`True' bite; Paquin prays her new HBO supernatural series will be noticed

By AMY AMATANGELO The Boston Herald September 14, 2008 Sunday

Anna Paquin knows that some viewers won't enjoy her new series ``True Blood'' (tonight at 9 on HBO). That's OK.

``We definitely don't pull any punches as far as what shows up onscreen.
It's pretty out there,'' Paquin said.

``It's my favorite kind of work to do, where either someone is going to love it or they'll hate it. I don't really mind which people go for. The worst thing is apathy. We all really believe in what we're doing. It's a very larger-than-life world. We are doing a pretty odd show and, to me, that's really exciting. Because what's the point of doing something unless its going to affect people strongly in some way?''

In the series based on the novels by Charlaine Harris, Paquin stars as Sookie Stackhouse, a Louisiana waitress who falls for 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).

It's a part the actress, best known for playing the mutant Rogue in the ``X-Men'' films, never thought she would get.

``I looked at the script and I was like, `Oh, it's the perky blond waitress cheerleader type gal. They're never going to cast me in a million years.'
For no other reason than there were like 15 blond girls and I was the only brunette at the audition. People often, in my experience, do not have the imagination and the trust that something like coloring won't be a big deal.''

She credits executive producer Alan Ball (``Six Feet Under'') for the opportunity.

``He took a leap of faith, and I love and respect him for taking that chance. It's been a really amazing thing for me. (Sookie is) so lovely to play because she is just so complex.''

To become Sookie, Paquin worked with a vocal coach to hone her accent and visits a hair colorist every 10 days.

``It's really (just) add some hair dye, fake tan and some tiny outfits, and it kind of was done for me. I almost felt like it was too easy. Sookie couldn't be more different than everything about me, but that's kind of what you always hope for. The opportunity to really, really, really do something different.''

When she was only 11, Paquin won an Academy Award for her performance in the movie ``The Piano'' and continued acting through her adolescence. Then the daughter of two educators took a year off from the business to attend Columbia University.

``I was completely open to do something else with my life,'' she said. ``It was really refreshing to be completely out of the loop on the business front for a year and see if something else caught my interest - and nothing did particularly. But to not know whether there was something else out there, that's not how I wanted to start my adult life. I wanted to make sure it wasn't just because acting was all I knew.''