Friday, June 19, 2009

True Blood: Nelsan Ellis Teases Lafayette's Crazy Season


Sunday's True Blood premiere answered at least one burning question: Is Lafayette alive? Answer: Yes! Nobody is more surprised by this turn of events than Nelsan Ellis, the actor who plays Lafayette.

As a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse novel series, on which Alan Ball based the vampire drama for HBO, Ellis knew that Lafayette, Merlotte's wisecracking cook — and part-time pornographer/drug dealer — is totally dunzo after Book 1. When he arrived on set for the finale episode's table read, he prepared himself for the end. "I thought, this was fun, time to look for the next gig," he says.

But then... what's this? That painted toenail in the car didn't belong to Lafayette after all! "'You know we're not going to kill you, right?'" Ellis remembers Ball telling him. "And I was like, 'Noooo...'" Ball told the actor that he decided to keep Lafayette in the cast after shooting a scene between Ellis and Rutina Wesley, who plays Lafayette's cousin, Tara, in the pilot episode. Ellis and Wesley have combustive chemistry for sure, which Ellis attributes to their long friendship. (They attended Juilliard together in the early '00s.)

So now that Lafayette has been spared, what's next for the flamboyant entrepreneur?

Read on

Charlaine Harris gets Elvis's dressing room and writes on her blog about Author!Author!

I had a great time yesterday in Shreveport at the Author! Author! Event, held at the Municipal Memorial Auditorium. Let me tell you about the auditorium. When Paula and I pulled up, I wondered if it was an old jail. Then I realized I’d never seen a building quite like it. I’m not sure how old the auditorium is, but it’s pretty darn old. Let me tell you whose dressing room I had: Elvis Presley’s. The auditorium used to be host to the Louisiana Hayride, and many of the great country music stars performed on that scarred wooden stage. Also, it’s haunted. What more could you ask?

But there IS more. As Paula will agree, we were treated like royalty, which is always pleasant. Not only were we escorted into the building, but we got a gift bag, flowers, and cookies by Pat’s Chunky Chunk Gourmet Cookies, the last word in delicious. I’ll try to find the name of the business and post it. Author! Author! features regional writers, and the event could not have been more smoothly (or more graciously) run.

And security was great! Two police officers (whose names I won’t mention because I might embarrass them) were there, and not only were they fun to talk to and very careful about making sure we had peace of mind, thank God they didn’t have any problems to solve! All my readers were the great crowd they always have been. To add to the cumulative happiness of the day, I saw some sorority sisters from the one year I belonged to a sorority, a friend from my home town (John Pritchard, a noted writer), and some writers I hadn’t met before but I hope to meet again.

This was the first signing I’d had in months; and I’ve got to say, it was one of the best signings I’ve ever had. It would be great if more writers became interested in attending this event. It was well worth doing.

http://www.charlaineharris.com

Find out more about the " munici " in Shreveport
http://www.wix.com/stageofstars/fomastars

TMZ talks to Alexander Skarsgard

'True Blood' integrates major ads


Variety gushing all over True Blood marketing

TV shows typically don't have the backing of major advertisers the way Hollywood tentpoles do upon their release.

But for the second-season launch of "True Blood," HBO enlisted eight major marketers to create vampire-themed campaigns in major newspapers and magazines, on billboards and across the Web. It's a push any marketing maven would die for.

The Mini car brand touts a blood-red convertible with the tagline "Feel the wind in your fangs" while Geico claims it can save vampires 15% on auto insurance. Monster.com offers "thousands of night shifts," and a new fragrance from Marc Ecko promises to "attract a human," accompanied by a titillating shot of a vamp about to snack on a model.

Comcast, DirecTV and Harley-Davidson were also involved in the effort scared up by Digital Kitchen, which produced 30 ads for the brands, and designed the main titles for the show.

HBO was looking for a campaign that stressed how vampires live among us, with vampire-specific product concepts from the companies. The faux ads look like stuff the brands might actually conjure up themselves.

read on

True Blood Dallas Contest -a-Day

Thanks to everyone for playing and being so creative !
I will be posting some of the answers later and I have tons more prizes to give away!

We did a contest a day for the 10 days leading up to True Blood Season 2 premier last Sunday night and the winners are....

1, Kristin
2. LisaD
3. Keri
4. Shayna
5. Sabrina
6. Kathy
7. Ruth
8. Elizabeth
9. Ryan
10.Lena

Prizes will go out on Monday, shoot me an email when you receive yours in the mail !
thanks "D"

Preview: ‘True Blood’s’ ‘Jesus Asked Me Out Today’

Preview: ‘True Blood’s’ ‘Jesus Asked Me Out Today’ Performance


“Days Of Our Lives” star Molly Burnett guests on HBO’s “True Blood” in a provocative performance as part of the fictional band ‘Amanda Jane and the God Rockets’ singing “Jesus Asked Me Out Today.” Check out the episode Sunday, June 21 at 9 PM.
http://www.accesshollywood.com/preview-true-bloods-jesus-asked-me-out-today-performance_video_1127975


cast interviews





The Cast of True Blood Must Cult Faves

NAMES/AGES
Anna Paquin (Sookie), 26; Stephen Moyer (Bill), 39; Sam Trammell (Sam), 38; Ryan Kwanten (Jason), 32; Rutina Wesley (Tara), 29; Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette), 31
WHY THEM
HBO's vampire drama has the sexiest, sauciest ensemble on TV — one that was willing to suck blood to work with show creator Alan Ball. ''I started stalking him,'' says Paquin of her pursuit of Ball for the role of prim but feisty Southern belle Sookie.
PLAYING AGAINST TYPE
As Sookie's love interest, Moyer's vampire Bill provides a gentle take on the undead. ''The sex and drug addicts on our show are all human,'' contends Moyer. ''They're the seedy side.'' And none more so than androgynous gay fry cook/drug dealer Lafayette. ''I've never really heard a character description of a dude wearing lipstick and makeup who's masculine sometimes,'' says Ellis of what drew him to the part. Recognition came more quickly for Wesley, who plays bitter Tara. ''Immediately I got Tara. I saw through her anger straight to her heart.'' That's why Ball's show isn't your typical vamp camp. As Kwanten puts it, ''With the depth of characters and substance of our stories, it's so much more than just a vampire show.'' True that.
NEXT
Season 2 will feature wilder story lines and crazier creatures. ''I don't think it'll feel like a different show, but it's definitely going to feel like a bigger show,'' says Trammell.
ON THEIR MUST LISTS
Paquin's fired up over FX's Rescue Me, while Moyer just finished Willy Vlautin's The Motel Life.
For exclusive bonus video with the cast of True Blood, go to ew.com/mustlistvideo

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pillboxdesigns, HellsElves, lunaverse

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True Blood Dallas named as one of the 5 True Blood Twitters to follow

Loving True Blood in Dallas blog named one of the best True Blood twitters to follow - what an honor !-thanks http://www.phillyburbs.com

Half the fun of watching TV shows is following along with other fans and friends on Twitter (yes, that thing is still around).

Here our Blood Type’s suggestions on who to follow to stay up on all the True Blood goodness.

@truebloodnet- A fan media site and your online source for the latest news, interviews, photos and info. on the HBO TV Series True Blood. Not affiliated with HBO

@trueblooddallas- Best True Blood and Sookie blog around. According to their bio. Well let’s just see about that.

@anna_paquin or @paquinanna- Are either really the True Blood star? Probably not. But it’s fun to pretend.

@phillyburbs- Well obviously, I mean where else would you go for True Blood news, gossip and everything else you could ever need in life?

You can also become a Twitter Vampire. Undeadly cool.

http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/blood-type/2009/06/19/5-true-blood-twitters-to-follow/#comment-108

Below is the comment I posted !

Dallas Says:

Haha thanks so much Illuminati. Yes, I do sometimes call myself “the best” or sometimes I call it ” your favorite ” True Blood / Sookie blog and that’s meant tongue in cheek and kind of as an inside joke. There is sooo much competition in the True Blood / Sookie fandom on the internet you just have to stay true to yourself.

I am first and foremost am a bookie (Sookie Stackhouse book lover) but I LOVE True Blood. I want my blog to have the quirkiness and the flavor of the south ( I only live 2 hours from Bon Temps ) and I do silly things that my readers like, recipes, fan art, True Blood /Sookie music video of the Day ( yes, a different one !) everyday ( I’ve posted 200 of them as of today!)

We do tons of really fun creative contests, have frequent fan trips and meetups and the fans of my blog regularly help me co-host my weekly radio shows.
I LOVE TB / Sookie fans more than anything ….

Yep, take a look at the blog, listen to some of my radio show podcasts and let me know what you think.

I hope it will become one of your “favorites” too!

Thanks, Dallas

lovingtruebloodindallas@gmail.com

True Blood Season 2 Possible Title Song: Ep. 6 " Hard Hearted Hannah"

Title change !
This is exciting ! We now (might) know the titles of the first 11 episodes of True Blood for Season 2.

Now the one thing we know about True Blood is that the episode names come from the a song used in in the soundtrack of that episode and that it is somehow significant to that episode.

So far for Season 2 we have :
Episode 2.01 - Nothing but the Blood
Episode 2.02 - Keep this Party Going
Episode 2.03 - Changed to Scratches from Scratch My Back
Episode 2.04 - Changed to Shake and Fingerpop from Let's Take a Trip Together
Episode 2.05 - Never let me go
Episode 2.06 - Changed to Hard Hearted Hannah from Friend is a four letter word
Episode 2.07 - Release me
Episode 2.08 - Timebomb
Episode 2.09 - I will Rise Up
Episode 2.10 - New World In My View

All we know about Season 2 spoilers, casting calls etc. can be found here All Season 2 videos ( including my great slide shows) here

We know that Alan Ball and the amazing Gary Calamar put great effort into musically curating True Blood !
I think this will be the flashback to Bill and Lorena's life in the 20's .

Episode 2.06 title has changed from Friend is a Four Letter Word to
"Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah)" which was a popular song from Tin Pan Alley.
The music was written by Milton Ager, the lyrics by Jack Yellen, Bob Bigelow, and Charles Bates. The song was published in 1924 by Ager, Yellen & Bornstein, Inc.
Hard Hearted Hannah tells in humorous fashion the story of a "vamp" or femme fatale from Savannah, Georgia "the meanest gal in town." Hannah is "a gal who loves to see men suffer."
It had early recordings by vocalists Lucille Hegamin and Dolly Kay , and by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra . A quarter century later Peggy Lee revived "Hannah" very successfully for Capitol Records, and the Ray Charles Singers made a hit version for Decca. The song has been recorded numerous times by such performers as Patti Austin, The Bronson Singers, Jim Croce, Bobby Darin, Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, Ella Fitzgerald, Joyce Moody, Turk Murphy, Nancy Sinatra, Kay Starr, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Toni Tennille, Sophie Tucker, and Margaret Whiting. [6] Memorable television performances of the song include those by Carol Burnett, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and Beatrice Arthur.
Read on here

I think this might be the Belle Baker recorded 8/28/1924.



But goodness it's Ella (Is that Joe Friday from Dragnet, what's he doing in that movie ? ;))



The amazing Boadicea thinks that we may see Bill Compton /Stephen Moyer play this on the piano in the flashback

True Blood Music Video of the Day: You Found Me by Fray



You Found Me by Fray LYRICS
Thanks, sevenkell