True Blood: Having a Ball with Vampires Zoic Studios

Zoic Studios talks about the VFX challenges of pulling off an otherworldly vampire vibe in Alan Ball's True Blood series on HBO. ( from Oct. 2008)

To say that writer/director Alan Ball has a uniquely skewed vision of the world is quite the understatement. The Oscar-winning screenwriter's got a way of crafting stories that manage to unearth both the gorgeous simplicities of the mundane and the garishly grotesque secrets that lie just under the surface of our everyday lives. Whether it's capturing suburbia mid-life crisis in American Beauty or extreme family dysfunction in Six Feet Under, Ball's yarns demand a viewer's attention.
When it was revealed last year that Ball's next project would be adapting novelist Charlaine Harris' successful Southern gothic vampire stories into a television series for HBO called True Blood (airing Sundays at 9:00 pm)...
well, fans and critics alike went into a tizzy of excitement in anticipation for what he would do with the well worn vampire genre. And as expected, Ball hasn't disappointed.

True Blood follows the exploits of Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a genteel Southern telepath that slings beers in a bayou bar in rural Louisiana. Vampires have recently "come out" to the world and humans are trying to figure out how to accept the pasty bloodsuckers into mainstream society. In the pilot, Sookie serves brooding vampire Bill Compton (Stephen
Moyer) at the bar and lusty sparks fly. While reaction to the series has been mixed, with critics and fans split down the middle on the success of Ball's wildly explicit take on love, sex and vampirism, True Blood is definitely generating buzz and a confirmed second season.
And that's good news for Zoic Studios, the renowned visual effects company enlisted by Ball to make the otherworldly aspects of his series come to life so realistically that you'd swear vampires could be lurking just outside our doors. Visual Effects Supervisor Jon Massey and In-House Visual Effects Supervisor Andrew Orloff talk to VFXWorld about the challenges of making Ball's vision of the supernatural world come to life like audiences have never quite seen before.

Zoic previously worked on vampire-themed shows but True Blood's take on the mythology is different. There are no heavy magic elements but instead a dramatic tension that comes from operating within a scope of "real."

Tara Bennett: When you first spoke to Alan about True Blood, what were his visual effects priorities for the series?
Andrew Orloff: One of the things that Alan said to us from the beginning is that True Blood is not an effects show. What that means is that the effects need to look as natural and organic as possible.
Jon Massey: He didn't want to do anything with the effects that would distract from the performance of the actor. He didn't want to have a vampire transition that included faces change or dramatic fangs popping out.
TB: Audiences have come to expect those cheesy vampire tropes, so how did you strip the expectations down in terms of the visual effects design?

Read on

HBO True Blood Comic- Con July 2008

Fun article from Comic Book Resources from last July about Comic-Con.

Thu, July 31st, 2008

The line wrapped around the hall at Comic-Con International in San Diego with throngs of fans hoping to get a glimpse at the enthusiastically anticipated new HBO vampire series, “True Blood.” From Alan Ball, creator of the Emmy-winning series “Six Feet Under,” and based on the popular books by Charlaine Harris, the duo didn't disappoint the crowd with their presentation of a plethora of clips and details on the upcoming new series.

Panelists also included a large portion of the cast of the show, including Anna Paquin playing Sookie Stackhouse, Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton, Ryan Kwanten portraying Jason Stackhouse, Rutina Wesley as Tara Thorton, Sam Trammell playing Sam Merlotte, and finally Nelsan Ellis in the role of Lafayette Reynolds.

Alan Ball presented a run of clips introducing many of the first-season themes. Demonstrating a civil rights movement for vampire rights by use of the real world Bill Maher's “Real Time” show and fictional politicians, the tension between advocates and opponents of vampire equality was presented in a series of clips on that theme.

Bringing the conflict down to ground level, the debate is picked up by ordinary people in a bar debating the impact of the revelation that vampires and the supernatural are real and becoming a part of everyday society.

That same small town bar becomes one of the primary focuses for the show's drama. Anna Paquin, playing the show's female lead as Sookie Stackhouse, a human with the unusual supernatural ability of telepathy, faces her first vampire in the form of Bill Compton, portrayed by Stephen Moyer. The two begin to flirt, and the theme of relationships and sexuality between humans and vampires is introduced.

Moyer's character is seen taking Sookie Stackhouse to a vampire bar named Fantasia, where the marketing of products and services specifically to a vampire population, and the conflict between those vampires who do not want to "moderate their behavior now that they are out in the open", and those who do, is briefly played out for the audience.

Ball and Harris then took the audience through the process of coming up with the television series based on the books, and those themes presented in the clips. Ball said that the inspiration for the television show came "about half way through book number three. I thought, you know this would make a really good show. At first I considered a movie, but in order to condense it into two hours wouldn't do justice, so asked Charlaine do you see this as a movie or a television series and she said I see this as a series for HBO."

Harris, who is on book number nine now in the "Southern Vampire" series, said, "Several had approached me about working with the material [in film], and I read one movie treatment and…it was very werewolf in London, which I really couldn't get into…Alan understood the agenda of the books…and I just felt very comfortable trusting my babies to him."

Ball agreed. "I feel a real responsibility to remain true to the books, and in places… to the spirit of the books."

Asked later how close Harris felt the show was to her books, Harris said, "Of course my version is going to be different than Alan's. He's got different demands. I have the luxury of sitting around and establishing the world myself and I can tell everything from the first person point of view, which is not something that can be done on television. The books are different, they have a different tone but similar.”

On the impact of fan input to changes in the show, Ball said, "I feel a responsibility to be true to the books. And when not, then to the spirit. I'm going to try very hard to be true to Charlaine's vision. But ultimately I have found in my career I do best when I write what I would respond to, not what I think others would respond to."

On the difficulty in serializing the books for television, and the need for catching missing episodes, Ball said, "Each chapter would end with a cliffhanger [in the book] and I wanted to keep that. A lot happens every episode, but I'm assuming you will be able to download episodes on the HBO website, download on demand, and you can definitely Tivo it."

Speaking to the theme of the supernatural found in both the books and the television show, and the difficulty in adapting those concepts to television, Ball said "We're a television show, not a movie. We have to shoot an episode every ten days. One of the things I love about Charlaine's books is that the supernatural is very off-hand, deeper, more primal. We humans with our way of seeing things have lost our perception [to the supernatural].”

Speaking to the broader aspects of the supernatural, Paquin then described how her character deals with the supernatural power of telepathy. "You do see in the second episode of the series flashbacks to bad dates that she has gone on where unfortunately you can hear exactly what her companion is thinking and it sort of devolves into why she doesn't have a social life so to speak. She works in a bar so imagine how many people's incredibly annoying internal dialog she has to hear or block out…and then with her friends she sort of faces the unethical question."

Author Charlaine Harris at Comic-Con International 2008

Harris had her own views on the Sookie character she wrote. "She has sort of this naughty cheerleader thing going on for her. She enjoys being young, she enjoys being pretty, she knows she is sexy, and it's constantly frustrating that she knows she can't do anything about it…she enjoys being who she is, she enjoys being a woman, she wants to have a relationship she's just got to find a guy she can tolerate."

Paquin agreed, saying that her character "hasn't been close enough to anyone to lose her virginity."

Turning to the subject of that potential relationship, Stephen Moyer spoke of his role as the vampire Bill Compton. "He's coming back to this town of his ancestors, just to come and live a good life mainstreaming on this synthetic blood. This girl he doesn't understand why she is different than everyone else, doesn't understand that she is telepathic, there is just something about her that is different and he is taken over by her otherness and wants to see what she has."

Ball revealed that the Sookie/Bill relationship theme will serve as "a core, but there are other relationships and cores.”

Will that relationship become sexual in the first season? Ball said, "Yes, I'm not saying how long it’s going to last, but there will be several episodes where you're thinking are they going to do it?"

Responding to the greater question of human/vampire sexual relations and the violence found in some scenes in Harris's books, Ball said "Yes, their sexuality and thirst for blood kind of intertwines. In the world that Charlaine has created vampires are now part of culture… exotic, to some sexy creatures…and there are many who really want to hook up with vampires, they're called Fangbangers. As Charlene made clear in her books, sex with vampires is really kind of great."

"If you survive," Harris cut in.

Ball expanded on the concept. "You can imagine if you've had hundreds of years to perfect your technique and are attractive. You'd be quite a catch."

Ball then mentioned the sexually violent scenes found in the books, saying, "We see a little bit more of that than in the TV show, we also see a lot of very romantic sex. When you have sex with a vampire it doesn't have to be violent, it depends on the vampire."

Actor Sam Trammell at Comic-Con International 2008

Sam Trammell hinted at his role as the human Sam Merlotte and his characters view of vampires, saying, "Sam really doesn't like vampires, sort of has knowledge of vampires that others in town really don't have."

Asked further about that hint, and whether Trammell's character has supernatural powers like the Sookie Stackhouse character, Harris said, "Yes you see that in the first season. It's something entirely different [than Sookie's power].”

Ryan Kwanten spoke briefly of his role of Sookie's brother Jason Stackhouse. "He loves to be Jason. His love for women takes him to that dark side. He enjoys that dark side. Yes, there's redeeming qualities, but you would have to look really hard [to see them]."

Rutina Wesley spoke of the driving motivation behind her character Tara Thorton, "She's just a girl, um, who, I don't think anything is wrong with her, but her life has been hard. She can't get over her past, she can't let go of it."

Nelsan Ellis was fairly forthcoming on the darker aspects of the character he portrays, Lafayette Reynolds. "He sells [illegal] vampire blood. He has a gay porn web site, and he escorts. So he's an entrepreneur, is his thing," he said, to rousing laughter from the audience.

Mentioning that illegal sale of vampire blood, Ball said, "Vampire blood is a powerful drug. You never know what it is, it depends on who you are, what vampire it came from, how it reacts with your physiology."

The planned portion of the presentation completed, the panel accepted questions from audience members, starting with Ball's work on the "Six Feet Under" television show and it's relationship with this show as far as rooting things in reality. "We are not winking at the cameras, we all take this show very seriously. It's a show about relationships, and I think it's actually going to be a lot closer to that aspect of ‘Six Feet Under’ than people expect."

On the "Six Feet Under" themes that spoke so closely to the gay community, Ball spoke at length on such concepts. "Well it's very easy to look at the metaphor of vampires trying to assimilate into the world, but I think it's a metaphor for any people's trying to assimilate. We have gay characters, both human and vampire. I don't think this show will speak as closely to the gay community as ‘Six Feet Under,’ but it will speak to that issue.”

Talent was also borrowed from that prior show, and Ball explained that "Two of the writers are from ‘Six Feet Under,’ Daniel Minahan directed one episode. But I'd say there's more fresh blood than old blood."

Closing out his comments about "Six Feet Under", Ball said, "I've had more fun working on [‘True Blood’] than I've had working on anything else in my career."

On future characters taken from Harris's book, Ball and Harris were asked about the character's Quinn and Bubba, and the prospect for casting the Quinn character. Ball said " I don't think that way, I don't think of who would be ideal to cast."

Harris explained that "Quinn is a weretiger. He shaves his head, is big and buff. My personal homage to Vin Diesel."

As for Bubba, Ball said, "It's hard for me to answer that question because I don't want to give that away."

Concerning the complex pre-release marketing for the show and extensive viral marketing on the web, Ball said, "Part of the marketing for the show has been to sort of create the reality of the world. So there is a lot online. I don't know if you noticed it but there are posters of Tru Blood the synthetic blood. In fact, Tru Blood is an official sponsor here at comic con. You can got to lovebitten.net which is a human vampire introduction service. There's also a blog called Blood Copy which sort of traces the evolution of the vampires making their presence known to the world. It’s very clever. I was kind of floored how good they are. [It was all] done by the people who did Blaire Witch Project. We review it and give them notes and I think they've done a really terrific job."

The panel laughed over the fact that the viral marketing was so realistic that HBO had received emails from people seeking to become distributors for the Tru Blood drink. When asked by an audience member if there were plans for a real drink, Ball joked, "Yes it's going to be a combination of V8, Valium, Vicodin, and Viagra. Unfortunately you'll have to go to your pharmacist to prescribe it."

The boundaries of the first season, where things start and stop, was a topic of concern for some audience questioners. Ball explained that they have "Three more days of shooting in Shreveport, and then we will be wrapped. Basically what we do is we tell the story of the first book in the first season, the identity of the person who is doing the terrible things is revealed in the first season, and then we lay some groundwork for the next season as well. Eric is introduced in the first season, and we do find out he is Sheriff of area five."

Speaking to the fact that the books start pre-Katrina hurricane, and eventually take place after that disaster, Ball said, "We just start the show post-Katrina. There's a mention of Katrina in the pilot. I just felt like there would be no way for us to recreate [Katrina] and I don't know what would be gained by doing it. When we hit book five we'll figure out a way to address that."

Hinting at the second season and the prevalence of the supernatural, Ball said, "The Meanaid appears in the second season…definitely werewolves exist in the world. I believe Sookie becomes aware of their existence in book two. They will definitely make an appearance, as will all the supernatural things in the book."

Returning finally to the cast of the show, each actor was asked if he or she found similarities to themselves in their characters, or anything different that they wanted to conquer when taking on the role.

Paquin said of her Sookie character, "I love how tough Sookie is. I love how good she is, and her core value system. And she is curious and interested in what else is out there. And I just think that is beautiful combination. And I like being blonde!"

Moyer appreciated some of the darker aspects of his character Bill Compton, saying, "What I loved about Bill is that there is a slight melancholy edge to him, and one thing we talked about is there is no need for extraneous movement. He doesn't have a heart beat. He has no ticks, no little movements that we all have as humans. He's still. And for me, that was something to latch on to."

Kwanten saw differences between himself and his character Jason, saying, "Jason sort of wears his heart on his sleeve, he sort of acts before he thinks. That's different from me, I'm sort of more analytical."

Wesley identified with her character Tara Thorton, explaining, "There's just something about Tara that for me that I can't just explain but it sort of fits in my heart. I understand her, I had my moments in childhood. I just sort of get, she has so many different levels and nuances to her."

Sam Trammell laughed about his character Sam Merlotte, stating, "I was drawn to my characters name which is the same first name. I'm actually from Louisiana and it happened in this area I was born in. The thing I like about Sam, he's very protective of his waitresses and everyone in his apartment building and he has to keep his whole person a secret so there is this whole thing that I have to keep a secret and yet bring people into my place."

Nelsan Ellis grinned about his character Lafayette Reynolds, saying, "I think it was a potential to show some new colors in this dude. He can be feminine one minute and masculine in the next and dangerous he has no definable boundaries, he just moves where he wants to move."

On the topic of whether any of the cast have read the books, or read ahead for their character, Paquin said, "I've read some, not all of them, but I think as far as reading ahead in what free time we have I think it's helpful. So that you can be playing things or adding things to your character that maybe the audience won't know for four seasons."

Ball didn't mind the cast reading ahead, and mentioned that he is "Actually respectful of every actor's process. I don't mind if they read ahead, or if they choose not to."

The panel closed with a loud round of applause, and announcement that a “True Blood” gift bag would be handed out in the fulfillment room.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=17528&page=article

Best TV Couples That Aren't Together - But Should Be

Sookie and Sam - True Blood

Okay, so maybe Sookie (Anna Paquin) is head over heels in love with her vampire darling Bill (Stephen Moyer), but that didn't stop shapeshifter Sam (Sam Trammell) from worshipping her the entire season of "True Blood." He found comfort in the arms of Tara (Rutina Wesley), yet the second Sookie needed his help, he was there with a wag of his tail and those big sad eyes. Unrequited love is awful, but Sookie may just have a spark for her boss, because she did kiss him. And she seemed a little weirded out by him sleeping with Tara. These two have a really sweet vibe, and they've shared some pretty serious secrets (his shapeshifting, her telepathy). He's the boy next door that you never notice until it is too late, and right now Sookie is going through her bad boy phase. Just stay true a little longer Sam, your day will come!

Other couples here :http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php?p=110562&more=1&page=3

Best And Worst TV Couples: Sookie and Bill

In honor of Valentine's Day, we declare our love for True Blood's Sookie and Bill.

Valentine's Day is upon us, and it's a holiday about which we feel conflicted. On one hand, it's grossly over-commercialized and filled with pressure. But on the other, it is nice to celebrate your significant other -- and we have no complaints about flowers and candy, even if they are a little cliche.

So to celebrate our wishy-washy feelings about Cupid's big day, we picked five TV relationships from current shows that seem destined for success (or that are, in the words of Flavor Flav, "romantical"), and five that give love a bad name.

Sookie and Bill, True Blood
From the first time they met, you could sense the connection between telepathic Sookie and vampire Bill. Yes, he's robbing the cradle, he bites Sookie during sex and isn't readily available for brunch dates. But he also regularly saves her life and appears to be pretty good in the sack. This is the ultimate bad boy/good girl coupling.

Read them all good and bad here :http://www.film.com/tv/true-blood/story/best-and-worst-tv-couples/26004485

Handsome Stranger? Be Careful. He Bites.

NYTimes from September 2008
By Alessandra Stanley

One of the older waitresses at Merlotte's, a dive bar in Bon Temps, La., doesn't dare refuse to serve her customer Trublood, but draws the line at true hospitality. The stranger orders O negative, but is told there is only A negative, even though the fridge is full of both synthetic blood types.
''And don't microwave it, neither,'' the waitress says to the bartender.
''He can drink it cold.''

The vampires on ''True Blood,'' a new series on HBO, have ''come out of the coffin,'' as one woman puts it, thanks to a Japanese substitute that supposedly satisfies their inhuman blood lust. They are seeking acceptance and passage of the Vampire Rights Amendment in a society that is still prejudiced against the life-threatening lifestyles of the living dead.

Vampires have Washington lobbyists, support groups and talk show pundits.
They also have their own louche bars, and the one closest to Bon Temps is Fangtasia, where reckless mortals, known as Fang-bangers, trawl for the intoxicating taste of vampire sex.

That sly sendup of American culture and pop politics is one of the more amusing features in this new venture by Alan Ball, the creator of ''Six Feet Under.'' It's not the only inversion.

Mr. Ball, who also wrote the film ''American Beauty,'' is known for imbuing the most humble and prosaic settings -- a Southern California funeral parlor, a middle-class suburb -- with complex psychological themes and stylish lyricism. He does the opposite with ''True Blood,'' leavening fantasy romance and perverse Southern Gothic with the petty preoccupations of small-town life: ''Dark Shadows'' with a splash of Mayberry.

Vampires have an eternal place in American entertainment. Every generation has its bloodsuckers, from Bela Lugosi and Anne Rice's Lestat to ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer.'' Love with a supernatural stranger, a soul mate with a dangerous edge, is a particularly resilient romantic fantasy. But the familiarity of the cliches -- garlic, silver crosses, Transylvania -- also abets playfulness. And there is fun to be found in bending the paranormal to fit into the most earthly, banal settings.

Festooned with Spanish moss and swampy Southern nostalgia, this twist on the vampire conceit is full of allusions to racism and homophobia, but the metaphors are hazily applied and don't go very deep. The tale gets more engrossing as it goes along, but the first five episodes, at least, don't quite live up to the fierce score and the amazing, hallucinatory opening montage.

''True Blood'' is based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of fantasy novels by Charlaine Harris that revolve around Sookie Stackhouse, a cocktail waitress who solves murders while playing hard to bite with a tall, handsome vampire. Mr. Ball has taken what is basically a quirky romance novel and turned it into an R-rated melodrama puffed up with erotic tension and campy gore. It's creepy, steamy and funny at times, and it's also a muddle, a comic murder mystery that is a little too enthralled with its own exoticism. ''True Blood'' is outre, but it's not nearly as eccentric and inventive as ''Six Feet Under'' or even ''Big Love.''

Sookie, played with a clipped Holly Hunter twang by Anna Paquin, is perky, blond and psychic -- she can read people's thoughts. Sookie calls her gift a ''disability,'' one that has left her something of a recluse as well as a virgin. She lives with a dotty, doting grandmother, Adele (Lois Smith), and hangs out with her best friend, a feisty black woman named Tara (Rutina Wesley) who can't hold her tongue, or a job, and is also something of a loner.

One of the more interesting and less stereotypical characters is Tara's cousin Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), a short-order cook at Merlotte's by day, a gay hooker and drug dealer by night.

When a tall, pale and handsome stranger named Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) enters Merlotte's, Sookie knows at once that he is a vampire, the first to make himself known in tiny Bon Temps. She is tickled, not fearful -- nothing exciting ever happens in her small, redneck community, and she yearns for romance. Sookie finds him irresistibly seductive, partly because he is the first man she has ever met whose mind she cannot read.

Sex is on everyone else's minds, and it takes all of Sookie's concentration not to hear her friends and neighbors' crudest fantasies and lascivious musings. Vampires are predators, but they are also prey: it turns out that in small quantities, vampire blood has an aphrodisiac effect on humans, and there is a brisk illegal trade in V, vampire blood.

Sookie's strapping, dimwitted brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), is the town's Casanova, but unfortunately for him, some of the women he sleeps with turn up dead. He's an obvious suspect, but plenty of people in town prefer to blame the vampires for the crimes. Sookie's boss, Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammel), believes in segregation for the undead.

When Sookie chides him for seeking a return to the days of ''separate but equal,'' Sam says he doesn't care about equality. ''Give them more than we got,'' he says, ''just as long as everything is separate.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/arts/television/05bloo.html

"Hey, Babe, What's Your Blood Type?"

In Japan, "What's your type?" is much more than small talk; it can be a paramount question in everything from matchmaking to getting a job.

In Japan, Whether You Are A, B, AB Or O Can Determine Your Mate, Job, Even Your Fashion Accessories

By type, the Japanese mean blood type, and no amount of scientific debunking can kill a widely held notion that blood tells all.

In the year just ended, four of Japan's top 10 best-sellers were about how blood type determines personality, according to Japan's largest book distributor, Tohan Co. The books' publisher, Bungeisha, says the series - one each for types B, O, A, and AB - has combined sales of well over 5 million copies.

Taku Kabeya, chief editor at Bungeisha, thinks the appeal comes from having one's self-image confirmed; readers discover the definition of their blood type and "It's like 'Yes, that's me!"'

As defined by the books, type As are sensitive perfectionists but overanxious; Type Bs are cheerful but eccentric and selfish; Os are c

Read on
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/01/world/main4767079.shtml

It was love at first bite

From the Sydney Morning Herald

An Aussie actor gets his big break in the vampire drama True Blood, writes Gabriel Wilder.

Vampires may not like the sun but they certainly have no aversion to the limelight. The cultural phenomenon that stretches back to Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula, has resurfaced in umpteen guises since. Lately, teens who like their vamps glitter-skinned and their heroines breathless have turned to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels and film. Those looking for something meatier, however, can sink their teeth into Alan Ball's new series True Blood.

Yes, it has a vampire romance but this is no Mills & Boon with fangs: the violence is brutal, the sex sweaty, the dialogue salty and the humour dry. As with Twilight, it has its origins in a series of novels. Ball (Six Feet Under) stumbled across one of Charlaine Harris's novels and became hooked on the sultry, supernatural world set in the Louisiana bayous.

The first book focuses on telepath Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin, who won a Golden Globe for her performance), her romance with a vampire, Bill Compton, and a serial-killer mystery. But after the first two episodes, Ball began developing new storylines for other members of the ensemble.

"I think Alan's very clever like that," says Stephen Moyer, who plays Bill. "He knows that it can't just be [a romance]. I think that it ultimately is a love story [but] it doesn't mean it can't be 20 other things as well. When I read the script, I couldn't believe how much he'd packed into it."

One beneficiary of Ball's approach is Australian actor Ryan Kwanten, who plays Sookie's brother, Jason. Once a Home And Away regular, Kwanten now lives in LA and was sought out by Ball.

"He'd seen a film of mine and saw characteristics of Jason Stackhouse in the character that I was playing," Kwanten says. "Next thing you know, I was hired."

Ball expanded the character of Jason, giving him his own storyline and one hilarious episode involving a severe case of priapism. Kwanten, 32, has the task of making the self-centred, womanising Jason not seem like a lost cause.

"I threw away the textbook on everything I thought I knew about acting and just flew by the seat of my pants because that's exactly how this guy operates," he says. "It's really liberating to play a character like that because a lot of characters tend to be very brooding."

The brooding territory in True Blood is pretty much covered by Civil War vampire Bill, whom Moyer describes as "completely angst-ridden … your classic tortured hero".

Unlike Kwanten, who was one of the first to be cast, Moyer was one of the last. Ball searched for months for the right "Bill" before Moyer, who had just finished shooting The Starter Wife with Debra Messing in Queensland, emailed an audition. "Alan saw it in the afternoon and I flew [to LA] that night," he says.

True Blood poses particular challenges for its cast. As well as having to guzzle copious amounts of fake blood (apparently some kind of glucose concoction), both Kwanten and Moyer have frequent nude scenes. The first time we meet Kwanten's character, he is butt-naked and engaged in a sex act. In fact, clothes seem to be something of an afterthought for Jason.

"This is by far the most full-on sex and nudity I've ever done," says Kwanten, who has been acting since he was 16. "I was warned but one can never quite be prepared. You sort of sign your life away and go, 'Oh, nudity', then you walk into your trailer and you see a modesty patch and that's what you're wearing for the day."

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen any of Ball's previous work that there is a subtext beneath the sex and humour. In True Blood the vamps have come "out of the coffin" and are campaigning for equal rights. Ball is an openly gay man but has stated the vampires can stand for a number of things.

"It can be any group that has been persecuted or felt like an outcast in society," Kwanten explains.

This ambiguity bothers many of the people posting comments on web forums about the show, people who would rather see their entertainment delivered in a tidier package - ethical dilemmas sorted, no shades of grey. "I think they're the people that need to see it more than anyone," Kwanten says. "But we'll get those people one person at a time."

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/02/08/1234027854744.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

A Soap with Teeth

From Variety September 2008

TRUE BLOOD (SERIES; HBO, SUN. SEPT. 7, 9 P.M.)

Filmed in Los Angeles and Louisiana by HBO. Executive producer, Alan Ball; co-executive producer, Brian Buckner; supervising producer, Nancy Oliver, producers, Alexander Woo, Carol Dunn Trussell; co-producer, Raelle Tucker; writer-director, Ball; based on the novels by Charlaine Harris; camera, Checco Varese; production designer, Suzuki Ingerslev; editors, Andy Keir, Michael Ruseio; music, Nathan Barr; casting, Junie Lowry Johnson, Libby Goldstein. 60 MIN.
Sookie Stackhouse Anna Paquin
Bill Compton Stephen Moyer
Jason Stackhouse Ryan Kwanten
Tara Thornton Rutina Wesley
Sam Merlotte Sam Trammell
Lafayette Reynolds Nelsan Ellis
Andy Bellefleur Chris Bauer
Hoyt Fortenberry Jim Parrack
Arlene Fowler Carrie Preston
Rene Lenier Michael Raymond James
Bud Dearborne William Sanderson
Eric Alexander Skarsgard
Adele Lois Smith

Creator Alan Ball insists, not entirely convincingly, that "True Blood" isn't just a sociopolitical
metaphor for vampirism as homosexuality. Nevertheless, if the popularity of "Twilight" and the Sookie Stackhouse books that inspired this series are any indication, women clearly embrace the romance of guys who suck for more exoticthan-usual reasons, creating otherworldly impediments to true love. So while the show is a trifle hokey, its soapy elements, gothic atmosphere and cliflhanger endings - coupled with Anna Paquin's knockout performance - do reel viewers in, laying the groundwork for what might be the cultish, undemanding romp HBO needs to inject much needed life into its lineup.

Ever since "Dark Shadows," people have sought to perfect the vampire soap, although even a "Shadows" revival failed to find the proper vein. And while Ball - of "Six Feet Under" renown - might seem an unlikely choice to go from chronicling the dead to the undead, he wisely approaches the material with few pretensions.

In the world of novelist Charlaine Harris, whose books inspire this series, vampires have been living invisibly among humans for ages but only felt comfortable emerging from the shadows - essentially, coming out of the coffin - after the Japanese invented synthetic blood (or Tru Blood, packaged in cute little beer-like bottles). Still, there's considerable unease about having bloodsuckers roaming around freely, with humans resisting the push for "vampire rights."
Having participated in the X-Men movies - which set up mutants as another discriminated against minority - Paquin is a marketable choice for a genre audience, but brings much more than that to the role of Sookie, a Louisiana waitress whose psychic ability has caused her to shun romance.

So to her surprise, when a hunky vampire, Bill (Stephen Moyer of "The Starter Wife"), moves into the bayou town of Bon Temps - taking advantage of vampires' recent decision to go public and enter the mainstream - she's instantly drawn to him, as he is to her:

Uncomfortable with knowing the inner-most feelings of those around her, she's blissfully unable to hear Bill's thoughts. Similarly, he senses immediately that Sookie is "something more than human."

Prejudice, however, dies hard, and Sookie's attachment to Bill alarms those closest to her.
The supporting players aren't nearly as interesting initially as the intense bond between Sookie and Bill, though they do keep the first few installments busy, including some nicely gratuitous sex, adventures in the Viagra-like effects of vampire blood, and a tepid murder mystery.
Based on the way women in particular have glommed onto the bodice-caressing aspects of such fare (consider the torch a dedicated few are still carrying for CBS'
"Moonlight"), HBO figures to have a cult hit on its hands at the very least - with Moyer representing the kind of brooding figure many would covet, dead or undead. Special effects are sparing but effective, which should boost male appeal, as will Paquin, who manages to be sexy, vulnerable and mysterious all at once.

How deeply the series resonates beyond that will hinge on how the plot advances and weaves in the secondary characters. Either way, the concept seems like a smart against-the-grain move for HBO, which has already done a phenomenal job marketing it.

If nothing else, nobody will confuse Bill from Bon Temps with "John From Cincinnati." The only question now is whether "True Blood" barely breaks the skin or can tap into a whole new artery.
PHOTO (COLOR): Anna Paquin is the psychic waitress next door and Stephen Moyer the vampire who loves her in HBO's "True Blood." from Alan Ball.
~~~~~~~~
By Brian Lowry

Flesh and Blood : True Blood in Australia

Written by David Knox for SX News

Everything Alan Ball touches turn to gold: American Beauty, Six Feet Under and now True Blood - his television follow up. Produced for HBO, it's already got street cred and industry awards. This here is the hot new thang.

Set just a few years into the future there are vampires amongst us. But since the widespread availability of synthetic blood, they no longer need to devour humans. Instead they fight for respectability and advocate acceptance. Vampires suffer prejudice, simply for being different. Are you getting the metaphors here?

Based on the book The Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris, the setting is the small town of Bon Temps in deepest, darkest Louisiana. Visually, this small town is a southern sister to David Lynch's Twin Peaks. Small road diners, dilapidated shacks, savannah trees and night critters abound. The 'indie' opening credits feature everything from Baptist revival meetings to the Ku Klux Klan with a rockin' bluegrass theme. Ball's world is gothic working class - raw and steamy.

Front and centre of the story is Sookie (Anna Paquin), a cafe waitress who has telepathic abilities. Serving unfriendly customers who are always longing to grope her is a daily chore. Working alongside her are bartender Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), a gay cook who turns tricks for money.

When Sookie meets Bill (Stephen Moyer), a handsome 173-year-old vampire, she is drawn to his magnetism and intrigued by the fact she cannot hear his thoughts. These two misfits are a match made outside heaven. "You can never find a human man you can be yourself with," he insists.

Australian Ryan Kwanten (Home & Away, Summerland) plays Sookie's brother Jason, a road worker and horny bad boy who finds himself as the number one suspect in a murder case. Someone is killing young women and they're usually his recent conquests. With a ripped bod and rabid naked scenes, Kwanten is sex on a stick.

Ball marks his territory slowly in True Blood. This is a grand melodrama built on character, concepts and tone. Bubbling beneath the surface is a sexual energy and an unsettling feeling that horror lurks around every corner. The performances are superb, with Paquin shifting from strong and sexy to vulnerable with consummate ease.

Previously, Alan Ball has proven he is prepared to defy conventions with his storytelling. Methinks he's just warming up here.

True Blood premieres 8:30pm Tuesday February 10 on Showcase

http://sxnews.e-p.net.au/television-guide/flesh-and-blood-4887.html

True Blood grabs audiences by the jugular

From Australian Courier Mail

THERE'S one major drawback to being a vampire in Los Angeles.

"I wasn't allowed to go into the sun because my character's white," laments British actor Stephen Moyer, who plays a 173-year-old blood sucker in raunchy US drama True Blood.

"After a while I was like, 'Come on, guys. I'm in LA! I live by the beach. Let me play'.

"Then of course I started getting the LA permatan and got in big trouble."

Moyer, a father of two, will have to get used to spending time in dark places.

True Blood, based on the novels by Charlaine Harris and reimagined for the small screen by Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, has grabbed TV audiences by the jugular.

See our gallery of screen vampires
With its graphic mix of sex, gore and black humour, it's not for the feint-hearted, but received critical kudos at last month's Golden Globes, with star Anna Paquin collecting the award for best actress and the series nominated for best drama.

"You can't say it too many times that Alan is a clever man," Moyer says of the Oscar-winning writer and director.

"You've got this classic love story, which he gives a modern twist to . . . you've got the funny, you've got the sexy, you've got the downright dirty, but you've also got the drama of it."

In True Blood, vampires have come out of the coffin, so to speak. They live alongside humans thanks to the invention of synthetic blood called "True Blood", which can be bought like a six-pack of beer and supposedly quenches the vamps' thirst for mortals.

But their integration into society is fraught with prejudice and violence.

Telepathic Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Paquin) is one of the few willing to give the undead a chance, particularly when the brooding Bill Compton (Moyer) arrives.

"Alan creates this outsider who comes into the town and is immediately looked at with suspicion," Moyer says of his character.

"So he's kind of a metaphor for any minority group you can think of, whether it be the idea of blacks in the South or homosexuality or any outsider group, really.

"That's the sort of deeper level that I find very interesting. I couldn't believe it when I read it. I was just blown away by the idea of him."

Like New Zealand's Paquin and Australia's Ryan Kwanten, who plays Sookie's sex-mad brother Jason, Moyer had to disguise his native accent with some convincing Southern dialects. He says the fact half the lead cast have foreign passports is a coincidence.

"I truly don't believe that actors in America don't exist to have been able to play these parts," he says. "Alan just sees things in people and he'll wait until he finds what he wants.

"Anna, obviously, we all know, is a pale brunette and she's playing this tanned blonde girl, but she had to go through the whole audition process. It wasn't offered to her. She ended up reading with five blonde actresses, with her still dark and pale, and Alan just believed that she could do it."

While he is begrudgingly avoiding UV rays ahead of filming True Blood's second series, Moyer says it's nice to have finally found a place in the sun career-wise. "A couple of other offers have come in that I haven't taken because my kids live in England and I didn't want to leave them unless it was something fantastic," he says.

"I've been in a very nice position for the first time in my life to say,'You know what? I don't need to do that at the moment'."

True Blood, Showcase, Tuesday, 7.30pm
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25002140-5003422,00.html

Book vs. TV Show: True Blood

Article from Box Office Prophets from January 12th by Eric Hughes

If movies like Freddy vs. Jason, Kramer vs. Kramer, Alien vs. Predator, Ecks
vs. Sever and King Kong vs. Godzilla have taught us nothing else, it's that everything is somehow better in battle format. We here at BOP recognize this fact, but at the same time realize that our breed of super-smart readers
sometimes yearns for a touch of the intellectual at the same time. And since Hollywood and television networks have a certain obsession with turning literature of all types into moving image adaptations, we're afforded the
perfect opportunity to set up grudge matches galore.

True Blood

Three years after bringing his superb drama, Six Feet Under, to a close at HBO, Alan Ball resurrected himself on the pay cabler with True Blood, a TV show based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries. The book series kicked off in 2001 with Dead Until Dark and continues strong to this day with book nine, Dead and Gone, slated for release in May.

Both the book and TV series, set in a fictional Louisiana town, focus on an unlikely romance between a young woman, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), and vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) at a time when vampires have "come out of the coffin" and are more or less looking to peacefully enter into mainstream society.

After debuting to a disappointing 1.44 million viewers - considering the extensive marketing campaign HBO undertook in promoting the series - True Blood's audience grew week-to-week, with its season finale airing in front of 2.4 million pairs of eyeballs. (That number grew to over six million viewers once HBO took into account the series' multiple airings in the same week). Not bad for the struggling network, which was in need of some fresh programming after most of its 2007 programming slate, including Tell Me You Love Me and John From Cincinnati, failed to live past its debut season.

Though initial impressions of True Blood were mixed, critics grew to like the new HBO series, which even earned award nominations from the WGA and the Golden Globes. But which is better: the book or TV show?

The Book

Sookie Stackhouse, a parentless 20-something who resides with her grandmother a few miles from work, narrates Dead Until Dark in the first person. Her only sibling, Jason, lives close by. And unlike nearly everyone around her, Sookie likes vampires. She's attracted to them - especially to Bill, whose mind she fortunately cannot read. That's right. Sookie can read
what people are thinking. Well, everyone except Bill, which is one of the reasons she enjoys hanging out with him. Because with Bill, Sookie's mind is at peace.

Soon after they get acquainted, a series of seemingly innocent people are murdered. At first the cases appear to have nothing in common, save for the method of death: strangulation. It's then discovered that the victims are people who have ties with the vampire community (be it a relationship, casual sex or some other connection). That's when the string of deaths hits
a bit close for Sookie Stackhouse. Does her friendship with Bill put her in the line of fire?

In the book, which is the basis for the first season of HBO's True Blood, Harris developed an interesting idea and firmly wrapped it inside a tightly written narrative, helping to move the plot along at a rapid pace. Harris' language is simple, yet engaging enough to maintain a reader's attention throughout the course of the story. There are no dead spots here. Actions
lead to successive actions. A person winds up dead, and then another. The story relentlessly keeps moving.

Discerning readers will pick up that The Southern Vampire Series sounds a bit like Twilight, at least in its central love affair between a female human and male vampire. But if any copied premises are at work, Twilight's Stephenie Meyer is actually at fault here, given that Charlaine Harris' Dead Until Dark debuted in bookstores four years prior to the first Twilight
novel.

The TV Show

Alan Ball remains rather faithful to Harris' first book by translating nearly all of the story's main actions to his HBO series. At the same time, however, the creator smartly opens up the Bon Temps world a bit, eliminating Sookie as series narrator and breathing life into the novel's secondary characters (and some of his own, too, like Sookie's new childhood friend,
Tara).

Read on

http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=11245

HBO's True Blood: Bloody Fun

From Jul 11, 2008 02:58 PM by Matt Roush

Vamp fans- and you know who you are (I hear from you often enough)- I know you've had a tough year, still mourning Moonlight and Blood Ties and all. Time to cheer up, and get ready for a wild ride this fall with HBO's frightfully funky Southern Gothic ghoulash True Blood (premiering Sept. 7). With equal parts humor, horror and a sexuality that goes beyond the usual supernatural swooniness to graphic raunchiness, Alan Ball's 12-episode adaptation of Charlaine Harris's cheeky novels- the first season roughly follows her first book, "Dead Until Dark"- is one of the few buzzworthy shows to emerge in the new season.

Still, you'd never accuse Ball of (pardon the pun) sucking up to the die-hard cultists. Asked if he'd taken any lessons from the cancellation of CBS's Moonlight, for example, he quips: "I think it's pretty lame when you let your vampire out in the day just because you don't want to shoot at night." Ball, who happened across Harris's novels by accident, says he's never seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel or read Anne Rice. "This is really my first foray into the world of vampires. All I knew was the movies that I'd seen." (He considers Near Dark "the best vampire movie ever made.")

Ball, whose previous HBO hit Six Feet Under had its own decidedly morbid streak, told critics during a TCA panel on Thursday: "After five years of peering into the abyss and contemplating life in the presence of mortality, I felt like let's do something else." True Blood is something else, all right. It's an unapologetically brazen hoot, all about a waitress named Sookie (Anna Paquin) who works in a Louisiana dive bar where she reads minds- more a curse than a gift- and who falls hard for the soulful and drop-dead-gorgeous vampire named Bill (Stephen Moyer) who walks into the bar one night. His mind is closed to her, which she finds delightfully and mysteriously appealing. And he's drawn to her for reasons he can't explain. ("What are you?" he continually wonders.)

The mythology is provocative: A synthetic blood product has allowed vamps to emerge into the open, no longer requiring humans for fuel. But the stigma follows them everywhere, and as debates rage on cable news about a pending Vampire Rights Amendment- decried, naturally, by the religious right- it's hard not to see in the vampires' otherness a metaphor for the current gay-rights struggle.

"All of that is in the books," Ball says, while cautioning: "I really don't look at the vampires as a metaphor for gays in a very specific way. For me, part of the joy of this whole series is that it's about vampires, and so we don't have to be that serious about it. However, they totally work as a metaphor for gays, for people of color in previous times in America, for anybody who is misunderstood and feared and hated for being different. I think because of the cultural climate that we exist in today, it seems like, oh well, they are a metaphor for gays because of gay marriage and gay rights and that kind of thing. But I think it's a bigger metaphor and at the same time it's also not a metaphor at all. It's vampires."

One of the more refreshing aspects of True Blood is that it doesn't really seem to be aiming for deeper meaning or moody self-importance. It's a juicy story, purely impure and often outrageous entertainment, surrounding Sookie and Bill with a colorful collection of Southern-fried characters, including Sookie's oversexed redneck brother and vampire-friendly granny (the wonderfully eccentric Lois Smith) and a hilariously tough, trash-talking best friend.

HBO has only made two episodes available for screening so far, so it's hard to tell just how divergent this new breed of vampires will be from the classic model. Ball teases: "In our world, a lot of the myths about vampires were created by vampires themselves over history so that they could pass. Because if you could convince everybody that you couldn't be seen in a mirror or that you would freak out if somebody shoved a crucifix in your face, then you could prove you weren't a vampire pretty easily."

Ball also talks of designing "a certain kind of physiology for the fangs" so they retract and click forward like rattlesnack fangs. "I wanted to approach the supernatural not as being something that exists outside of nature, but something that is more deeply rooted in nature." He also wanted to avoid "the instantaneous incineration or the instantaneous turning into dust" when a vampire is staked. (We haven't yet seen exactly what happens when stakes enter the picture, although there is a vivid demonstration of vampire poachers draining a vamp's blood for profit.)

"I didn't really want to focus too much on visual effects or special effects," says Ball. "I wanted it to be a show about characters and to really explore what it means to be 170 years old and what it means to fall in love with somebody who basically part of the relationship would involve, in a world that's mutually satisfying, being fed upon. Not being able to see this person except at night. Having the entire town think, what, are you crazy? That kind of thing."

OK, now that we've fed the cult fires, let's tackle the important question: Does HBO know what it's gotten into, giving the ravenous legion of vampire-TV fans a new crusade should True Blood not be an instant hit?

This was posed to HBO's newly installed entertainment president Sue Naegle, who good-naturedly described herself as "a bit of a nerd myself," someone who understands the passion people have for TV. Like "when they send tons of peanuts for Jericho."

"I wouldn't want them on my doorstep, but I can appreciate that passion," Naegle says. "I hope that this show gets that kind of rise out of people, as long as they don't send a bunch of coffins to my office. But I think that people care deeply about characters and their television shows, and when they have a community- in our modern world of blogs and online communities, people come together. There's bound to be a passionate voice. So bring it on."

Anna Paquin agrees: "How is having people who are really excited about your show a bad thing? I mean, come on. That's what you hope that a show is going to have, and if they are already there, waiting to be really excited, then awesome."

http://www.tvguide.com/roush/HBOs-True-Blood-9845.aspx

Catching up with Anna Paquin

[from July 11, 2008]

She’s the youngest-ever Academy Award winner (only 11!) and a Columbia University grad. Now "The Piano’s" Anna Paquin is back on TV in the upcoming HBO vampire series "True Blood."

The newly blonde New Zealander stars as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress at a Louisiana diner who falls into the clutches of bloodsucker Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).
The Post caught up with the sexy star in LA yesterday...

Q: Why do you think people are so fascinated with vampires?
AP: Because they are sexy. They are dangerous. What girl doesn’t like a bad boy?

Q: You have some sexy outfits on the show...
AP: My wardrobe is awesome! I am practically naked the entire time. What is not to love? [laugh] And they give me this nice spray tan, so I feel like I am sort of wearing an extra layer of clothing that is actually not really there. I feel quite naked actually. Or I did. I bought a lot of little tiny shorts to wear around on set.

Q: How do you stay in shape?
AP: I work out. I go to the gym. I run. I box. I do Pilates. I take dance classes. And I am now learning to skateboard, which is actually a lot harder than it looks.

Q: Where are you living these days?
AP: Well, I am not living in New York where I have been living for the past 8 years because my lease was up. So now I am staying out here (in LA). But I am kind of... a gypsy!

Q: Where is your Oscar now that you are a gypsy?
AP: It is at my brothers house... I think. [laughs]

Q: Are you attracted to the bad boy, like the vampire, in real life? What’s your type?
AP: I don’t have a type. I like smart people. Nice people. Good people.

Q: Is the blonde hair helping you find someone like that?
AP: I do okay for myself. [laughs]

- Sean Daly http://blogs.nypost.com/tv/archives/2008/07/catching_up_wit.html

Bookstore employees tied to Sookie Stackhouse

Sookie Stackhouse is nothing if not a lady.

She unfailingly offers guests a cold — or warm — beverage when they visit her home. She minds her manners no matter how strange or hostile the company. And she rarely leaves the house without makeup in place.

But also she is a woman of talents not to be underestimated. She is open-minded, perhaps to a fault, and can use her skills and strengths to overcome the nastiest of opponents.

On the printed pages of eight novels by Charlaine Harris, Sookie is the telepathic heroine who engages in love and war with vampires, humans and other creatures magical or mundane.

On television, she is the center of the HBO series True Blood, brought to life by actress Anna Paquin.

“What speaks to me is that she is always trying hard to do her best, that she is courageous, that she is loyal, that she has moments of weakness as we all do,” Harris said in a telephone interview last week from her home in Arkansas.

From Victorian ladies mesmerized by the powers of vampire royalty to Valley girl slayers and lovestruck teenagers, women and vampires have mingled on pages and screens for more than a century.

Harris’ creation offers a magical and mysterious twist on traditional vampire stories. Sookie is a waitress from a small town in north Louisiana who solves mysteries and saves her friends from certain peril. Unlike the dark underground of bloodsucker history, Harris’ vampires are an ethnic minority of sorts who have “come out of the coffin” to claim a place in society.

Tuesday, Harris will be in Houston to discuss Sookie, vampires and what it’s like to hear the words she wrote spoken on TV. Her talk at the Houston Public Library downtown was brought together in part by Murder by the Book on Bissonnet.

Indeed, the store and its employees have long been tied to Sookie and her creator.

Harris’ first Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead Until Dark, sputtered into existence in 2001 with some help by Dean James, then the general manager of Murder By the Book.

Harris’ agent wasn’t keen on the idea of a vampire series, but bowed to James’ recommendation for the book and his knowledge of the genre and the market.

“I read it practically in one sitting and said, ‘This is wonderful,’ ” said James, who now works as a librarian in the medical center.

After two years, Dead Until Dark found a publisher, Harris said.

“The book might not have been published if he didn’t love it,” Harris said.

James was rewarded for his support with an acknowledgement at the start of the book. But his namesake in the book and show, Dean, is a very important collie. To give away more would spoil a surprise.

“Dean just has got sweet eyes, and I thought that was a sweet tribute to him,” Harris said.

Employees of Murder by the Book have appeared in Harris’ other works. But the 26-year-old new owner of the store, McKenna Jordan, gets a nod in two of the Sookie books. Her name is used for a minor character, a clothing-store clerk.

“I might just say, ‘Can I help you,’ but I’m in there,” Jordan said.

Harris has been connected with the store since the beginning of her career, before she struck success with Sookie Stackhouse, she said. Back then, she traveled on her own dime to promote her work and stayed with the store’s former owner, Martha Farrington.

After more than two decades of writing, Sookie has taken Harris to best-seller lists. Now the publisher picks up the publicity tab. The first Sookie books were originally published in paperback. But the newer ones started in hardcover.

The HBO show, by Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, has earned a dedicated fan base and two Golden Globe nominations, one for best television drama and another for Sookie. Well, Paquin.

In 2007, the publisher ACE Books shipped about 230,000 copies of the books to stores and customers. True Blood has boosted book sales. Since it first aired in the fall, the publisher sent out 2.3 million copies of the paperbacks, said Jodi Rosoff, associate director of publicity for ACE. Before the holidays, special box sets of all eight novels sold about 130,000 copies.

“It was successful before the show,” Rosoff said. “She moved from paperback to hardcover, and that is always a sign of success. But since the show there is a whole new audience that I don’t think would have gone to this type of book.”

Part of the success of the novels, and the show, is Sookie, Jordan said. Sookie’s got some strange powers; after all, she can read minds. But she is also a mid-20s everywoman: She fluctuates between a size 8 and a 10, has boyfriend trouble, struggles with a crazy family she mostly loves, and sometimes gets mad at her boss.

“She’s a Southern woman,” said Jordan, a League City native. “Charlaine is also a Southern woman. There certainly are a lot of authors who might not be from the South and they get it wrong.”

Part of the appeal is that Sookie is an odd duck even in her own hometown, James said.

Through the series of novels, she comes into her own personally and professionally as she discovers a world outside of the fictional Bon Temps, La., where she is valued for her smarts and admired by men, vampires and other magical creatures.

“I think a lot of people can identify with that,” James said. “Lots of people have felt that way.”

In the show, Sookie takes a different turn, said Anne Kimbol, a research lawyer by trade and an employee at Murder By The Book and fantasy and mystery reader by passion. Sookie is much more naive in the show and lacks the edge she has in the books, Kimbol said.

But then again, “they very much HBOed the story line,” she said.

“There is so much sex that you don’t get a lot of plot in there,” said Kimbol, who does not consider herself a prude.

Harris, however, is pleased with the show and thrilled to have Ball and HBO take it on, she said.

“I didn’t want the books diluted,” she said. “They are a mixture of blood and sex and some really sweet moments, and I didn’t want to lose any of that.”

Ball had prepared her for some of the big changes when he moved her story to the small screen, Harris said. So the first time Harris watched the show she was able to hear the familiar words she wrote and feel the suspense of plot and character changes to her original.

“I understand why he made them, and, of course, it makes for a different story,” Harris said. “So I found myself surprised by my own work, which was actually kind of fun.”

After years of hard work, Harris said she was pleased to have found success with the Sookie books. The television show just adds a little more fun to the mix.

“This is just like getting a whole bunch of gravy poured over my biscuits,” Harris said.

tara.dooley@chron.com

CHARLAINE HARRIS IN HOUSTON

The author and creator of Sookie Stackhouse will speak about her books, vampires and turning her creation into the HBO series True Blood.

• When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

• Where: Houston Public Library’s central location, 500 McKinney

• Book signing: Those wishing to have a book signed will need to purchase one from Murder By the Book sellers at the library.

• Information: www.murderbooks.com; www.houstonlibrary.org

WOMEN AND VAMPIRES

Sookie Stackhouse isn’t the first woman to encounter the bloodsucking kind. For more than a century, women and vampires have mingled in popular culture as enemies, friends and lovers. Here is a sampling of the other women of the tradition, and why they are no Sookie Stackhouse.

• Mina : Depending on the Dracula • version, this woman is either the count’s eternal love or a mesmerized bride. In the Francis Ford Coppola film she is played by Winona Ryder. In most versions, she lacks Sookie’s spunk.

• Star: In the 1980s vampire flick The Lost Boys • , Jami Gertz plays an object of desire for boys and vampires.

• Buffy: In the movie original, Buffy was a Valley girl slayer who could work magic with hair spray. In Joss Whedon’s television show, Sarah Michelle Gellar puts vampires to rest with the help of her Scooby Gang. Though she has her affection for certain vampires, as does Sookie, Buffy’s tussles with them are mostly of the stake ’em sort.

• Selene: Technically Selene from the film Underworld • is a vampire herself, very un-Sookie. As played by Kate Beckinsale, she races around in tight black outfits slaying bad-guys and saving loved ones.

• Bella Swan: The vampire lover in the spotlight, Swan is the star of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight • series of books and the hit movie of 2008. Bella is a lovestruck teen who is willing to give her all to vampire Edward Cullen. Sookie’s older, 26, and knows the pitfalls of trusting vampire loves.

• Anita Blake: A vampire hunter from Laurel K. Hamilton’s series of books. Blake is much more tough broad than Southern lady. Some say the later novels head well out of the R rating range for sex and violence.

Read on http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/6193787.html

Hold the garlic -- I'm in love with a vampire

I think this Staten Island paper is just trying to figure out the allure ...they might try reading some of the books, watching some of the shows and movies, just an idea...

Blood-sucking monsters of today are seen as romantic and cool

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While vampires have historically been seen as blood-sucking monsters, today they are increasingly seen as romantic -- even cool.

"Vampires, to me, are a wonderful mix between horror and fantasy," said Kelly Reebe, a senior at St. Joseph Hill Academy. "The concept of creatures of night and darkness, along with having sharpened senses, makes them completely interesting. Then, obviously, the fact that they are created to be alluring, and perfect in their appearances, only makes them more appealing Vampires can be found in various areas of pop culture -- from movies, to TV shows, to books.

Consider Edward Cullen of the "Twilight" series, written by Stephenie Meyer. This vampire is a high-school heart-throb, with bronze-brown hair and golden eyes.

"The 'Twilight' books are written so well, and they have a bit of everything a teen would look for in a book -- which is why the series is amazingly popular," said Colleen Muray, an assistant manager at the Borders store in the Staten Island Mall.

And "Twilight" is not the only popular book to focus on vampires. For example, "Vampire Academy," written by Richelle Mead, and "Night's Kiss," written by Amanda Ashley, are also read by many teens.

Vampires also make appearances in TV shows, such as: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997); "Angel" (1999), a spin-off of "Buffy"; "Forever Knight" (1989); "Moonlight" (2007), and the new HBO series, "True Blood."

Mangas like "Vampire Knight" and "Vampire Kisses" are also casting vampires as non-evil creatures, dating and even protecting the human race from "evil" vampires.

Today's vampires even have their own fashion -- and it doesn't involve someone going around in a black cape!

The fashion is more a mix of gothic and old Victorian style. Included are accessories such as chains, choke collars, and anything with skulls on it. Some teens also get custom-made fangs or their eyeteeth sharpened to look more like vampires.

Rae'Ann Gifford, a junior at Port Richmond High School, said she finds the vampire fashion elegant.

"It represents me and what I like," she explained. "Vampire fashion is also a preserved gothic style .... It's like something old but modified to this day and age. Yet somehow my grandmother doesn't like it."

And there are even vampire fan clubs. Many vampire-lovers visit such Web sites as www.vampirefreaks.com, which includes a chat room, music reviews and more.

Tiffany Rizzi, a sophomore at St. John Villa Academy, said she believes vampires aren't killing monsters.

"As in any tale, there's another side of a story," she said. "A different perspective can lead to the reconsideration of such opinions. Especially because, they're still people at heart."

http://www.silive.com/teens/advance/index.ssf?/base/living/1231080337245710.xml&coll=1

Vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) and sweet waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) became the new Romeo and Juliet

From mySan Antonio ( here in the Kingdom of Texas) from their Best of TV 2008 list

"True Blood" and "In Treatment" (HBO): Leave it to HBO to give us not one but two of the year's most addictive and innovative new dramas. In the biting and stylishly executed "Blood," vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) and sweet waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) became the new Romeo and Juliet. Creator Alan Ball cleverly made the vampire's entrance into human society a metaphor for racism, gay-bashing and, in general, a world eaten up by hatred for those who were different.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/36799559.html

"When I got the role, I was a little scared" Alexander Skarsgard talking about his role in Generation Kill

An interview with Alex Skarsgard from Swedish web site aftonbladet.se , I'm still cleaning it up from Swedish translation but you'll get the gist

NEW YORK. If someone able to nod assent to Marit Bergman feel good-hit "This is the year" in 2008, it is Alexander Skarsgård.

After "Generation Kill" and "True Blood", he now stars in the movie "13"
with, among others, Ray Liotta and 50 Cent.

-" It is of course really good to release it. But I have always believed in my talent, "he says in Entertainment Bladet meet him in New York.

Actually started well Alexander Skarsgård lives go in harmony with "This is the year" in 2007.

That was when he towed the role of Officer Brad "The Iceman" Colbert in the HBO series "Generation Kill" and also went to Africa for a nearly year-long filming.

But it was this year a realistic, intrusive drama about a Marine platoon in the mission in Iraq was sent - and was a success.

"Incredibly proud, I had very high expectations and they met. I am incredibly proud of "Generation Kill," he says over a late breakfast in a mess got in Soho in southern Manhattan.

The filming was not easy for 32-year-old Stockholm native .

"First, I would be a tough Marine soldier and an American. And I had the supporting role. I had never done anything like that before, "he says - I was nervous. While they were setting up the roles, I thought not so much on it, and then I had to have confidence. But once I landed the job, I was a little scared. Suddenly, I had a budget of 500 Millar on my shoulders, "

"But I was excited too. That is why I have been here for four years, to get that kind of opportunity that I received."

To play vampire in 'True blood' which is also an HBO project - seems to be less complicated.

- "Generation Kill" is the closest to the heart of everything I do, I love the project, but that after a yesterday passed around in camouflage clothes and been this laconic, Torre Marine soldier, it was incredibly liberating to put on the Eric wig (?)And just play” smiles Skarsgård.

- "Generation Kill" documentary and was extremely dry and genuine, while "True blood" is ... much sexier, with soundtracks and songs and Cliffhangers and i love it . I can take turns out a lot more. It is of course a benefit to work with the contrasts.

And now Skarsgårds is working "13" - a re-make of a French film about a collection of cynical billionaires who invests money in Russian roulette.

"I have a small role, but I liked the script and because it was possible to squeeze in before we start recording second season of "True blood" "I am grateful and I felt this was a movie I wanted to be in."

He has choices now

It is the reward for four years of working in Hollywood and all other than the hottest stars in principle which consist of long series of meetings and auditions and disappointments. "It is of course really good to forget the problems, I was actually never particularly busy, he says.

"As a pyramid"
- I have always believed in my talent and knowledge that it will sooner or later a project would come along that was right for me.

The project came ... yes, it can happens !
"My life has changed some. This world is built like a pyramid and I have taken a step up. I do not have to prove what I can anymore. Now the target is to reach a level where I may direct offers and can live where I want, for example, with the family at home in Stockholm. Or anywhere."

It sounds like a certain Marit Bergman-hit may be the soundtrack to many years in Alexander Skarsgård life
-----
This year ...

... CD: I think Glasvegas CD is really good.

... FILM: "Let the right to enter". ( let the right on in )

... reading: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WAO" by Junot Diaz.

... TV: I have not seen so much TV, but I watch "Mad Men " sometimes. It is good.

... concert: I saw Vampire Weekend last week, it was really good.

... moment: It was probably the beginning of the year, in a taxi on the way home from the airport to the south after I had been in Africa on the recording in one year. It was a real pissdag. You know, one plus degree and sleeting. The Taxi cab driver sat and complained that he had not seen the sun in three months. And in the back, I was so happy. I thought every little thing was great. Just to see Ica Maxi was wonderful. Registration plates on an old Saab made me cry. Unbelievably strong ... I am so fucking hemmakär (
homesick???) when I come home ...


http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article4030612.ab

`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.''