Rutina Wesley hopes her 'True Blood' role is a stepping stone for other black actresses

From Los Angeles Times

HBO's "True Blood" has had more than its share of frightening moments this season, but the fan frenzy surrounding the cast of the vampire drama can also be a bit scary, as Rutina Wesley has discovered.

For instance, there was the devotee at the cast's Comic-Con autograph session who wanted to "bite" Wesley, who plays the sharp-tongued bartender Tara Thornton, in the neck for a picture. Or the fan from Louisville, Ky., who almost collapsed into a quivering heap when she finally encountered Wesley at the San Diego event.

Then there are all the "True Blood" fans who spot her in markets or on the street who call her Tara ("People think I'm her") and the Web message boards that she can't keep away from despite warnings: "My husband yells at me to stop reading them. It drives me crazy. People can be really mean -- they say the most vicious things."

But despite those unsettling vibes from "True Blood" loyalists, the classically trained Wesley, who studied at Juilliard, is on "top of the world," simultaneously enjoying artistic satisfaction and popularity.

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