goes in the rest of the series, we’ll be able to see some of those aspects to him because I feel ultimately he really is a tragic figure.

TBN.com: Can you pick three words that you feel would best describe Steve Newlin?

Michael: Vain, passionate and foolhardy.

TBN.com: Is it difficult for you to play such a smarmy, bigoted, easily hate-able character?

Michael: Well it’s a challenge to walk the line between too much and just right. I don’t think I had one scene where I wasn’t talking about hate or vampires or God. He speaks in such large, literally biblical terms. There weren’t too many scenes that showed the guy behind the facade, there weren’t too many scenes where he was chillin’ out. There was the barbeque scene and that was it. So what was tough was how to make him a real person. In terms of playing him a bit smarmy and what not, I didn’t really think if it that way. And in terms of him being evil… we spent the first four or five episodes seeing him be this eccentric leader that was kind of a punch line, so when we actually got to episode six or seven and he’s shoving Sookie down the stairs, I did worry for a minute that I didn’t know if people would buy it. I just thought he was such a funny character and I was hoping that some of the sinister and dark stuff would come out and I think it did. It was just one of those things where I trusted the writers, trusted what was on the page and trusted what we had already made it in terms of the character, and it just kind of happened. But I didn’t really think about him being evil so much.

TBN.com: If Steve Newlin died what would you like to have on his head stone?

Michael: ~laughs~ “He will not rise again.” I think he’d like to; he has a sort of Messiah complex, but I think that he’d be afraid that if he did it would mean he’s a vampire.

[read entire interview here]

glamoured | 11/09/2009 | Post Comment

From Truebloodnet.com:

Alexander Skarsgard, "True Blood" Famous

Tommy Garrett
Issue date: 11/8/09

HOLLYWOOD —Alexander Skarsgard is a Swedish-born actor who has taken Hollywood and HBO fans by storm. The handsome actor who portrays Eric Northman, the 1000-year-old Viking vampire on the HBO hit series, “True Blood” is dynamic in the role and like most heavies in a series or a movie, he’s one of the most popular of the series cast. Like most of the cast of “True Blood,” Skarsgard was stunned by the popularity of the series. “The real truth is, I was in Europe when season two started, and I had no idea how big the thing had gotten. I landed in L.A., went to Comic-Con and it was absolutely crazy,” Skarsgard said in a recent interview.

Alexander is the son of European star, Stellan Skarsgard. He’s stated in interviews that his parents were not pushy stage parents at all and did not force him to become an actor. “My parents never dragged me to auditions. They didn’t push me. Things just kind of happened, and I thought it was fun,” stated Skarsgard. Fans have taken to Skarsgard as well as his alter ego, the tough guy, Eric, in Bon Temps. He has legions of fans the world over, but is very surprised by the “True Blood” following, as everyone has been.

Dozens of sites online are dedicated Skarsgard and his character, Eric in the HBO series, “True Blood” and often fans offer their love, support and well wishes on the “True Blood” official Facebook site. Fan Nicky Johnson Owle says of Alexander, “He’s better than Kentucky Fried Children. He’s finger licking good.” Melissa Swanzy says, “My boyfriend is so understanding. I just had to share what he ordered for me! It’s a custom throw with a picture of Eric on it. Tee-Hee!” Donna Canning Jacobs even commented on missing the character of Eric so much that she said on Facebook, “Can’t they [True Blood Producers] make a Halloween special for us to watch?”

Skarsgard had better get used to being loved by millions of women. He recently told People magazine he finds attention from female fans “flattering.” Good thing too, because Kim in Alabama, a longtime Canyon News reader said of Skarsgard, “Tommy, he’s so fine! Yep, he’s truly fine! I’ve always thought he was incredibly handsome and I like his character on the show. He’s hunky and dangerous. I was kind of annoyed at the deception he used to get under Sookie’s skin, but I guess I understand him doing it. I have a feeling he’s used to getting what he wants. He’s surely a bad boy.”

Bad boys on television are a dime a dozen. Though watching Skarsgard capture so many female hearts and even giving male viewers of the show a kick as well. Tony in New Jersey tells Canyon News, “I think that Mr. Skarsgard is a very gifted actor. He really does bring so much to the character of Eric Northman. He is one of my favorite characters on the show. The others being, Bill, Sookie, Sam and Lafayette.”

Fans are always torn on which leading man they want with Sookie. Bill gets half the votes and the other half are evenly split from time to time between Sam and Eric. This season Eric came into his own and the mysterious nature of his character was like cat nip to a kitty for viewers. They don’t want to hate him, but they also don’t love him the way they do Sam, played by Sam Trammell and Sookie, played by Oscar winner Anna Paquin. Alan Ball has created an iconic character in Eric and fans are not sure where Ball’s going to take the character. Where the actor who plays Eric goes is no surprise to Hollywood insiders. He’s going up. “True Blood” has made him a household name worldwide and he’s been named Sexiest Man in Sweden five times, but the actor is continually working on films and honing his craft as an artist, not resting on his laurels. He’s just completed four projects in addition to finishing up season two of “True Blood.”

Skarsgard plays Terje in “Beyond the Pole,” Alex in “Trust Me,” Jack in “13” and Charlie in “Straw Dogs,” which is directed by Rod Lurie.
Alexander became critically acclaimed in the cable show “Generation Kill” where he starred in eight episodes. The actor is destined for great things and he’s surely lucky to have the following he does. “True Blood” resumes filming in December.

glamoured | 11/09/2009 | Post Comment

From The Guardian:

True Blood: A tale of glamour, sex and vampires

Simon Chilvers
Issue date: 11/9/09

The TV series of vampires in small-town America is now enthralling British viewers

It's rare, bordering on never- happened-before-ever, that I should find myself agreeing with the oracle that is Lindsay Lohan. But like the actor turned, ahem, designer, I too love True Blood, the vampire drama now running on Channel 4 – the only difference between Lilo and me being that she's posted pictures of herself wearing fangs on her Twitter homepage, and I have not. But I haven't stopped talking about True Blood since it arrived on terrestrial TV this autumn.

It is a gripping blend of southern American small-town mentality and hideous murders in a world where vampires have "come out" and live alongside regular humans. There are colourful characters galore. I love the telepathic heroine, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin). She's totally the new Daisy Duke, in her denim hotpants and super-tight T-shirts. Her dalliance with Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), the much-older vampire with artfully dishevelled hair and architecturally chiselled cheekbones, makes for a splendid romantic centrepiece.

Sookie's grandmother, meanwhile, is amazing: the most progressive woman in town, totally pro-vampire. Sookie's black best friend, Tara, is a pit bull of one-liner fabulousness. Sample line: "School is just for white people looking for other white people to read to them. I figure I save my money and read to myself." And Tara's gay cousin, Lafayette (Nelson Ellis), is equally addictive. A chef-come- drug dealer, he ramps it up in a (brilliantly) distasteful mix of string vests, eyeliner and turbanesque headgear.

And then there's the sex – the sex! – which appears to have some kind of steroid problem, but rather elegantly bounces along the fine line between extreme and extremely funny. For Jason Stackhouse, Sookie's brother and True Blood's bonkbusting stud muffin, it's truly a hard life. In the course of the first five episodes, we've seen him dance in his pants for a gay porn website (payment for scoring "V", or vampire blood, which has a rather shocking effect on humans if they imbibe it); we've also seen him clutching a piece of prime steak over his crotch after taking the aforementioned drug. Hysterical. Naturally, all this comicly vigorous sex has not delighted everyone. The Daily Mail has criticised the show for its "depravity, explicit sexuality (bordering on pornography) and vile language". Well now you know it must be good!But what really makes True Blood different from stuff such as Twilight – which I also liked – is that beneath the glamour, the sex, the blood and all the fangs, there's some real depth. Alan Ball, series creator – who also made the quite exceptional undertaker drama Six Feet Under – says he sees the show as a "big old-fashioned romance."

But there's a whole lot more to it than that. Ball presents characters you want to invest in emotionally while using their journeys to celebrate difference; he teases out contemporary themes and issues without getting on a soapbox. Bill Compton, the vampire, is clearly the ultimate outsider. In Lafayette, he's also given us an unlikely gay hero, unlike but akin to Omar in The Wire.

Take last week's episode, when a redneck ruffian and some of his buddies were at Merlotte's bar (True Blood's Rovers Return, if you will), ordering food. When it was served, the redneck complained that the burger had "Aids" because it had been cooked by a gay man. So Lafayette stormed from the kitchen, confronted the men, told them to eat their Aids burger or else, and then stalked back to his hob, king of all he surveyed. And what's especially heartwarming about all this is that Lafayette is best friends with Jason the stud muffin, and Jason has far more issues with his sister dating a vampire than with Lafayette's sexuality. Indeed, in Bon Temps, where the drama is set, it is vampires who have become the feared minority.

Ball says he hasn't read an Anne Rice book or watched Buffy, but Charlaine Harris's The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series, from which the show is adapted, appealed to him because the stories felt contemporary and funny without being campy; all that shows.
Fortunately, I am not the only person to have noticed that True Blood is truly brilliant. The show, a huge hit in America, has already won a Golden Globe and an Emmy; the third season is about to go into production. Bring it on.

glamoured | 11/09/2009 | Post Comment

From alexskarsgard.net:

Alexander makes People's 100 Most Sexiest Men 2009

Issue date: 11/8/09

There’s no denying it any longer. Alexander Skarsgard IS on the list of 100 Sexiest Men in 2009, according to People Magazine. Of course, many of us here on the wiki--and all of Sweden--are not a bit surprised. We're just pleased that they noticed!

Joining Alexander in this line-up are his fellow cast mates Ryan Kwanten and Stephen Moyer. Again, no argument from us.
Please, enjoy the video of the top 100 picks below!

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The Vampire Guru With the Kiss of Life

Issue date: 11/8/09

Alan Ball, creator of hit series True Blood and Six Feet Under, tells Gabriel Wilder he has plenty of other projects to get his teeth into.

Alan Ball's vampire series True Blood has almost single-handedly pulled the premium US cable channel HBO out of a slump. The network was having a fallow period after its glory days when The Sopranos and Sex and the City regularly reaped Emmys and pulled viewers in their millions. Then along came Ball, who had won an Oscar for his script for the film American Beauty and created another Emmy-winning series for HBO, Six Feet Under, with the idea of a series based on Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels.

''When I read the books I got sort of addicted to the story,'' he says. ''Charlaine created this world that is constantly surprising and funny and terrifying and sometimes really heartbreaking, and I thought it would be a television show I would watch - that's really all I can do.''

It turns out viewers like what Ball likes: ratings increased steadily during the first season; by the end of the second it had become HBO's most popular series since The Sopranos.

It's a long way from the middle-class angst of American Beauty and the sombre meditations on life and death in Six Feet Under. And there's a good reason for that.

''Years of peering into that existential abyss can bring you down a little bit. Granted I did five seasons of Six Feet Under; I've only done two seasons of True Blood. But this is just more fun, in terms of a childlike of enjoyment of the job, and the places we get to go as storytellers and the things we get to do.''

The show is set in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps and centres on the telepathic waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin). She is not the only supernatural being in town: there are shapeshifters and a maenad, and season three will have werewolves. But most visible are the vampires, who have ''come out of the coffin'' and are living openly - thanks to a synthetic blood - and campaigning for equal rights. This sets the stage not just for romance and horror but also some sharp social satire. This, and Ball's earthy approach, set True Blood apart from other tales in the genre.

''There were certainly things that I wanted to avoid when we started. I didn't want to give the [actors playing the] vampires crazy contact lenses or have the shapes of their heads change - that's unnecessary. It's also time-consuming. Give them fangs and let them act. And I tried to avoid that Underworld-Matrix-y blue light. We try to light the world as if it is taking place in the world that we live in. Of course it's very stylised, but we're trying to keep the sense that it's a small town in the south.''

Vampires may be cold-blooded but they're running hot right now. As well as the Twilight films based on the blockbuster novels by Stephenie Meyer, there are the TV series The Vampire Diaries and films such as Daybreakers, recently shot on the Gold Coast and due for release in January. But Harris's first novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series was published eight years ago, and Ball sees nothing unusual in the current lust for vampires.

''Everybody says, 'Oh we're having a vampire moment' and I just sort of go, 'Yeah one of many.' I mean what about when Anne Rice first hit the scene? What about Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I think vampires are a very potent symbol in our collective consciousness and they just return and recur.''

There are many reasons for our enduring fascination with the bloodsuckers, he says.

''Part of it is the whole immortality aspect. Part of it is it's a fantasy way to live out the dark side. Vampires are certainly erotic - just the whole way they feed is very sexual. There is penetration of flesh, there is exchange of body fluids; there is certainly a surrender to a creature that is bigger and more powerful … It's a safe way to explore some really dark impulses.''

Ball is not just the creator of True Blood; he also oversees most aspects of production and writes and directs the occasional episode. Yet he finds time to work on plenty of other projects.

''I'm developing a pilot based on a novel by Charlie Huston who's kind of a noir writer. It's a book called The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death. He's writing the script and I'm overseeing it as producer.
''I've written a movie that is sort of in the vague beginnings of coming together in an independent financing kind of way. I'm working on some other screenplays, I'm producing a couple of pilots that are in development over at HBO, I've started a production company, I'm reading scripts.

''The thing about movies is that they move at a glacial pace. So I'm writing screenplays in the hope that they get done within the next 10 years. For whatever reason, I'm in a sort of fertile place,

imagination-wise, so I'm just churning it out and seeing where it'll take me.''

glamoured | 11/08/2009 | Post Comment

From truebloodnet.com:

Evan Rachel Wood Will Be Tripping the Light Fantastic on Broadway

Vicki Hawley
Issue date: 11/8/09

True Blood’s Evan Rachel Wood (Sophie-Anne Leclerq) will be tripping the light fantastic on Broadway as Mary Jane in “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.”

Mary-Jane is Peter Parker’s love interest in the well known comic series of Spider-Man. Spider-Man is about a teenage boy who gets bitten by a genetically modified spider. He wakes up the next day to find himself upside down on his ceiling. Spider-Man is the hero!“Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” is directed by Julie Taymor, and has the likes of U2 band mates Bono and the Edge providing the music and lyrics. All however, does not seem to have run smoothly as expected.

The production has been rumored to have had a budget of $52 million, this is more that twice the budget of “Lord of The Rings“. The show has also received a few setbacks this year with its very public shut down of production is August. There has also been rumors that the show is to be delayed until the spring instead of the late February opening.
As yet the production have no confirmed male lead however some are speculating that Reeve Carney will play the role of Peter Parker/Spiderman.

What can be assured however is that it will be great to watch Evan Rachel Wood in the role of Mary Jane. Lets hope the show opens on time!

glamoured | 11/08/2009 | Post Comment

From the The Vault:

Kristin Bauer meets fans at Lush Store

Shadaliza
Issue date: 11/8/09

Kristen Bauer from HBO”s “True Blood” was at the Lush Store in Santa Monica on Saturday November 7, 2009. She was there as part of the IFAW’s Tails for Whales Campaign.

Webmistress of Skarsgardfans.com, Barbara Henderson, went to Santa Monica to take a look. You can read her full report on her blog.

glamoured | 11/08/2009 | Post Comment

Want more news? Check out news hot off the wire: True Blood News Feeds
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What is a spoiler for True Blood?

Speculation tied to spoilers about TB.
Anything you have heard, read or KNOW that the rest of us don't.
Information from unofficial channels before an episode airs.

What is not a spoiler for True Blood?

Anything seen in an episode preview or commercial.
Anything you have read about TB in publications like TV Guide.

What is a Minor *Spoiler* for True Blood?

Interviews or videos from the actors themselves.
"Hints" from existing books that are more anecdotal to the news item than the rest of the content.

Minor *Spoilers* are headlined as such

What is a Major ***SPOILER*** for True Blood?

Pre-released reviews, pre-released scripts, pre-released videos, casting-calls
Non-HBO True Blood set photos.
Full-fledged existing books or future books only news.

Major ***SPOILERS*** are headlined as such with the entire article's background color in red.

ANSWER THE CALL!

GIVE INTO THE URGE!

JOIN US NOW!

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BON TEMPS'

DEARLY DEPARTED

Pay your respects to the recently departed: Visit the Bon Temps Cemetery

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glamoured69 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:22:36 CST

(Still can't find what you want? Hit ctrl-F and do a search.)

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Extras: Charlaine Harris's Books, Spoilers, More

Other great vampire drama series and movies

True Blood VS Twilight

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News Archives - 07/2009

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True Blood Relationships

True Blood Season 1

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Spoiler-Free: Season 1 Serial Slayings

Uncovering the Truth

True Blood Season 2

True Blood Season 2 Photos and Predictions

True Blood Season 2 Sneak Peek

Truebies: Party On!

Merlotte's Bar Book

True Blood Halloween 2009

Unexpected Uses for Blood

Truebies: Fan Fiction, Art and More

Did you notice...True Blood Winks and Nods

Your Vampire Fan Fiction

Vampires, Shape Shifters, Weres & Supes, Oh My!

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Charlaine Harris Book Series FAQ

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Which episodes are your favorite characters in?

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Your Vampire Fan Fiction

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True Blood News - Issue #20

glamoured69 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:50:28 CST

True Blood News - Issue #20

Did you miss something from last week? Go back to: True Blood News - Issue #19
Want more news? Check out news hot off the wire: True Blood News Feeds
Check out what you missed in True Blood News Search the News Archives
Back to True Blood

NEWS

Have your own commentary? Post it here: True Blood News Commentary

NEWS

From True-Blood.net:

Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley & Michelle Forbes Debut True Blood in France

Mel

Issued: 11/7/09

True Blood stars Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley and Michelle Forbes kick off the premiere of season two in France on Orange Cinemax.

glamoured | 11/07/2009 | Post Comment

From Daily Eastern News:

Got a fang fetish?

Jose Gonzalez/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 11/6/09

What do Edward Cullen, William the Bloody a.k.a. Spike, Angel, and the cast of True Blood have in common: they're all vampires and craved by females.

The blow-up in the media over the "Twilight" series has shed new light on the vampire fetish. But, why now and why the fascination?

Donald Holly, an anthropology professor, said he wrote a research paper which detailed the fascination between women and vampires.

Holly's research paper titled "What's In a Coin? Reading the Material Culture of Legend Tripping and Other activities," explores the logic behind this.

According to the paper, "The appetite of teenagers for these images seems especially insatiable. Whether they identify with the vampire's marginal place in society or are attracted to the power and sexual symbolism of vampires, teenagers and young adults are among the primary consumers of vampire-themed media."

Some of the attraction can be pinpointed toward old horror films and the emergence of the gothic sub-culture.

As far as having a sexual fetish towards vampires, Holly explained some possible circumstances that could've led to the growth of this phenomenon.

He said it could be the penetration taking place that biting and releasing blood and the sexual release that may come from it.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/06/2009 | Post Comment

From Earthtimes:

"How to Catch and Keep a Vampire" Makes a Great Holiday Gift for Vampire Lovers

"How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful" is the perfect holiday gift for those who take their vampire loving seriously...but also like to laugh. Twilight fans, True Blood aficionados, and Vampire Diaries devotees alike will delight in this guide to dating the undead.

South Portland, Maine (PRWEB) November 6, 2009 -- Need a gift for the vampire lover who already has everything Twilight and True Blood? Your best solution could be a vampire “dating guide” that straddles the line between serious advice and parody.

Diana Laurence’s book "How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful" was released in October 2009 by Sellers Publishing. The 5.5” x 8.5”, two-color, 160-page softcover book retails for $14.95 and is available in bookstores worldwide, as well as from online retailers.

The book has been featured in Glamour, Publisher’s Weekly, ForeWord, Gifts and Decorative Accessories, and Greetings, etc. It was chosen #3 favorite vampire book by Internet Review of Books, made the Chapters/Indigo top five vampire guidebooks list, is a Night Owl Romance Top Pick, and has been selected by Target stores as a Preferred Read for January 2010.

While Laurence’s take on vampire lore and romance is her own, her romantic approach will appeal to fans of the “Twilight” series. UK teen Web site Sugarscape said, “If you love yourself some [Edward] Cullen, you need this book…it has all manner of useful info on why vampires are so attractive, how come normal people fall for these sinister beings and most importantly, how a mortal-vampire relationship can be achieved and conducted successfully.”

Fans of the HBO series “True Blood” will likewise enjoy "How to Catch and Keep a Vampire." TrueBloodNet called the book “a wonderful guide to balancing fantasy and passion with your ordinary life,” and said, “If you’ve had people poo-poo your vampire passions, this book assures you that you are not alone.”

The book is totally appropriate for teenage readers and their outlook. YA Vampire Books said, “Sometimes I even wondered if the author could read my mind, she knew exactly how I reacted, felt and thought.” Meanwhile, mature readers will also enjoy the guide, which one reviewer said, “could almost be termed a women empowerment how-to book.”

For more information on "How to Catch and Keep a Vampire", visit www.dianalaurence.com/vampire/holiday and www.howtocatchandkeepavampire.com.

Diana Laurence has published over a dozen titles, including "Soul’s Embrace" (2004), the popular "Bloodchained" vampire romance series (2007-2009), and the suspense thriller "Looking on Darkness" (2009). She is a well-known blogger and essayist on the topics of love, romance, and vampires. For more information visit her Web site, www.dianalaurence.com.

Boadicea | 11/06/2009 | Post Comment

True Blood's Dr. Ludwig (Marcia deRousse) - from EntertainmentToday:

The House of Besarab Continues the Legend of Dracula

Hollywood American Legion Post

In the inimitable tradition of the mega-hit environmental stage production Tamara, the world premiere of Terance Duddy and Theodore Ott’s The House of Besarab is sure to bring inventive theatrical life back into the Hollywood American Legion Post on Highland Avenue near the Hollywood Bowl, the imposing 33,000-sq.ft. Egyptian Revival-Moroccan Deco edifice where Tamara debuted in 1983 and broke all records by holding court there through 1994, selling out regularly and putting some 240 LA actors to work during its unprecedented run.

[Read entire article]

The House of Besarab’s special spiritually-inclined opening night guests include psychic actress Marcia deRousse, so memorable in her current run as the über-scary Dr. Ludwig on the hit HBO TV series True Blood; married mediums Michael and Marti Parry; and clairvoyant Donna D’Amore of the Heart & Soul Healing Arts Center.

Marcia deRousse, the diminutive “f”-bomb spouting vampiric expert on True Blood, plied her more mystical wares as the star of the TV series pilot Small Medium at Large, among many roles on television series. She was the mother of Matthew McConoughey and Gary Oldman in the feature film Tiptoes and worked on Highway to Heaven with Michael Landon, someone she believes to now be one of her spirit guides. Recently onstage she was runner-up for Best Actress for The Sugar Bean Sisters at Sierra Madre Playhouse in Entertainment Today’s annual Ticketholder Awards and appeared opposite The house of Besarab’s Dr. Van Helsing, Travis Holder, in the west coast premiere of Charles Mee’s Summertime at Theatre @ Boston Court.

Miss deRousse explains, “I have been a psychic medium since I was akid, and ‘talked’ to my spirit guides every night when I went to bed. Then when my grandma died, I was sure it was a mistake that everyone was crying beside her grave, because she was standing there winking at me saying, ‘I'm OK, honey… I’m right here.’” But religious constraints and dogma caused deRousse to repress her gift for many years until the death of her mother in 2000,when medium Brian Hurst told her on first sight, “You know you can do this, right?” Aside from her successful acting career, deRousse is now a noted psychic, medium, and animal communicator, also adept at helping people explore past lives.

Boadicea | 11/06/2009 | Post Comment

From JustJared:

Alexander Skarsgard Interview — JustJared.com Exclusive

Alexander Skarsgard joins co-stars Sam Trammell, Michelle Forbes and Rutina Wesley at the premiere of their HBO vampire series True Blood at Max Linder Cinema on Thursday (November 5) in Paris, France.

The 33-year-old actor was just in Sweden to re-shoot scenes for his new movie, Puss. Two weeks ago at an event in New York City, Alexander spoke to JustJared.com exclusively. Check it:

JJ: Tell us about your character in Straw Dogs.
AS: I play a guy named Charlie who’s a guy from Mississippi who was a big star when he was younger — the quarterback of the football team. He was dating Kate Bosworth’s character, who was the cheerleader — the hottest girl in school — and everything was perfect. He had the best life and people were, like, “You’re going to play in the NFL someday!” And then he got injured and nothing really happened for him.
The movie starts later [in Charlie's life] and he’s in his late twenties — he’s gotten bitter in a way. And [Kate's character] comes back with her new boyfriend (James Marsden), who’s a Hollywood screenwriter. The movie’s about the dynamic between the three of them when they come back, how Charlie reacts to that. He wants her back…

JJ: What was it like working with Kate?
AS: I love Kate. She’s amazing - she’s going to be amazing in this movie. It’s a really tough part, but she did a great job - she’s a very good friend of mine.

JJ: What was your favorite part about working on the movie?
AS: Working with those people - Jimmy Marsden, who plays the screenwriter, is a fantastic guy and Rhys Coiro and Drew Powell and Billy Lush, I’d worked with on Generation Kill. They played my buddies. And the entire crew - it was just an amazing experience, and Rod Lurie, the director, is a fantastic director.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/06/2009 | Post Comment

From Houston Press:

The Music of True Blood, Episode 1.5: Playing Chicken With the Train, and an AIDS Burger

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. With Season 2 just completed, Rocks Off is now working our way backwards through the episodes we missed as HBO begins reruns.

Country Rap is a lot like Albanian folk dancing... and we're not going to explain that comparison. Just take our word for it. The most famous of the hick-hoppers is Bubba Sparxxx, but this week we focus on one Cowboy Troy. A Longhorn who managed a Foot Locker before achieving success with his first major release Loco Motive, which debuted at Number No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Since then it's been only up and up for Troy.

The debut single from Loco Motive, and a No. 1 Country download from iTunes, was a track called "I Play Chicken With the Train." Being our introduction to the world of country rap, it's quite an experience to hear, bringing a very pleasant meshing of the best of two genres' strengths. Rappers sell their product with themselves, using their own aura as the main drawing force of the music. Country also has that strut, but its superpower lies more in the ability to turn basic folk melodies into powerful performance pieces. What you are left with upon the mating of these styles is big, brash and, most of all, catchy.

And that kind of big bad is exactly why "I Play Chicken With the Train" is the perfect background music for one of the best scenes from True Blood Season 1. A minor character in the book series but a major presence on the show, Lafayette serves as Merlotte's cook. Appreciation of his skills usually heads off confrontation with the more backwards of Bon Temps residents, but a trio of yokels just had to send their burger back because "It has AIDS" on it. The result is...well, it speaks for itself. True Blood airs Saturdays at 8 p.m. on HBO.

Boadicea | 11/06/2009 | Post Comment

*Minor Spoilers*

Thank you Tincar! - from True Blood's Nest:

Interview with Mariana Klaveno:
“I have a feeling that Lorena is pissed off!”

By CitizenErased on November 6th, 2009

Along with loving mostly everything about True Blood (especially Bellefleurs), us ladies at The Nest are unashamed Bill devotees. So it was with some trepidation that we sat down with our silver pens to think of some super fantastic questions to ask Mariana Klaveno, aka Lorena, the founding member of Team Bill and downright scary vampire wench from HELL. Realising that the question ‘why are you such a bitch?’ was rather unfair, since Mariana is in fact a) an innocent actress and b) actually very nice, we managed to think of a few zingers, and were delighted with the answers. I think this is my favourite interview we’ve ever done, and ooh look, an exclusive from the lady herself:

“Lorena is definitely coming back and I have a feeling she’s pissed off!”

Awesome, I’m totally looking forward to it. Read and enjoy this juicy interview y’all, and leave Mariana a comment to tell her what a bloody good job she’s been doing with her mad villain acting skills!

TB-N: You grew up in rural Washington. Did you live on a farm and do you get to go home often these days?

MK: I did live on a farm. I’ve known some people to exaggerate that statement a bit but I can honestly state it as a fact. I didn’t live near one or visit one a few times; I lived on our family’s wheat & barley farm until I left for college at eighteen.

I don’t get home as often as I’d like, but I try to visit at least twice a year. My parents usually make a few trips to Los Angeles every year as well, so I get to see them more often than I do the farm.

TB-N: Did you dream of being an actress when you were a kid or was it something you kind of got into gradually?

MK: I absolutely dreamed of it as a kid and I really have no practical reason as to why. No one in my family is even remotely involved in acting. They are all immensely talented in their own careers and interests, my parents included, but I am the only performer in the bunch. I was actually quite secretive about it. Growing up where I did, I didn’t know anyone who went on to pursue acting professionally. Our school didn’t even have a drama class. It seemed like such an unrealistic thing that aside from my close friends, I was too terrified to voice to anyone how serious my interest was until I was a senior in high school. Luckily, I’ve received nothing but constant support over the years from everyone back home.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/06/2009 | Post Comment

Videos this week:

Video: Rutina Wesley and Sam Trammel Halloween in Las Vegas

Sam Trammell interview Pt 2 on Electric 102.7 FM’s radio

Charlaine is crowned Queen of Louisiana at the Vampire Lestat Ball in NOLA 10/30/09 (video 1)

Charlaine is crowned Queen of Louisiana at the Vampire Lestat Ball in NOLA 10/30/09 (video 2)

Boadicea | 11/05/2009 | Post Comment

***SPOILERS***

True Blood spoiler - from TVGuide:

**Mega Buzz: Scoop on Vampire Diaries, NCIS, Housewives and More!**

[Read entire article...]

Text is hidden - highlight to reveal text >>>

Will Terry and Arlene still be together when we return for Season 3 of True Blood? — Anna

MICKEY: Yep. Executive producer Alan Ball told us that the happy couple "will make a surprising discovery that will bring them closer together." Translation: All that free lovin' they did under Maryann's spell will result in an unplanned pregnancy. I hope the baby has hair that looks like a sunset after a bomb went off.

Boadicea | 11/05/2009 | Post Comment

The 'Lafayette Cupcake' - from Willamette Online:

Get Baked: The Sugar Cube is back starting Thursday.

2:00 PM November 4th, 2009 by Kelly Clarke

As you might have heard, celebrated local baker Kir Jensen’s cute-as-pie downtown dessert cart The Sugar Cube—home of the addictive Highway to Heaven and Amy Winehouse cupcakes—is back from the dead after a seven month absence. But, oh what, you ask, does she have in stores for Portland’s sugar and fat junkies this time around when she opens up shop tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 5 in her new pink cart (see photo below) at the Mississippi Marketplace food cart pod? Well, it involves beer and True Blood, of course.

Here’s some menu teasers (around $3-$7), straight from the redheaded Chicago gal’s mouth:

“Beer.Cheese.Bacon: Warm Guinness and ginger stout cake, topped with Fifty Licks vanilla bean ice cream, praline bacon crunch, shaved white cheddar, buckwheat honey drizzle. Booyah!

Cupcake of the week: First up? A homage to my favorite character on True Blood…”The Lafayette.” Red velvet cake, topped with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting…and a gold lame thong garnish.

[Update 10 am Thursday, Nov. 5: Jensen says that The Lafayette will not be available today. She's still "searching for gold lame thong."]

Spiced, freshly pressed apple cider: infused with vanilla bean and ginger served with cinnamon stix, nutmeg and other goodness. Comes hot with a Tonali’s old fashioned glazed doughnut.”

Oh holy christ. As Jensen would say, that sounds like a “sugargasm.” The baker also promised some Thanksgiving take home specials later this month. We’ll report back after tomorrow’s opening. Follow The Sugar cube on Twitter for more updates.

The Sugar Cube at Mississippi Marketplace, corner of North Mississippi and Skidmore, www.thesugarcubepdx.com. Noon-closing (whenever she runs outta goods) Thursday-Sunday. Photos of Sugar Cube logo and new cart courtesy of Kir Jensen.

Boadicea | 11/05/2009 | Post Comment

Chuck Prophet's music in True Blood's Ep 202 - from San Francisco Examiner:

Prophet finds hometown freedom

By: Tom Lanham • November 5, 2009

It’s always great to be the hometown hero. But since he flew solo from his old outfit, Green on Red, 19 years ago, San Francisco folk-blues growler Chuck Prophet has settled for another distinct honor: being huge everywhere else instead.

The guitarist, 45, has built a marquee-topping name for himself overseas, and until recently his work was always released exclusively on British and European labels.
Stateside tours? “I don’t think it’s ever gotten as sad as [the poorly-attended shows in] that Anvil movie,” he says over lunch at his favorite Castro-district café. “But it gets sad pretty fast.”

For example, Prophet — who plays The City Sunday, backing his new Mexico-City-recorded “Let Freedom Ring!” on U.S. imprint YepRoc — cites one show in Chapel Hill, where he was told he could play for the door take.
“So we did the gig, everybody had a good time, and at the end of the night I went to the doorman, who shrugged and said, ‘Oh, we didn’t do much business tonight,’” he says. “And I’m looking around, and the place is full, but he goes ‘Sorry — those are just the regulars.’ We’ve had a lot of gigs like that in the States.”

This puzzles Prophet. “It’s a bummer for me to think that people would get what I do more overseas than here, because that is not how I designed it,” he says.

“Freedom,” his 11th CD, is easily accessible.

In memorable tracks like “Barely Exist,” “Hot Talk” and the sardonic “American Man,” Prophet proffers a warm, Jimmie Vaughn-beefy guitar style and gruff vocals that have always fallen somewhere between Tom Waits and Elliott Murphy. It’s the blues, not brain surgery.

Naturally, Prophet follows the work — and the respect. Green on Red was recently invited to reunite for Britain’s annual All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, to perform the 1985 classic “Gas Food Lodging” in its entirety.

“In England, we’ve found a core audience that’s stayed with us through some records that took left turns,” says the singer, who usually tours and records with his keyboardist wife Stephanie Finch.

Yanks are finally catching on. New West signed Prophet for two U.S. albums in 2002, and he scored a chart hit with “Summertime Thing.” His songs have also found their way into TV in “True Blood,” “The L Word” and “Sons of Anarchy.”

“After being on all these British labels, North America became this thing that I figured would just go away if I ignored it long enough,” Prophet says. “But of course, it never did.”

Boadicea | 11/05/2009 | Post Comment

Charlaine Harris - from The Shallow End:

True Blood - your questions answered

Shameless plug alert: Read ABC News Online's interview with Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood author Charlaine Harris.

For those of you who wanted me to ask her specific questions, I've posted them below. I couldn't ask them all, so if yours isn't here it's hopefully been answered in the story.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kate Burnham: Will Sookie ever settle down with one of her admirers or is she doomed to serial monogamy on a grand scale?

"You're just going to have to keep reading the books to find out."

Joanne: Some vampires have special gifts, for example Eric can fly. Does Bill Compton have a special gift?

"He can levitate. He already did that in the first book, as far as I know that's all he can do. But I'm sure that he'll tell me if I ask him."

Tiffany Leger: Will Sookie ever go into the attic to find some of Gran's secrets?

"She'll go in the attic, but I don't know how many secrets she'll find in there."

LilaS: At the end of the last book, Sookie's had a pretty bad time of it. She comes across broken, both in spirit and physically. How have you addressed this in the new book and will the unbreakable spirit that has become synonymous with her character return? Or is this a turning point for the character?

"Of course she's not ever going to be the same again, you're not after that. She will gradually recover her spirit but it's going to be a gradual process and the beginning of book 10 (A Touch of Dead) addresses that."

Nina: Bill, a character so significant in the first two books, has been sidelined. What are the chances of seeing him with Sookie in hot and unforgettable moments again?

"That's not gong to happen in book 10, that's all I can say."

Jane Blount: Why would you kill Bill? He is the most fascinating character I've read in years - so mysterious, cool and dark. I'd kill to hear his voice, as you describe it ... and I want to finish your wonderful books without crying.

"I did not kill Bill. Alan sort of said something at PaleyFest in an interview. He said 'Charlaine thought about killing Bill in the last book but she was talked out of it.' That was something of a mis-statement and I certainly wish he hadn't made it! In casual conversation I mentioned that had been one of the possible endings for Dead and Gone and that I'd thought about it and discarded it. But the truth is, and I think almost every writer does this, I've considered killing every character at one time or another, and some of them I follow though with. But some I decide I need to be alive."

khansen: I read recently that you said you didn't understand why so many fans love Eric so much? If this is true, why was he written to always be there for Sookie, give her what she needs, always tell her the truth, and be emotionally awakened by her, and happier with her than he had been in hundreds of years? He seems perfect for her. Have I read all of the books wrong?

"I'm not denying that's one side of Eric, but he's also a ruthless killer and I think some of my readers tend to forget that in their enthusiasm for his sexier habits."

Andy Swist: If you had to pick one of Sookie's many suitors as your favourite to write about, who would it be and why?

"Oh my goodness, I like to write about all of them, it just depends on my actions in the books. If I didn't enjoy writing about them, I wouldn't have created them. There are things about all of them that I admire, or I wouldn't have made them attractive to Sookie."

Boadicea | 11/05/2009 | Post Comment

***SPOILERS***

From DigitalSpy:

'True Blood' character 'based on Lohan'

Wednesday, November 4 2009, 12:03pm EST By Dan French, TV Reporter

True Blood creator Alan Ball has claimed that Lindsay Lohan was the inspiration for one of the characters on his show.

According to Sci Fi Wire, Evan Rachel Wood's Vampire Queen of Louisiana is based on the Mean Girls actress.

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Discussing the introduction of the Vampire King of Mississippi, Ball said: "He's older. He's much more mature. He's much more methodical and grounded.

"[Vampire Queen is] kind of crazy. To me, she's kind of like Paris Hilton/Lindsay Lohan, where she has a very short attention span and she's very, very egomaniacal and very self-obsessed and doesn't really think about her actions, whereas the Vampire King is very much an adult."He has an agenda. He has things he wants to achieve. I think he's much more formidable than she is."

True Blood returns for its third season in 2010.

Boadicea | 11/05/2009 | Post Comment

From ReadTheHook:

FILM- Rosy outlook: From satires to vampires with Alan Ball

By JUSTIN HUMPHREYS • Published November 5, 2009

When Alan Ball wrote the satirical screenplay American Beauty, he didn't specifically mean it as a scathing commentary on suburban life.

"I happen to live in suburbia," Ball, 52, told the Hook recently. "And I like it."

His script dealt more with the zeitgeist of suburbia, and he intended his account of middle-class dad Lester Burnham's dissolution "to be an indictment of the shallowness of American values that [Americans] are basically conditioned from birth to accept as gospel," he explains.

"In that regard," he says, "I don't know if there is any more scathing indictment of American culture than American culture itself."

Ball's targets seem peculiarly ironic— but not illogical-- considering that his prior writing background was mainly in pure Americana: sitcoms. But his days of unrewarding toil on shows like Grace Under Fire soon ended: American Beauty won him the 1999 Academy Award for best original screenplay, among numerous other laurels.

"It became this phenomenon," Ball marvels. "Who knows why?"

Being thrust into the spotlight, Ball recalls, "was a strange experience... It's a place that I'm not entirely comfortable. And all the things that are really, really huge traps for an artist of any kind were all just sprung on me at once."

Ball dodged those traps smoothly, and next developed the hugely popular HBO series, Six Feet Under, which, for five seasons, chronicled the lives of a family of morticians. In 2008, he followed it up with HBO's True Blood, an adaptation of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse vampire novels. Set in Louisiana, the series traces a vast undead community's attempts to assimilate into everyday human life.

Appropriately, Ball discovered the novels while waiting for a dental appointment. At a bookstore, he was amused by the tagline for Harris' Dead Until Dark-- "Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend wasn't such a good idea after all"— and bought the book. "I really just couldn't put it down," he says.

Like a vampire guzzling type-O negative, he was hooked. Somewhere around reading the fourth book, he envisioned Harris' novels as a TV series. "What I really loved," Ball says, "was that they walked this razor's edge of tone between romance and the supernatural and horror and comedy and social commentary and Wal-Mart trailer park people... I just found it delightful. It was so escapist and so much fun."

True Blood has further cemented Ball's warm relationship with television, in which, it seems, he is content. Or is he?

"It's just a lot easier to get interesting, complicated, morally ambiguous stories about flawed characters done on the small screen," he says, "than it is on the big screen."

Pinning down a unifying theme in the wildly disparate subjects of Ball's work is tricky. But while discussing his sense of humor, he gives more than a little hint about it.

"One of my ways of dealing with depressing matters," he explains, "is to make fun of them. It is one of the things that I learned in adolescence, and I've never really outgrown it because it has helped me survive a lot."

Boadicea | 11/05/2009 | Post Comment

True Blood's Ryan Kwanten pic to be featured in new book - from EarthTimes:

Hollywood's Hottest Young Male Stars Pose For New Limited-Edition Book

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- What do stars Jason Lewis (Sex and the City), Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights), Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries), Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl), and Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) have in common? They all make an appearance with over 100 other celebrities, athletes, and top models in About Face, a stunning limited-edition book of portraits by top celebrity photographer John Russo, scheduled for a February 2010 release by Pixie Press Worldwide.

"There's a bold, direct honesty to Russo's Portraits." - Greg Gorman
The 160-pages of black and white photographs shot with the soon-to-be-extinct Type 55 Polaroid film captures the intensity of the male subjects. The book has already grabbed the attention of editors familiar with Russo's ambitious project. As Metro Magazine remarks in their advance praise for About Face, "Over the course of [About Face] a conversation between the words and images emerges; the result is a book about aesthetics that is surprisingly thought-provoking."

According to Publisher Jordana Woodland Goguen, when Pixie Press Worldwide heard that celebrity photographer John Russo was shooting a series of portraits with Type 55 Polaroid film, she was intrigued. "When Russo showed us the first prints, we were struck by their bold simplistic beauty and our About Face collaboration began," explains Goguen. The creative mission was to record the raw beauty, intrigue, and power of the male face. The photographs in the book prove that their mission was accomplished. Although Type 55 film is gone forever, it will live on through the timeless images in the book.

About Face is cloth bound, 160 pages, 10.25 x 12.50 inches, and signed, with a limited-edition of 1500 copies.

Pixie Press Worldwide - About Face is the first book published by Pixie Press Worldwide. Established in 2009, Pixie Press Worldwide is dedicated to publishing unique photography and coffee table books that emphasize beauty, innovation, and inspiration. Each collector's-edition book published by Pixie Press Worldwide will have a limited production run with a portion of the proceeds given to charities that assist women and children in need. To find out more, please visit www.PixiePressWorldwide.com

Boadicea | 11/04/2009 | Post Comment

The end credits' music of Episode 112 - from San Marcos Mercury:

Supple Folk Music Series presents Crooked Still from True Blood

Brad Rollins on Wednesday, 4 November 2009

Crooked Still, the alternative bluegrass band whose music features prominently in the wildly successful HBO vampire series True Blood, will bring their high-energy sound to Texas State University on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The performance will be held at 8 p.m. in the Glade outdoor theatre on campus. Admission is free. The show is part of the Jerry and Cathy Supple Folk Music Series, co-sponsored by Century Tel.

Crooked Still formed in Boston in 2001 and developed a genre-bending sound from the combination of five distinctive talents who are not content to limit themselves to any one project or style of music. While Crooked Still is the main band for these talented players, all are involved in other projects. Each individual contribution is enriched by the multidimensionality of their creative wellspring. The band has released four albums: Hop High (2004), Shaken by a Low Sound (2006), Still Crooked (2008) and the most recent, Live (2009).

In the event of rain, Evans Auditorium will be the alternate venue.

For more information, visit the Encore Series website at www.encoreseries.txstate.edu or contact the Events Coordinator at (512) 245-3501.

Boadicea | 11/04/2009 | Post Comment

From Luxist:

True Blood Jewelry Designer Wants to be a Vampire - Exclusive Interview

by Annie Scott • Nov 4th 2009 at 8:02AM

The hit HBO vampire series True Blood has a terrific new collection of modern goth jewelry designed by Udi Behr (right), the Chief Designer for Love Peace and Hope. We attended the launch party for the fierce new True Blood line and chatted with Behr himself about all things jewelry and vampires. Read the interview to find out why Udi Behr wants to be a vampire, and then check out the gallery of the sexy bling True Blood inspired.

Luxist: Do you like True Blood?

Udi Behr: I love True Blood! I don't do anything I don't love.

L: What's your background? Where are you from?

UB: My background is very confusing. My father is Dutch, my mother is English, and they met in Israel, so I was born and raised in Israel. I moved to New York 26 years ago on Halloween Day.

L: Perfect.

UB: My first night in New York was the Village on Halloween night.

L: How old were you?

UB: I was 23.

L: Oh my gosh, that must have been the best night of your life.

UB: Exactly -- if you ask me what happened, this is all because of that first night in New York. I blame it all on the first night in New York! I live near the village today, and I still remember what I saw 26 years ago, but I don't remember what I saw last year.

L: So your True Blood designs are based around the infinity symbol?

UB: The infinity symbol and two fangs that link into it. If you look at my line, a couple of the specific iconic shapes are teardrops of blood with rubies, I'm doing the 8, eternity, and the chains. I use either leather or stainless steel, because vampires get very damaged if they wear silver, so, just in case Louisiana vampires or Texas vampires want to buy jewelry, tada! They can!

L: So, there's no silver in the collection?

UB: The rings are silver, and the earrings are silver.

L: So the vampires should shy away from those.

UB: Yes -- but there are people who want to protect themselves from vampires, too. Not all vampires are great. But, on a serious note, it's hard to manipulate stainless steel in rings, so all the rings and earrings are silver, and all the chains are stainless steel or leather.

L: So, who's your favorite True Blood character?

UB: That's a good question. Let's see, everybody likes Eric. Everybody wants to be Eric, he's the coolest vampire. He's so cool, you know? He's not in love, he doesn't want a girlfriend, and Tara, I like Tara very much, she's a really cool girl.

L: What do you think of her boyfriend?

UB: Well, for me, he just pisses me off every time I go to the gym. It's hard for guys to compete, you know?

L: I would imagine!

UB: I want to be a vampire. That's why I'm doing this. You sleep all day and you party all night! And you live forever! Only one thing: I like to go to the beach.

You can shop for Udi Behr's hot new True Blood collection at TrueBloodJewelry.com.

[Click to enlarge...]

Boadicea | 11/04/2009 | Post Comment

***SPOILERS***

From SciFiWire:

**12 big-ass spoilers for True Blood season 3**

It'll be a while before HBO's True Blood comes back for its third season and we all find out what happened to Bill (Stephen Moyer). But if you can't wait that long, we talked to executive producer Alan Ball and writers Raelle Tucker and Alexander Woo, who probably told us more than they should have about what's going to happen:

We spoke to the writers before they participated in a panel at at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Spoilers ahead!)

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Bill won't be back for a while.
Ball confirmed that the arc of Bill's kidnapping will last "about six episodes." That sounds like just enough time to put Sookie (Anna Paquin) through the wringer, but not enough to try viewers' patience. Plus, we'll probably still get to see Bill deal with his captors in episodes 1-5.

Meet the Merlottes.
Shape-shifter Sam (Sam Trammell) will find his family this year, and Tucker gets to write their characters a lot in episode two. "I'm getting to write Sam's family, which is a lot of fun, and, really, I feel really satisfying as a character arc," she said. "I really am glad that he's taking this journey and he's learning about himself. I find that interesting. They aren't the brightest people, maybe. At least they appear that way. They're fairly dysfunctional, but like anybody else, they have their good things about them and not-so-good things. They're still getting to know each other. Sam's still getting to know them, and so are we."

Werewolves sink their teeth into Louisiana.
Werewolves are coming to True Blood, and Ball offered a preview of what his wolf-people will look like. "They're just wolves," Ball said. "It's just people who can turn into wolves, but they're slightly bigger and much stronger. Their eyes glow orange a little bit."

There's even more supernatural stuff.
It's not just vampires and werewolves. Woo is most excited about the expanding world of season three. "The entire world is going to get a lot bigger," Woo said. "Not only the human world, but in Sookie's eyes, she's going to see the whole supernatural world. Luckily, since this show is through Sookie's eyes, as an audience we'll get to see a much larger supernatural world."

Sookie will explore her own powers.
Sookie's powers have gone from simple telepathy to some kind of hand-glowing power. Tucker confirmed that Sookie's powers continue to expand in season three. "I think that Sookie is conscious of her abilities more this season than she's been, and she's questioning them more," Tucker said. "We're going to be exploring that more this season."

Meet the Vampire King.
Ball said the Vampire King of Mississippi is coming in season three. He provides a contrast to Sophie-Anne, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana (Evan Rachel Wood). "He's older," Ball said. "He's much more mature. He's much more methodical and grounded. She's kind of crazy. To me, she's kind of like Paris Hilton/Lindsay Lohan, where she has a very short attention span and she's very, very egomaniacal and very self-obsessed and doesn't really think about her actions, whereas the Vampire King is very much an adult. He has an agenda. He has things he wants to achieve. I think he's much more formidable than she is."

Jason will stay out of trouble.
In two seasons, Sookie's brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), has been accused of murder and got caught up in a cult. Season three will find him keeping a low profile. "I think Jason's path this season is actually about not getting into trouble," Tucker said. "It's about trying to stay out of trouble. I think it's going well for him."

Sophie-Anne might get into more trouble.
Wood is signed to return for more episodes in season three. Since her recreational activities include orchestrating the sale of vampire blood, things could go very badly for her. "Well, Sophie Anne, when last we left her, she was sort of behind this selling of V as a recreational drug on the streets, pretty much," Ball said. "That's not something a vampire authority figure should be doing. If higher-up vampire authority figures figure that out, they're not going to be happy."

There's a new biker gang in town.
Season three will introduce a biker gang called Coot's F--k You Crew. Tucker said the new characters are still evolving and won't be what you expect. "The one thing I will say is that they are very mysterious," Tucker said. "They're a group who's been around a lot longer than you think. I don't want to say too much about them right now, because I think that we are in the early stages of figuring that out."

A new character called Tommy Mickens brings the hurt.
Woo is writing the new character of Tommy Mickens, who will make a huge impact on our favorite characters. "Tommy Mickens is someone I don't want to reveal too much about, because I don't want to ruin the surprise," Woo said. "He's a completely new character, but he plays very prominently in the emotional life of at first one and then, later, several other of our characters. He'll be the first domino to push the rest."

Headgear plays a major role.
Helmets have become a joke in the writer's room. Tucker explained how the writers became aware they were relying too much on protective headgear. "There've been several moments that we've been pitching things and thought, 'Oh, well, maybe she could be wearing a helmet, and that would protect her. Maybe he could wear a helmet in that scene,'" Tucker recalled. "Suddenly we realized we had a whole bunch of characters wearing helmets for no particular reason. So we thought, oh, that's the theme of the season."

Sorry, ladies, Eric is still a tease.
Fans keep demanding more screen time for Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), but the writers won't indulge them. "You know, what's funny is that he's in the first two books; he's a fairly minor character in Sookie's universe," Tucker said. "There's a lot of fan pressure that they're supposed to be this big romantic thing, which actually in Charlaine [Harris]'s books doesn't happen until much, much further down. I think if we did that, we'd probably bore them all to death. I think part of the magic of Eric is some of the mystery of Eric and the inaccessibility of Eric. I think you don't want to turn them into the nice romantic love interest who's in every scene. I think his danger is important, so not just throwing him up whenever somebody wants to see his bare chest is actually a more disciplined approach."

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

True Blood fashion trends - from Philly.com:

TV togs: Retailers and popular shows are teaming up to bring you series-inspired fashions

By LISA A. FLAM • Philadelphia Daily News Associated Press

NEW YORK - SO, YOU admire the fashions of popular TV characters. Do you want to dress just like them?

This fall, you can if you favor the slim suits worn by one smartly dressed 1960s adman, the sexy looks of those real-life housewives or necklaces dripping with "blood" - make that rubies - inspired by modern vampires.

The latest collaborations from the intersection of television and retail are licensed clothing and jewelry lines tied to the hit shows "Mad Men," the "Real Housewives" franchise and the vampire drama "True Blood."

"It is a loud and clear signal that the American consumer is looking for fashion excitement that isn't being delivered by traditional stores or designers," said David Wolfe, creative director at The Doneger Group, a fashion-forecasting company.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

Sookie should read this book - from MTV's Hollywood Crush:

Four Fangs Up To New Book 'Vampire Taxonomy' For Teaching Us How To Date A Bloodsucker

By Kara Warner

Attention Vampire fanatics: For those looking to fill the void before "New Moon" opens, the next season of "True Blood" and "The Vampire Diaries" latest episode, check out "Vampire Taxonomy: Identifying and Interacting with the Modern-Day Bloodsucker," by Meredith Woerner. One part witty how-to interaction guide and two parts vampire glossary, this book is a humorous, yet authoritative look at pop culture's current fixation on all things fang-tastic.

"Taxonomy" begins with an overview of vampire origins, and then delves right into the gory detail of five definitive vampire types: Romantic (aka Edward Cullen, Bill Compton — see an illustration after the jump), Villainous (Count Orlok, Dracula), Tragic (Angel, Jasper Cullen), Halfies (Blade). We like the Tragic vamps best, in large part due to an adolescent crush on "Buffy" heartthrob Angel (it wasn't the same after he left!), and also because we are suckers for those tortured souls. Er, tortured soul-less? Ha. Who knew there were so many puns to be had in writing about vampires? Anyway, moving on...

Our favorite part of the book lies in Chapter 8: "Living in an Undead World, Real-life Applications," in which Woerner lays out ground rules for dating a vampire, how to survive an attack, and some handy self-defense moves.

To wit, the "Eight Steps to a Safe Vampire Relationship" :

Determine whether its love, lust or possession, ("... Suss out whether what you're feeling is the real deal or merely the aftereffects of a fang-gasm")
Know whats on the menu ("Do not date a non-vegan vamp")
Guess who's coming to dinner? ("When dating a vampire you will meet both humans and vamps who will look down on your union ... be prepared for both sets of prejudices")
Set boundaries
Become vampire correct
Be explicitly honest ("A vampire in love is a dangerous thing if you are not clear and concise with all of your intentions and interactions")
Give and take ("You're going to have to give up some of your sunny days in trade for a healthy relationship")
Never drop your guard

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

***SPOILERS***

Spoilers! - from EOnline:

[Read entire article...]

Text is hidden - highlight to reveal text >>>
Melina in Washington, D.C.: Thanks for the True Blood news last week! Do you have anything else about Eric?

Your wish is my command. Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) fans will be happy to hear that even though Godric (Allan Hyde) is dead, the writers are considering exploring his 1,000-year history with Eric through flashbacks. Whoo-hoo!

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

Alan Ball to appear at Virginia Film Festival - from C-Ville:

"Is the Virginia Film Festival right for me?" and other fabricated, facetious FAQs

"A funny thing happened on the way to the Film Festival"

BY JONATHAN KIEFER

What is the Virginia Film Festival?

It is your plan for the weekend, resolved.

Can you be more specific?

Yes. The Virginia Film Festival is an annual motion-picture exhibition event, taking place again this Thursday through Sunday, November 5-8, in multiple venues with more than 80 movies of varying size, shape, disposition and value to humanity.

Overseen in part by UVA’s College of Arts and Sciences, this hallowed ceremony of cultural enrichment takes the heritage of American cinema very seriously, but still knows how to have a good time. Hence, “Funny Business,” the event’s infinitely interpretable theme for 2009. That could mean funny ha ha and funny strange, or business plan and business casual. Or neither, or both.

What it definitely does mean is all manner of comedies, dramas, documentaries and a few music videos—from America and from many other strange and exotic countries, like Bolivia, the Czech Republic, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Uruguay and Hollywood. Plus some that were made right here in your hometown. And there will also be several cerebrally stimulating film-related events and a couple of schmooze-tastic parties.

This year, the weekend’s special guests include, among others, John Waters (showing Pink Flamingos and Hairspray and discussing his life and work), Matthew Broderick (showing Election and premiering his new film Wonderful World on closing night), Alan Ball (showing American Beauty and discussing his HBO series “True Blood”), and, of course, you.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

Great interview of Jace Everett - from Chico State's The Orion:

'Bad Things' comes to Chico

By Christina Rafael • Published:Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Singer/songwriter Jace Everett will be opening for The Duhks on Sunday at the Chico Women’s Club.

Everett, whose new album Red Revelations came out earlier this year, has made many new fans since his song “Bad Things” became the theme song for the HBO series “True Blood.”

The song was recorded for his self-titled 2005 album. He realized the show’s potential during it’s Hollywood premiere where the first two episodes were shown back to back.

“The folks at Sony got a hold of me in June or July before the show aired,” said Everett, who released his new album “Red Revelations” earlier this year.

“In June 2008, that’s when we started talking about it, doing mixing for it and all that kind of stuff,” he sad. “It’s the same exact tracks — we mixed it again. They’re pretty indistinguishable, we just had to do an edit to make it shorter.”

Though Everett’s song has only recently gained popularity, he has been performing since he was a tehhenager.

“I’ve been playing — getting paid for it — since I was about 15 or 16, which was a really long time ago,” he said with a laugh.

The song “Bad Things” is played during the opening credits of “True Blood” while graphic images of road kill and strippers overlay the country song. “It’s meant to be dark, but also somewhat tongue-in-cheek,” Everett said. “You know, it’s got a sense of humor about it. The visuals, they knocked me out.”

The show, which chronicles the life of waitress “Sookie Stackhouse” as she falls for a mainstream vampire, has become a phenomenon of its own, following the popular “Twilight” book and film series.

“I had no idea, you know?” Everett said. “I didn’t know that it was going to be as successful as it has been.”

“Bad Things,” a crowd favorite at shows, was previously taken to mainstream country radio, but didn’t receive much airplay.

“It was too dark for the country radio market, I guess,” Everett said. “It worked out well that they didn’t because it was a basically unknown song by the time Alan Ball got a hold of it. I think that’s what they wanted, something that they could brand with their mark.”

A fan of “True Blood,” Everett said many of the songs on his new album are influenced by the darker elements of the show as well as the assortment of emotions in scenes.

Everett also noted he was really able to go “off the deep end” with the music on the new album.

“I love the fact that it mixes so many genres,” Everett said. “It’s kind of a cohesive thing and that’s what I try to do with my music, so I think we make good partners.”

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

True Blood: Nelsan Ellis Q&A - from Den of Geek:

True Blood's Nelsan Ellis took to the stage at the recent MCM Expo - and here's what he had to say...

Published on Nov 3, 2009 | Michael Leader

One of the esteeemed guests at the MCM Expo back in October was Nelsan Ellis, whose performance as Lafayette in the southern-fried vampire series True Blood has brought the actor to the attention of TV fans and slash-fiction writers the world over. As part of the Expo's festivities, he took part in a Q&A session on the main stage, fielding queries from all and sundry - speaking of his introduction to True Blood, the creation of Lafayette, and working with show creator Alan Ball.

What is it like for you, when you come to conventions like this, and you see all these people who respect your work?

It's flattering. When an actor experiences people appreciating his work, it feels good.

How did you first become involved in the series?

I auditioned! I had four auditions, and for some reason, Alan Ball hired me.

Did you know anything about the books [The Southern Vampire Mysteries series] before you auditioned?

I did not know anything about Charlaine Harris' books. My agent told me to audition, and I read seven of the books - I think at the time she had only seven done. My character dies after the first book, so I was like, 'damn!', but I read all seven before the audition.

And, of course, you read that, and know your character is going to die. How did that change your performance?

Well, it was straightforward. They gave me a one-year contract, and said 'you're gonna die after 12 episodes', and I was cool with that.

And when you didn't, how did you feel?

Elated! Because I still had a job! Alan Ball told me after we had the table read of the twelfth episode. So, up until that point, I thought I was dead. He went 'you know you're not dying, right?', and I said 'I didn't, but thanks for telling me!'.

Your character has been described as a homosexual, drug-dealing chef. What was the biggest challenge out of having to do all of those? Can you cook?

I cannot cook! [laughs] In fact, my son rarely eats my food. But, it's make-believe! And I have a strong imagination, so I think I'm pretty good on all the stuff.

How is it playing a role that is so different from how you are as a person?

It's fun. Every chance I get to where I could be something that's not me, I jump at it. Because I'm guarded and I have these rules on how I should behave, but whenever I get to jump out of those rules, and go fucking crazy (excuse my language), I do! Lafayette is a dream role for me.

What gave you the urge to audition for the role?

My agents, they told me to audition - so I did!

What has been your favourite moment playing Lafayette so far?
The AIDS-Burger scene [cheer from audience] was my favourite moment. I'm a rough type of dude, I was in the military, so I like physical activity, so I got to do that, and beat some ass. That was my favourite, and plus it was just a well written scene. (Link)

How did you come up with the Lafayette character?

It was a collaboration. We all threw in some ideas. The scarf thing, is 'cause my momma used to wear a lot of scarves. I think there's some Prince influence in there. We did research, went to a whole lot of gay clubs, we'd go down on the strip, so we just came up with it. We also threw in some ideas into this stew of his wardrobe. Especially his head-wraps.

Do you relate to your character in any way?

Absolutely! I don't know how. His toughness, his aggressiveness. What else? I'm a creature from the street, so his street-smarts. I'm not as bold as he is, in all situations, but I'd like to be.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

'Head over heals' for Jason Stackhouse - from Yorkshire Evening Post:

Debbie Leigh: Cheeky, but nice

Published Date: 03 November 2009

[Read entire article]

Pushing back the years with Jason

REMEMBER when you were a teenager and you had a serious crush on a celeb?

By the age of 14 my flower fairy wallpaper was pretty much obliterated by posters of Ralph Macchio, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland and Nathan from Brother Beyond.

Every night when I got home from school I would rush upstairs to gaze lovingly at them.

That's all well and good for a teenager but I'm not sure it's normal for someone rapidly approaching 33.

When I first switched on True Blood I was fully expecting to fall for deathly-pale neck biter Bill Compton but instead I am head over heels about beautiful blond Jason Stackhouse, played by Ryan Kwanten.

For anyone who hasn't watched the show, I'm sure after seeing him, you will understand his appeal.

I googled him, just to see what his real name was of course, and stumbled across some incredible pictures of him.

The fan site gave you the option to download the photos to your phone and I actually considered it – before mentally shaking myself and giving myself a good talking to.

The next thing you know I'll be reviving that teenage pastime of adding up the number of times the letters L, O, V, E appear in both our names to find out the percentage of our "true love".

(In case you were wondering, it's 28).

Boadicea | 11/03/2009 | Post Comment

From UK's Metro:

True Blood will get yours pumping

It's the vampire hit of the year for grown-ups!

By ANDREW WILLIAMS - Tuesday, November 3, 2009

That's because one key difference between tween smash Twilight and True Blood is that this series is packed full of shagging. Even the lead, Anna Paquin, who plays telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (crazy name, crazy gal!) gets her kit off.

But it's all justified as True Blood was spawned by Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, and it's an HBO production, meaning it considers itself a bit more arty than your usual TV fare. And for the most part, it is.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/02/2009 | Post Comment

True Blood and fetishes - from News.Scotsman:

Vampire tales have become a real fetish on big and small screens. Will they keep their bite while celebrating tolerance in our multisexual society

Published Date: 03 November 2009

By Andrew Eaton

LAST weekend I went to a fetish club called Torture Garden. If this seems like an eccentric way to begin a feature about vampires, bear with me. Torture Garden began in London in 1990, and pitches itself as a night of "fantasy and transformation". Back then, the fetish scene was much more taboo than it is now, and a combination of tabloid scaremongering and overzealous policing resulted in nights being closed down.

Since then, Britain's sexual landscape has changed significantly. There is less homophobia (or, at the very least, homophobia is less socially acceptable), burlesque is everywhere, sadomasochism and fetishism are talked about more openly, and Torture Garden's Edinburgh debut did not attract any protests. Which is exactly as it should be. It was one of the friendliest, safest, most open-minded club nights I've been to.

Watching True Blood, the hit HBO vampire series that recently began on Channel 4, I keep thinking of Torture Garden. It's a show with a fascinating theme – what happens when mainstream society begins to absorb a minority it once viewed with suspicion and fear. For those not already addicted, True Blood is set in a parallel world where vampires have come out of the coffin, as it were, thanks to a synthetic drink called Tru-Blood which means they no longer need to feed on humans. After hiding from the world for centuries, they now walk openly among the living (only at night, obviously) and campaign for vampire rights in the media. They face hatred and bigotry, particularly from the religious, and much of the storyline is about the uneasy co-existence between vampires and humans.

True Blood is nuanced enough to remain ambiguous about what minority the vampires might represent. One obvious conclusion is that it's about being gay. There's a gay chef, Lafayette, who has to endure redneck ignorance just as the vampires do, and a punning road sign that says "God hates fangs". But Lafayette is also black; the series is set in the American Deep South, and there are frequent references to slavery, so it seems to be about racism too.

True Blood's main vampire, Bill Compton, wants to live an ordinary "mainstream" life. He dates a human called Sookie (X-Men's Anna Paquin, very amused that a vampire could have a name as boring as Bill) and even gives a history lecture at his local church (yes, he tells his astonished, ill-informed audience, vampires can look at crucifixes without bursting into flames).

Other vampires have no desire to conform and regard Bill as a sellout (these vampires hang out in a "vampire bar" which bears a passing resemblance to Torture Garden). The humans, meanwhile, fear the vampires but secretly envy them. The local drug dealer sells vampire blood, whose effects are a little like Viagra and LSD combined, and sex with a vampire is seen as a transgressive thrill – an image that plenty of gay people, and black people too, will find wearily familiar. Familiar, too, will be the vampires' resentment at the hypocrisy of a "mainstream" that is reluctant to accept them as they are, but happy to gawp at and exploit them.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/02/2009 | Post Comment

From UK's Daily Mail:

The amazing Dracula therapy that turns back the clock by injecting your own blood into your face

Dracula therapy! The doctor draws vials of your own blood, adds vitamins and amino acids to the serum and then injects it into your face

They call it 'Dracula Therapy', and if that isn't enough to freak you out, it involves having your face injected with your own blood. But S3 Therapy is the hottest news in anti-ageing right now.

The name is short for Stimulated Self Serum skin therapy, and has been introduced to the UK by the innovative London-based French cosmetic doctor, Daniel Sister.

The idea is that a doctor draws vials of your own blood, then separates it into the red blood cells, the clear serum and the platelets. Then, after vitamins and amino acids have been added, the enriched serum is injected back into your face.

This, says Dr Sister, stimulates DNA repair, heals scars and makes dry, wizened, wrinkled and lacklustre skin look and feel younger naturally, without the need for synthetic fillers or harsh and painful lasers or peels.

If S3 sounds weird, it has a surprisingly respectable medical pedigree. For more than two decades, dentists have used patient's own 'serum' to make receding gums regenerate themselves.

And in the U.S., several studies indicate that injecting plateletrich plasma into sports injuries can lead to faster recovery.

The secret? The serum is rich in growth factors, natural proteins that can supercharge healing and reverse damage in the body.

Dr Sister says: 'I thought, if serum therapy was good enough for bones and soft tissue like gums, then it could do even better in the skin.'

He decided to merge platelet-rich plasma therapy, which involves deep injections into damaged soft tissue, with the traditional French beauty treatment, mesotherapy, which involves dozens of tiny injections of vitamins and minerals into the superficial layers of the skin.

Plastic surgeons tend to sneer at mesotherapy, but studies have shown that trauma to the skin in the form of tiny puncture holes can dramatically increase natural collagen levels.

Dr Sister works in partnership with Dr Cyrille Blum, another French cosmetic doctor working in London. They are usually fully booked, but manage to squeeze me in at 8pm to try the new therapy.

I explain I'd like firmer skin and look generally more radiant and less tired.
I'm also prone to spots. Dr Blum says he can help, and also get rid of the lines on my forehead and the ones between my nose and mouth.

S3 Therapy starts with Dr Blum taking blood from my arm - four vials of it - which are put in a centrifuge to separate out the red cells. After a few minutes the vials emerge, with thick red blood at the bottom and a yellowish clear liquid at the top, which he siphons off and mixes with vitamins and proteins. Then I start the process.

So, does it hurt? Yes. It hurts quite a bit. It didn't help that I was tired, hungry and stressed, but there are a lot of injections. I lost count.

Dr Blum injected all over my face from hairline to jawline, crosshatching my face with tiny pinpricks. I felt like a voodoo doll, but everything was done in around ten minutes. I expected my face to be a mass of little bleeding holes, but there was no blood, just a little mild redness.

Then he started the deeper injections around my eyes, in my forehead, from nose to mouth, and between my eyebrows. I was dreading these, but they were fine, barely hurting at all.

The treatment finishes with a nice lie-down under red and blue therapeutic lights, which are good at healing skin and destroying bacteria, including the bacteria that cause acne.

With the help of make-up, I could have gone to work if necessary. My face felt tender, but, exhausted, I slept well. The next day my skin looked fine, even good.

The lines between nose and mouth and on my forehead had vanished. A Vesuvius of a spot on my chin was much reduced. My husband thought I looked exactly the same, but my four-year-old daughter said that I was 'even more beautiful'.

I will, apparently, see the real changes to my skin over the next few weeks as the magical growth factors turn back the clock.

While being needled, I vowed 'never again', but admiring my plumper, line-free face, I'd do it again in the recommended four-to-six monthly intervals. But only after a good lunch, and maybe after a couple of Nurofen tablets.

Boadicea | 11/02/2009 | Post Comment

True Blood music Ep 203 "Scratches" (orgy scene) - from Stay Thirsty Media:

Interview with THE ANGEL

By Kevin English • Scotch Plains, NJ, USA

While rifling through a stockpile of DVDs at my local bootlegger last winter, I came across a British cult classic, not yet released in the States. From the opening credits, I was captivated by its raw portrayal of UK street kids, fast paced cinematography and brilliantly composed film score.

When I updated my Twitter status to read, "Watching KiDULTHOOD. The British version of ’Kids’", The Angel responded.

THIRSTY: How did you come up with the name, The Angel?

The Angel: Back in the day, when I was signed to Delicious Vinyl, I was just going out under Angel or Angel C. (The Label) was like, "There is no way we can put you out as "Angel". It’s too generic. No one is going to understand who you are. So we went through many months of horrendous band names until one day, Mike Ross, the owner of Delicious said, "What about ‘The Angel’"?

The name stuck, but she assures us with a delicate laugh, “There is no pretention (in that name). Some people get the wrong idea. I'm very down to earth."

THIRSTY: When you talk about being in the “Cave” on Twitter, where are you?

The Angel: I’m either in my studio or in other peoples studio, mixing, recording, editing; you know, working on music. Especially when I'm working to picture, you really need it to be dark so you can look at the screen and get sense of what is going on. You feel like you’re not on the same planet anymore.

Her resume reads like the tattooed arm of a seven foot Laker. She splits her time well between producing, recording and scoring for both television and film. Her music has blessed projects ranging from the Tupac and Tim Roth feature, "Gridlock'd", to HBO’s new hit series, “True Blood”. All the while, The Angel insists on keeping one foot firmly planted in the underground music scene, from LA to London.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/02/2009 | Post Comment

Anna Paquin stars in The Romantics - from OKMagazine:

Katie Holmes’ New Romantic Role

November 2nd, 2009 8:55 am / Author: Luisa Metcalfe

She’s barely wrapped her Australian thriller Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark but Katie Holmes has signed on for another movie, replacing Liv Tyler in the indie comedy The Romantics.

Katie will executive produce as well as star in the flick about eight friends who reunite for a wedding of two buddies as tension unfolds between the bride and maid of honor over the groom.

The star-studded lineup includes True Blood’s Anna Paquin, Josh Duhamel, Malin Akerman, Elijah Wood and Adam Brody.

The movie starts filming this week in New York. Katie, 30, will play Laura, the maid of honor to Anna Paquin’s Lila, who’s the bride.

Laura and Lila are best friends who both have a past with the groom played by Transformers hunk Josh.

Boadicea | 11/02/2009 | Post Comment

Michelle Forbes & Sam Trammell (video) - from Hollywood Outbreak:

ITS SUNDAY - DO YOU TRUE-LY KNOW WHERE YOUR VAMPIRES ARE?

t’s Sunday and that usually means True Blood would be airing in a just a few short hours. But, new episodes of the series won’t be back until next year. How do we make it through? Well, there are reruns, but speculating on what could happen next seems like so much more fun.

HollywoodOutbreak.com turned to True Blood stars, Sam Trammel, who plays shape-shifter, Sam Merlotte on the show, as well as Michelle Forbes, who was the evil incarnate, Maryann Forrester last season, for answers about the upcoming shows.

Sam apparently goes hunting for his biological parents (dog hunting no doubt), which should be anthropomorphic.

But, we won’t be seeing Maryann again, says Forbes, who literally had her heart ripped out in the season finale.

Still, Forbes is counting on Sam Merlotte finding true love. Just one problem…he did, Daphne Landry (Ashley Jones), whoMaryann promptly slaughtered just before the season ender.

Click onto video for an update on what’s to come on True Blood from Sam Trammel and Michelle Forbes.

True Blood returns for season three in June, 2010.

Boadicea | 11/01/2009 | Post Comment

Thanks to 'Dallas' and LovingTrueBloodInDallas:

Charlaine interview with Dr Blogestein 11/3/2009 8:00 PM

Boadicea | 11/01/2009 | Post Comment

From Kansas City Soundtracks Examiner:

Exclusive Interview: Discussing horror and vampires with True Blood soundtrack composer Nathan Barr

October 31, 1:21 AM Soundtracks Examiner Mark Morton

Having only been in the film music composition scene for barely a decade, Nathan Barr has certainly racked up a mass of credits. With film work including Cabin Fever, the two Hostel movies, and 2001 Maniacs, he is easily among the breakout talent for the new breed of horror. Barr is also known for constantly challenging himself creatively, so between horror outings, he has frequently been seen scoring outlandish comedies for the Broken Lizard team (Club Dread, Beerfest, The Slammin’ Salmon).

But all of that is merely prologue, as Barr is best known for his dramatic and fiercely innovative scores for the hit HBO television series True Blood. In each episode, he effortlessly raises the bar for television music with unique instrumentation, genre blending, and a surgical attentiveness to character.

So, as we are on the eve of Halloween, be a little bit naughty, and sink your teeth into our conversation with Nathan Barr! In your bio, it states that you were briefly under the wing of Hans Zimmer. What did he teach you that resonates through what you do these days?

I was under his wing for only eight months, and then I flew the nest. It was such an amazing experience. It was like being thrown into the deep end of the pool and learning to swim. I didn’t even understand what MIDI stood for when I began working for Hans. I had no knowledge of the technology behind film scoring; I had no knowledge about the creative process behind writing music-to-picture. So he was very gracious in the sense that he would let me sit behind him while he wrote and actually watch him write-to-picture, and that’s really where I learned that. And more than anything, he taught me the importance of technology. So when I walked in there, I knew next to nothing about any of that stuff, and when I left eight months later, I had a very strong foundation to work from.

By some bizarre twist of fate, you have become known primarily as a horror film composer, but you are also the go-to guy for the Broken Lizard movies. How did that dichotomy come together?
That’s a really good question, actually. It was just one of those random things. They say that, as a composer, you either start out in horror or porn, and I started in horror. I worked on a couple of horror films and then my agent randomly set me up on a meeting with Paul Soter, who is one of the Broken Lizard guys. And it ended up being for the film Club Dread, which was half horror, half comedy. It turned out to be a great collaboration, so it turned into opportunities to work on straight comedies with them, as well as Dukes of Hazzard, and they took me along for the ride. So yeah, it was a half horror, half comedy film that got the ball rolling.

I would suppose, then, that 2001 Maniacs was also a perfect vehicle for you, because it, too seamlessly blended elements from both worlds?
Yeah, absolutely; no question! They are both movies that deal with violence in a humorous way and play with horror stereotypes.

Something else that that crops up a lot in your work, especially in True Blood, is the inclusion of traditional Southern, Americana-style music. Is that something rooted in your heritage, or did you actually have to learn that musical language?
It’s so funny. No, I just sort of ended up doing these Southern-themed movies. I did another one called Briar Patch several years ago. I really have no connection to Southern music at all. The only real tie I had was my father used to play banjo as I was growing up, so that sound is in my ears. But as to why I am particularly writing Southern-tinged music, it’s a mystery to me, but I do enjoy it.

Do you find it challenging to inject suspense into an otherwise playful style of music?
Not really. One of the ways I’ve done it is instead of using a banjo, I’ll use an instrument that sounds like a banjo, like a Turkish Cümbü?, and then I’ll play it in a non-traditional way. So it still sounds kinda Southern but it brings about a certain level of tension that is required by the film. It’s fun to do that kind of stuff. I remember for 2001 Maniacs, there was this seduction scene, and I used a bowed saw, a banjo, and other stuff.

Do you go out of your way to use unusual instruments, or do you happen upon them for various projects?
I absolutely go out of my way to find them. What I’ve discovered is a way to keep composing fresh. Instead of sitting down at a piano every time I write a score, before I start each project, I’ll go out and buy a couple new instruments from wherever, as long as they look interesting and useful. For example, writing a tune on the piano is different from writing the same piece for the guitar. I think we all have those muscle memory issues that we lock into. And I think by changing it up from writing with a keyed instrument to a string instrument to a wind instrument, you are getting your mind to think about melody in a different way.

That’s how I try to keep things fresh. And something that I do a lot on True Blood a lot that I love is, instead of using synthesizers and samples, picking up an acoustic instrument and playing without click to a scene. So you are reacting to the scene not just as a composer, but also as an audience member.

So, when you pick up a new project, what determines your primary compositional instrument?
That really depends. I was actually just talking about this with some other composers the other day. As you do more and more films, practice enables you to recognize, based on how the film is shot and what the scope of the story is in terms of textures. These days, when I look at a film, I can tell you right away whether or not it will be able to handle an orchestra. And the other part is being able to think outside of the box. If I determine that it is not suitable for an orchestra, and I find that guitars would be right for it, instead of doing the obvious thing and using acoustic guitars, I’ll go to something else in that family that is going to add something a little bit unique to the sound floor.

One of the truly endearing qualities of your ability is that, although you have a lot of horror scores to your credit, you manage to give each its own voice, with little to no crossover tonality. That is a feat so few composers are able to accomplish these days.
That’s a really, really huge compliment, thank you! I think the idea of identity with a composer, a director or writer is something that is so important, and I think it gets lost A, in the studio system when everything is homogenous (they take the identity out of it), or B, that someone doesn’t have a particularly unique voice. So it’s nothing I set out to do consciously, it’s just something that comes naturally. And I am very grateful when I put out something that sounds like me rather than someone else. It gives me a unique style and flavor that I get hired for. There are lots of composers in this business that can make themselves sound like another composer to a T, and they get hired to do that over and over again. You never really get a sense of their style, and that would be my nightmare.

And speaking of nightmares, I loved the way you contrasted the brutality of Hostel with a whimsical, almost fantasy-based score.
I was just flipping channels the other day and that came on. It’s totally over-the-top, but that was definitely a conscious choice that Eli Roth and I made. And that sense of quirkiness is definitely a part of Eli’s filmmaking. I think the people who are horrified by Eli’s films aren’t understanding, to a degree, that Eli’s standing on the sidelines laughing at the whole thing. To an extent, there’s a sense of humor to the whole thing, which allowed me to play up that quirkiness in the score.

On the topic of Eli Roth, have you heard any truth to the rumor that Thanksgiving will actually be made in the near future?
You know, I’ve heard rumors about that same thing swirling around for a while now. I haven’t heard from Eli directly. He’s got a lot of projects he’s working on right now, all of which are very exciting, and I think that might be one that is in the pipeline. But I’m not 100% sure about it.

So what exactly lured you to television?
I wasn’t seeking out television at all. I haven’t deliberately stayed away from it, it’s just that it never really came into my life. And that’s partly okay with me, because I don’t watch much TV at all. So really, what brought me to TV was just [show creator] Alan Ball. It was one of those really lucky twists of fate. He shot the pilot and was cutting it together, and somehow my score for Hostel wound up in the cutting room, so they used it as temp. Even though it wasn’t exactly right, there was enough of something in it that they liked, so they called me in for an interview. So, they narrowed it down between me and another composer (who happens to be a dear friend), and Alan went away on vacation after shooting and took a stack of each of our CDs. And I guess he just felt that the match was better with me. So I got the Ball call saying he wanted me, and there was no way I was turning that down!

When creating the sound of a scene or episode of True Blood, what is your primary focus? Is it the emotions of the characters, the setting, or a thematic atmosphere?
It’s absolutely 100% about the characters. Alan doesn’t speak in musical terms. He’s always speaking to story and character, and as a composer for TV, the job is to enrich the lives and storylines of those characters. And so everything I do for the show is based around the characters – what a character is thinking, what his/her motivation is, where the character is headed in the story. And of course, there are essential themes, like Bill and Sookie’s love theme, and things like that. But it is definitely all character-driven.

I like that there is a lot of action in your music – it is not a standard atmospheric droning. And you also manage to temper the tension with these somber, tragic elements allowing the viewer to almost feel the pain these vampires have carried with them for centuries.
I think again, it’s the strength of the writing and the story. A lot of the time, I don’t even consciously push for it. It’s there in the story, so it naturally comes out in the music. I get tuned into the story and what’s going on. Alan is very clear and concise about what he wants the music to say in each scene. But for whatever reason, I think I do “sadness” well. I really relate to that part of True Blood. I love the sadness, the angst of the romance – that’s a place I am very comfortable enriching.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/01/2009 | Post Comment

io9's Meredith Woerner, vampires, True Blood - from Montgomery Advertiser:

Vampires enjoy recent surge in popularity

By Robyn Bradley Litchfield • November 1, 2009

Even the ones who don't look anything like teen heartthrob Rob Pattinson of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" franchise are a hit among fans of all ages -- and blood types. Though vampires have been popular for decades, people are devouring today's books, TV series and feature films.

Jennifer Koerner of Montgomery was bitten by the vampire bug long ago and loves it all, particularly "Twilight" and HBO's "True Blood."

"I get so caught up in the story and can't ever get enough," said Koerner, whose 12-year-old daughter shares her enthusiasm for these mysterious creatures of the night (but the tween isn't allowed to watch "True Blood").She has read the books in the "Twilight" series several times and is still reading them because the characters are so wonderful and intriguing (the highly anticipated second movie based on the book of the same name, "New Moon," comes out Nov. 20). And then "True Blood," the series in which the seductive creatures sex-up a small town in Louisiana, provides a great escape from reality, she said.

Meredith Woerner, who has a book coming out later this month titled "Vampire Taxonomy: Identifying and Interacting with the Modern-day Bloodsucker" said that people are ready for some magic, and vampires certainly meet the criteria.

"We're at a supernatural height right now with superheroes and science fiction," she said.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/01/2009 | Post Comment

From EOnline:

Vampire Wars (w/ Bonus Twilight Round): Who's the Best Good Vampire?

Today 12:07 PM PDT by Jennifer Godwin

WB, Andrew Eccles / The CW; Jamie Trueblood/HBO

Welcome to the climactic final battle of Vampire Wars! We've been pitting three structurally similar vampire-tastic TV series against each other, and now it's time to decide which show has the sexiest vampire with a heart of gold. These guys are built to kill and eat nubile young things, but in each case, a chance encounter with a very special nubile young thing causes them to instantaneously mate for life and get all heroic, violating a bunch of standard protocols of vampire-dom.

Your choices this round are David Boreanaz's Angel from Buffy and Angel, Paul Wesley's Stefan Salvatore from the breakout CW hit Vampire Diaries, and Stephen Moyer's Bill Compton from HBO's supernatural party bus True Blood.

Then, since the "good vampire" industry has been dominated of late by a certain Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga, we're offering you a bonus round, where you can decide between those first three and your boo Edward. (Plus, inspired by on a fan suggestion, we even set up a non-official do-over of the Best Heroine round that includes Bella Swan. We're expecting an epic Buffy-Bella throwdown in that category!)

You'll be able to cast your votes throughout Halloween weekend. If you didn't already cast your ballot for Best Heroine, Best Evil (Yet Hot) Vampire, Best Best Friend and Best Xander/Wayward Little Brother, what are you waiting for? We'll declare the final winner of Vampire Wars on Monday in the spoiler chat. (Hint: Things are looking good for a certain Slayer, so True Blood and Vampire Diaries fans need to step it up if they want a chance at winning!)

[Continue reading / poll ...]

Boadicea | 11/01/2009 | Post Comment

Thanks to The Vault:

True Blood Collaborators Attend Film & TV Music Conference

Yesterday, True Blood collaborators Nathan Bar, Gary Calamar and Jace Everett attended the Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Film & TV Music Conference at the Beverly Hilton, in Los Angeles and discussed how the music team developed the show’s distinct, award-winning Cajun-vampiric sound with moderator: Ann Donahue, Senior Editor, Billboard. Here are some photos of them at the event:

Boadicea | 11/01/2009 | Post Comment

***SPOILERS***

From Canyon News:

This Week In Hollywoodland

by Tommy Garrett on Nov 1, 2009

BEVERLY HILLS—This week in Hollywoodland was filled with surprises, new tell-all books, casting rumors, a prince threw a bash at the famed Beverly Hills Hotel and a Hollywood and Broadway legend was honored.

Text is hidden - highlight to reveal text >>>
News came on a “True Blood” message board that the charismatic and talented Eric Braeden was being considered for a pivotal role as the supreme vampire on the hit HBO series. This role is for the vampire who is the leader of all vampires. The rumor was too good to be true. Or is it? Emmy-winner Braeden who has portrayed Victor Newman on “The Young and the Restless” for almost 30 years to date has recently renewed his contract with the soap. Last week Braden’s representative told Canyon News, “Eric has agreed to return to ‘Y&R.’ This week when the rep was contacted for a statement about the rumors flying fast and furious online of Eric’s possible alliance with “True Blood.” The same statement was given.

I decided I had to delve deeper into this rumor, because Eric Braeden is the most powerful force in acting today on-screen and I can imagine seeing him as the head vampire and putting all the other bloodsuckers in their places like no other actor could convey on the small screen. It wouldn’t be a major surprise to see a performer doing double duty with “True Blood,” as Ashley Jones successfully played roles on “TB” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” last season smoothly. Also, during 1996 Braeden worked on the film “Titanic” starring Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett while continuing flawlessly playing Victor Newman on “Y&R.” When Canyon News contacted HBO directly, they chose not to make a statement. Then I contacted the media relations division of Sony and CBS and was told, “Y&R does not comment on rumors.” Finally when Canyon News contacted the “True Blood” production offices, their media representative stated, “All I can say is we are currently seeing people all week for various roles for season 3.” Not a confirmation, but no denial either.

For now we’ll file this story under a rumor. Though it was too big of a story to go without some investigating, as Eric Braeden’s appearance on the hit show would put the already successful series over the top to mega-hit status in the time it would take for Sookie to decide to marry Bill.

[Continue reading...]

Boadicea | 11/01/2009 | Post Comment

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