I was sitting FRONT ROW in Ballroom 20 for the True Blood panel that started off with Joe Manganiello blowing me a kiss. (I blew one first and he returned it, apparently, I was in heaven and now exactly feeling anything but bliss ha ha)
Some highlights included:
Michael McMillian and Anna Camp banter as Steve and Sarah Newlin.
Rob Kazinsky and Ryan Kwantlen discussing the preparation for their "shaving" scene together (homoerotic dream 'Jason' has about 'Ben')
Anna Paquin talking about Sookie always being in danger, and finally learning somethings after everything she has been through.
Brian Buckner said they would 'return to their roots' with on central storyline versus the multiples as of late. (Thank Billith!)
“We’re going to try to condense the number of stories we’re telling and make this really feel like we’re coming home. I wanna bring it in a little bit. Not to discount Charlaine [Harris’] books at all, but my hope is to get all these people we love living under this one story and one threat. Really just make it about this small town we’ve all come to know and love.”
The preview for the rest of the season shows Sookie giving a eulogy, shows some major action (sexy and violent rawr!) Check it out here:
Loved seeing everyone on the panel, though disappointing Alexander Skarsgård and Stephen Moyer were not there, it worked out as it was already a pretty packed panel and felt too short.
And of course Nelsan Ellis saying "Rihanna and make-up" get him into the "Lafayette" mood. Another fan asked how Lafayette would use the scard Nelsan was wearing and he showed us this:
Ryan Kwantlen demonstrated how he was doing pull ups and Anna Paquin was supposed to walk in after three, but would delay coming in, then do her lines extra slow to make him suffer doing the pull-up's even longer.
Here are some more photos from the panel....
Seriously my new fave is Warlow akak Ben aka Rob Kazinsky.
Search youtube there are many more from most of the cast
And a non-serious PSA but very cute and funny... Youtube has a number of them from each cast member - I don't know if you saw these they came out in June just before Season 4 started...
I died tonight... at first a little because I missed the True Blood Panel, but then, a lot because friends of mine met Alexander Skarsgård.... *dies*
Yes, other friends met him last night at a celebrity filled Summit party, but somehow today was harder to deal... I could have been there... next year - no if's, and's or but's!
Anyways, enough of my whining! Let's get to the details of the True Blood panel at SDCC.... Since I was not there I am relying on others who were!
A Q&A session moderated by Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack featured Ryan Kwanten,, Rutina Wesley, Nelsan Ellis, Deborah Ann Woll, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Joe Manganiello, and Kevin Alejandro and more!
Want to read all about it? Click below for more. Also see the preview reel at the bottom for some hints on what's to come this season!
In Attendance: Alan Ball, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Rutina Wesley, Nelsan Ellis, Kevin Alejandro, Deborah Ann Woll, Kristin Bauer van Straten.
Moderator: Tim Stack from Entertainment Weekly
Here comes “the most attractive cast on television!” – Tim Stack.
Why do people live in Bon Temps? “If you could live in Bon Temps, wouldn’t you?” – Alan Ball
Anna: “There’s the part of Sookie who’s sweet. And there’s the part of her that has really dirty vampire sex. Possibly with two vampires.”
Alan: “If you translate the spell placed on Alex, it says ‘you will lose your memory, your shirt, and you will still be insanely hot.’”
Alexander Skarsgard asked about whether Eric forgets his shirts all the time too. Saying the outfit Sookie finds for him at her/his house was maybe Hoyt’s.
Alan Ball on the outfit: “You’ll wear dorky outfits for several episodes, and still be insanely hot.”
Stephen Moyer says Bill and Portia will see each other again. But it’s not a big thing on Bill’s mind with the witchy goings on.
Is Jesus secretly dark? Kevin: “There’s a little darkness if everyone. You’ll have to watch to find out.”
Tara as a lesbian cage fighter? “I love the UFC. But I personally don’t like labels. I think Tara fell in love and didn’t know what happened but at least she’s smiling for a change.” – Rutina
Ryan: “I think he’s enjoying the fact that he’s now being called Ghost Daddy.”
Little girl from the audience: “I love you Deborah!” Deborah: “Oh, you’re too young to watch our show.”
Pam’s face-falling-off? Kristin: “We work hard to make you squeamish. But it’s a very technical experience. 9-hour day, 9-hour shoot.”
Is there hope for Bill and Sookie? The crowd applause’s/boos.
Anna: “It’s more complicated than that.”
What’s the deal with Arlene’s baby? Alan: “We’ll find out what it is about that doll that makes it creepy. And it’s something creepy.”
Will we see the famous shower scene? Alan pauses. “There will be a moment where Sookie and Eric are together in a shower. “It may not be exactly what happens in the books. It may be weirder. And dirtier.”
Anna talks about how being so short is an obstacle with the naked men scenes. Especially turning around to Alcide while Eric was in the water and trying to not have a direct look at his bidness.
Favorite scenes so far this season? Alan: “Jason’s ritualistic gang rape.” Ryan: “I’ll take it.”
Alex’s favorite scene this season so far? Eric’s swim in the sun.
Joe Manganiello is filming a movie in Atlanta and Sam Trammell’s about to have twins – in case you’re wondering why they did not attend!
Alan: “What I love about the comic books – it’s more story in a different format.”
Fan questions begin! Why’s Eric’s voice higher this season? Alex: “I was more of a robot. But I’m becoming more and more human.”
Are we going to see Pam’s made story? Alan: “You will definitely see it in Season 5.” Alex: “Aww, my baby.” Kristin: “Daddy.” Baby talk.
If Lafayette could date someone, would it be Eric, Jason, or Bill? Nelsan: “I must say I’m happy with the squeeze I got. But I’ll do all 4.”
Oh boy! Janina Gavankar bum-rushes the fan questions! Tells the cast they’re all going to hell!
Kristin: “Pam’s only vulnerable about her Maker. And now, losing her face.”
Random Zoolander 2 question to Alexander. He says it’s up to Ben Stiller, but he’d enjoy doing it.
Alan Ball asked about Eric’s memory return and how it happens, affects the political climate. Won’t reveal any details. “I think the vampires are going to stick together because they’re fighting a common enemy. And that enemy is Michelle Bachman.”
Panel asked whether Claudine’s death will heighten or diminish Sookie’s powers. Alan Ball says that those who’ve read the books know fairies are born in litters and are identical. Very cryptic, especially with how free the show is with the source material.
Sookie can still read minds, we just don’t hear about it.
Is the storyline between Sam and Tara done? Alan: “Nothing’s ever done on this show.”
International Truebie love? Alan: “This show is universal. People all over the world love crazy messed up weirdness.”
Alan: “This show has a tremendous amount of life. I hope we get to a point where we have to explain why vampires seem to be aging.”
Nelsan was asked about his appearance yesterday on the TV Guide panel and why he was wearing a hat and sitting back. “I was nervous to hear what people was going to say to me when I came out.”
Inspiration? Anna: “Even though these characters are supernatural, they’re grounded in human reality. What Sookie goes through is real.”
Stephen: “It all comes down to the writing. Unless the writing is good, you can’t do it. We’ve got an unbelievable group surrounding Alan.”
Fan asks Nelsan to call her “hooker.” Nelsan gives his best “hookah.”
There will be a Hooligans type place with male and female strippers in season 5.
Ghost like things will make an appearance on the show. Demons will play a larger part later this season. Alan Ball says they’re looking at adding more supernatural beings in season 5.
What supes haven’t we seen yet? Alan: “Cream of mushroom?” Ha. “Spirits without bodies. Brujo-based creatures. More research to come.”
Most memorable experience? Alex: “It was fun flying. Flashbacks. Stuff in Swedish, the Viking stuff. Why Eric is who he is today.”
Making Six Feet Under vs. True Blood? Alan: “True Blood is never depressing. The supernatural nature makes it fun to come to work.” ” The same depressing stuff is just more fun on TB .”
Kristin: “I’d like to think Eric is willing to do anything to save Pam. Alex: “He doesn’t care about many, but she means a lot to him.”
Kristen was asked about how Eric would react if Pam were the one with her memory wiped. Alex: “He’s willing to meet the true death for his progeny.” Audience gave a big “Awwww” to that. Pam without her memory would love children, wear bad clothes, and bake cookies.
“I like you a lot…baby steps, baby steps. But there’s potential.” Alex telling a fan he may grow to love her, but it’ll take time. Amazingly charming.
Alan Ball likes deviating from the books because it keeps all fans on their toes. “We try to remain true to the spirit and world of the books.”
Books vs. writing the show? Alan: “1. The books are all Sookie’s story. We can’t do that. 2. If we stuck to books, there would be no surprises.”
“She takes her clothes off all the time. Just wait for this season!” Alan Ball says of Anna Paquin’s Sookie.
Fan thanks the True Blood panel for making his “marriage relations a whole lot better.” Crowd goes wild.
Actors talking about how they auditioned for the show. Alex sent in a tape. Nelsan thrusted his crotch at Alan. “Something you want to remember if you want to be an actress,” Ball quips to a groan.
Deborah Ann Woll speaks for the first time. Fans love her. She had to do her death and vampire rebirth scene. Ryan Kwanten was part of the first round of auditions.
Rutina Wesley talking about getting on the show, and fans are yelling out they love her. I think they’ve begun to redeem Tara in the fan’s eyes this season. There’s a great shot of Tara with a shotgun in the teaser trailer that got an enormous pop.
Rutina: “When I got the part, I literally started crying. I’m very thankful to you, Alan, for the opportunity.” *tears*
Stephen Moyer had been burglarized. After he got his kid to sleep with his teddy, Stephen got the call. He flew to LA the next day and met Anna for the first time. Anna Paquin went through numerous readings. “I stalked Alan until he gave in.” Anna thankful that Alan was able to see beyond what’s on the page in the book and who she is.
HUGE thank you to the fans who waiting in line ALL DAY to attend today’s panel.
Here is a "sizzle reel" with a sneak peek on what's to come this season - rawr!
True Blood’s fourth season premiere presented us with a host of twists and turns for its characters and one of the biggest surprises to come out of it was Tara’s (Rutina Wesley) apparent sexuality shift. The plot twist has been out for a couple weeks now, but the character’s identity had fans guessing. More...
Wesley tells The Hollywood Reporter that she’ll be a bit relieved once the cat’s out of the bag. “I’m really excited, because people keep asking me about it and I can’t talk about it and it drives me crazy,” she says.
Last Season, Tara found herself in a deep depression over the death of her lover, Eggs (Mehcad Brooks), and then trapped in a violent affair with vampire Franklin Mott (James Frain). After discovering that pretty much everyone around her was connected somehow to the supernatural freakiness that is Bon Temps, she left town. It was that breaking point that informed the production team that it was time for a change.
STORY: 'True Blood' Premiere: 10 Things Sookie Missed While Fraternizing With Fairies
“We felt like it was time for Tara to stop being the victim,” Creator Alan Ball tells us. “It was time for Tara to really take charge of her life in a way that would be surprising and would give us some fun places to go story wise. We thought, ‘If somebody has been through something like that, maybe they would be prompted to create a whole new life and identity.’ And why not?”
Wesley says she was surprised at first by her character’s storyline this season, but it began making sense to her. “After I thought about it, I was like I can see that,” she tells us.
“She’s got some new skin so to speak and she’s living life to its fullest and I think that’s a beautiful thing honestly to see a person go through that sort of change,” she adds. “Without putting any labels to it, she sort of fallen in love and that’s OK, you know. I just think that’s amazing.”
Tara’s storyline does open a can of worms when it comes to gay portrayals on television. After all, the series has gone a long way in training its viewers to see vampire sexuality as fluid and still some viewers have found issue with the show’s “barrage of sexuality” as Philadelphia Eagles player, Todd Herremans, tweeted last August. And that was definitely discussed by True Blood’s producers and writers.
“Yes, we did talk about what that meant,” executive producer Alexander Woo says. “Was she always curious? Did she always have sexual interest in men and women? I think we figured that we certainly were careful not to suggest that her life and the course of her life drew her into a relationship with another woman. But I think what Tara does at the beginning of this year is that she sees an opportunity to start completely fresh, start completely new and not being tied down with all these patterns that created her so much suffering.”
STORY: 'True Blood': EP Reveals How Witches Conjure Up Chaos in Season 4
Wesley tells us that she also worries about the message her character’s lesbian relationship sends to viewers. “My main thing is I don’t think it’s because my character has such bad luck with men,” she says.
“I hope that people can understand that,” she continues. “Because I know people, of course, are just going to go to the ‘Oh, they’re just doing that, because she had that relationship and all of a sudden she’s gay.’ No, no, no, it’s not that. It’s just something that happened and she ended up being open to it, which I think is really cool. It’s nice to see Tara a little more Zen and open to things. And she just seems more carefree about life. It feels good to see her smile for a change.”
So, that of course brings us to the question of is "gay" even the right word to call Tara at this point? “I’m not entirely sure that Tara is gay,” Woo says. “In the case of Tara, she has decided to take on an entirely new identity which also includes sexual identity. We’ll see how well that works.”
And Wesley’s personal distaste for placing labels on anyone extends to her character, as well. “I think people are who they are,” she says. “You love who you love and it doesn’t matter.”
