Interview: William Sanderson: Soft-Spoken Sheriff of True Blood's Bon Temps

William Sanderson is like the bell pepper in the gumbo. He may not be the crawfish or the crab or the andouille, but the mix is made all the better for his presence. The familiar face from shows like "Lonesome Dove" and "Blade Runner" -- not to mention his unforgettable role on Newhart and his trademarked line, "Hi. I'm Larry. This is my brother Daryl, and this is my other brother Daryl."

These days Sanderson is enforcing the law in the HBO hit series, True Blood. As Sheriff Bud Dearborne, he's a plainspoken, grounded southern gentleman -- much like Sanderson himself. The catch: in the town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, the latest minority group is starting to make itself known: vampires.

True Blood is set, by author Charlaine Harris, in the deep south, and at it's core is a tale of intolerance. There's a new minority in the world, that being the vampires, and on one level the story is about violent discrimination against them. Speaking as an Arkansas boy to a Tennessee gentleman, why do those kind of stories have to be set in the south? Haven't we grown past that?

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