Smallscreen Features

Comic Con July 23, True Blood Panel

By Tracey Brown Jul 24, 2010, 7:15 GMT

06/08/2010 - Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin - © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

The cast and creators of HBO’s True Blood were (again) met with a very enthusiastic response from the Comic-Con audience.  On hand was the writer of the Sookie Stackhouse novels that inspired True Blood, Charlaine Harris, as well as the creator and head writer of the series, Alan Ball. 

photo ©M&C

The cast members attending were; Anna Paquin (Sookie), Stephen Moyer (Bill), Sam Trammell (Sam), Rutina Wesley (Tara), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette), Kristin Bauer (Pam) and Joe Manganiello (Alcide). Notable absences were Ryan Kwanten (Jason) and Alexander Skarsgård (Eric), who we were told were off filming movies and that is why they could not attend.

photo ©M&C

(*spoiler alert for rest of article*)

A highlight reel of the rest of Season 3, which had been created exclusively for Comic-Con, included clips of Sookie laying in a hospital bed and not looking so good.  Also, it looks like Sam’s “family” is, as suspected, going to be some trouble.  Bill was telling Sookie he didn’t care about her (I wasn’t buying it) and we saw Eric holding his father’s crown.  Fans also cheered at what look like potential romantic scenes between Sookie and Alcide.  Tara also looks like she is not getting out of Franklin’s clutches anytime soon.

photo ©M&C

During the Q&A, Anna Paquin mentioned that she was excited about having scenes where she got to “kick someone’s ass” instead of having hers kicked and how much she enjoyed doing the choreographed fight scenes. She pointed out that even though she had been in X-Men, she didn’t get to work on any action scenes, so these were her first.  From the clips, it looks like the person whose ass she will be kicking is Alcide’s ex-girlfriend, Debbie.

When asked where he got inspirations from playing Lafayette, Nelsan Ellis said that his mother and sister, whom he affectionately said were “crazy”, were the inspirations for Lafayette.

Alan Ball, courtesy of Warner Bros.

Even though he has only been on the show for three episodes, Joe Manganiello clearly already has a huge fan base. (I know I was a fan after he was onscreen for about 5 seconds!)  He announced that he had been told by Alan Ball a few days before that he was being made a regular cast member of the show.  Fans were just a little bit excited by this announcement.

Stephen Moyer, courtesy of Warner Bros.

Stephen Moyer said that in spite of the dark places that his character, Bill, has gone to so far this season, that it was only the beginning and would get worse.  He also mentioned that what he loves most about the show is that he is given something different to do all the time, that he never has to play the same type of scene over and over again.

When asked if Tara would ever be given a break, Alan Ball said that she would have a short respite at the end of Season 3, but would be back in peril again in Season 4.  (If that is true, I’m curious to see how they make it believable that she won’t try and off herself again!)  Ball also mentioned that he’d love to do the show forever; as it is the most enjoyable project he has ever worked on, but that he doesn’t want to get to the point where he has to figure out how to explain why the vampires are aging.

So, it looks like the rest of Season 3 is going to be quite a corker; very bloody, with lots of action, but also with the humor and character driven stories that fans have come to expect.