True Blood: Best Scenes - Season 2 Episode 1

EDIT/ If you've watch episode one of season two watch this. See if you agree that these are the best scenes. Thanks to RainingXrisi!

Sorry. E! has removed the video but there's some juicy stuff from the interview after the jump!

"In all honesty, this stuff is for the rabid True Blood fangirls who need no introduction to these two, but if you're reading this anyway and you're the type who likes a little metadata with your content, then you should know this is a post about True Blood, which is an hour-long sex, blood, and soap opera Southern Gothic vampire series executive produced by Alan Ball and broadcast by the premium cable network HBO.

These interviews with actors Alexander Skarsgård, who plays Viking vampire Eric Northman, and Stephen Moyer, who plays Southern vampire Bill Compton, were conducted by E! News at the True Blood season-two premiere party at the Paramount lot in Hollywood on the evening of June 9, 2009.
For further information, please review our series of informative online articles (lulz) on the topic of True Blood.
Season two of True Blood premieres Sunday, June 14 at 9 p.m. on the Home Box Office channel delivered by your cable or direct broadcast satellite provider. Enjoy." Credit: TEAM WWK

Huh. That's the first time I've heard Alexander Skarsgård speaking as himself. I thought he'd have an accent. Isn't he really big in one of those Icelandic or Norwegian countries? Or is that just rumour and/or innuendo?

Also, it's still pretty striking too to hear Stephen Moyer speak as not-Bill. Lovely voice. Anna Paquin as well (not heard in this clip). Not an American in the bunch!

You'll notice in that when writing about True Blood E! (below after jump) really seems intent on making sure the reader knows that "True Blood" has some very raunchy sex scenes. That's because Alan Ball is unafraid of your reaction. But it's not teevee, it's HBO so he can do what he wants. As he did on Six Feet Under :)

Meanwhile, media outlets like E! can grapple with just how do they write about this show they ignored until it became a hit? Hmm.

Anyway, I think True Blood brings out into the open a number of sex taboos on American television, namely sex itself! The Brits are much more casual about a shot of breast or bum--and their language is saltier, albeit at times very hard to understand to my not-Brit ears.

More with Stephen Moyer talking to E! after the jump:

"We just spoke exclusively with True Blood's leading man, Stephen Moyer, aka Bill Compton himself, to find out what's in store for the vampires of the dirty, dirty South in season two. He told us that while there will be just as many near-pornographic sex scenes, his character is still primarily driven by an overriding morality and an abiding passion for Sookie Stackhouse.

Read on to find out what he told us about sex scenes, his "hideous" vampire daughter and falling in love with Anna Paquin, onscreen and off...

Is True Blood going to stay as explicitly sexual this season or will you dial that back a bit?

The show is ridiculously f--king sexy…I think Alan Ball and the writers do very well in pushing the envelope. I think one of the things that drives me nuts about society is that you can watch hours about terrorists but you can't look at a human nipple. What the f--k is that about? Sex is part of our lives. It's part of our existence. So I kind of embrace the fact that we hit it full on the head. 

What you think of Bill as a person, are you more interested in him as a vampire or as a personality?
There's no getting away from the fact that Bill is a vampire. He can't wish to be anything else, because he's a vampire, but he's a vampire who wants to live a human life. Actually, in fact, he wishes not for a human life, but for a moral life. It's not that he doesn't want to feed on blood, it's that he doesn't want it to involve killing—but in his first season he kills as many people as the murderer. That was something that was very present in our minds. He has that blood lust, he has that very strong sense of right and wrong. If somebody f--ks him off, he's going to take them out. He's torn. He's not going to do it just for the sake of it. But if somebody hurts him or hurts his family or hurts his loved one…they're history. [Chuckles]. I like that.

What kind of arc can we expect for Bill and Sookie this season?
I think that they love each other more than they have loved anything ever. Speaking from Bill's point of view, she's given him reason to live again.

Does your relationship with Anna [Paquin] make it more or less difficult to do emotionally awkward scenes between Sookie and Bill, like when she and Sam got together last season and Bill walked in on them? 
Anna and I met on this show. We met doing the job. And so the crew has seen us grow together. They have seen our relationship grow by watching us on set. Now, you know, we kept it from them to begin with. You know, it was very…we wanted to keep it private. We didn't want people to think we were f--king with their lives with something fickle. But honestly, there's no one I'd rather work with. I really mean it. I love working with her, and that's how it all started, by falling in love on camera…So last year, Sam had his stuff coming up with Anna and at that point nobody knew we were a couple. So Sam's a close friend, and I had to go to Sam and say, 'Look. I need to tell you something. I need you to know. I don't want you to find out later and feel like a heel.' So I told him; that was the first time I told him about me and Anna. And he couldn't believe it! It's about trust, you know. And that trust is a very important part of a relationship.

From your perspective as an actor, how would you characterize Bill and Eric's relationship—are they friends, enemies, coworkers or what?
Bill just knows that's how Eric is, and that he's not going to be changing him anytime soon. Certainly in this season there is a moral hierarchy. And you understand that in the vampire world there's a very strong sense of right and wrong. There are things you do and things you don't and if you do something within the vampire world that is f--ked up and against your fellow vamp, you are going to suffer for that. I kind of like that idea that, you know, anything goes, but if you cross a line, you're going to suffer for it. Whether Eric is adhering to those vampire morals is important. 

What about your vampire daughter, Jessica—does that continue to be a fractured fairy tale?

If Bill imagined a daughter, he imagined a beautiful little well-mannered Victorian beauty. And Jessica comes along, and she is this hideous, sex-and-blood-hungry 17-year-old. And we don't think she's going to be that. We think she's going to be this home-schooled innocent, and that's not where she is at all. The actress, Deborah Ann Woll, who plays Jessica, she's f--king brilliant. And I love her. She goes about creating her part through a very pure, you know, method way. And I don't mean she's a Method actress, I just mean she really, she really goes at it with incredible, incredible industry. She's fantastic to work with!

What can you tell us about season two?
I think the second season is beyond amazing…more than anybody imagined. Honestly, I came out of the screening the other day with my jaw on the floor. And I've read it, you know. 

True Blood season two premieres June 14 at 9 p.m. on HBO. 

At this point E! again asks the reader "why" they are hot and bothered over the show. Probably the same reason they are--or at least the female writing about it True Blood has lots of sex and blood and vampires and drama and humour. And Anna Paquin. What's not to like?

Photo credit: TV Guide

E!  interview