True Blood starring Alexander Skarsgård, Chris Meloni and Steven Moyer:
NEW True Blood Wallpaper and Posters (HBO.com):
True Blood Season 5 "Everything Is At Stake" Promo (HD):
TRUE BLOOD - Season 5 - TV Guide Magazine Scans: Tara as Pam's progeny
All signs are pointing that way. See the video uptop and here's another (read above TVGuide snippet).
SOURCE: TV Guide Magazine
Click through Picasa slideshow (below) for more/full sizes.
This is either proof of many people long ago calling this right or a complete foiler.
I don't wish to believe that vampire Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) has had the power to resurrect dead people and convert them to vampires because this is the first ever I've heard of this vamp power in the Sookie-verse.
If this is true, I commend them for trying to do something for the Tara (Rutina Wesley) character. Being made vampire she'll reallybe able to let loose with all her rage--snap a few necks--maybe of her fellow vampires! And any excuse for more Pam since it seems her maker Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) will be off bromancing Bill (Steven Moyer) in season 5 is fine by me.
Bringing back a guy that writes True Blood comics and used to be the Reverend Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) though it may have been easy to do, is hard to understand, 'cause I hate the guy. He's bloody annoying and over-the-top cheesy.
TRUE BLOOD SEASON 5 - PAM'S ORIGIN STORY (Finally) Kristen Bauer van Straten as 'Pam' and Alexander Skarsgård as her maker, 'Eric' in True Blood season 5 (Photo: HBO)
Season 5 of TRUE BLOOD premieres Sunday, June 10th on HBO and nowhere else!
Have you seen the NEW TRUE BLOOD Season 5 trailer #1, yet?
It aired just before GAME OF THRONES Sunday evening and it certainly packed many buzz-worthy quick shots and snippets of convo.
Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis - above) believes Sookie is the 'angel of death.'
Kind of interesting because I believe he used pretty close to the same expression on Jason in season one. He made Sookie (Anna Paquin) sad and I'm pretty sure she was already sad.
Both the group and most senior vampire, 'Roman,' played by Chris Meloni, 'are' The Vampire Authority.
Desperately needing a storyline now that Jessica is not his reason for existing in the Bon Temps-verse, Hoyt (Jim Parrack) has taken to guyliner, fishnet shirts and, presumably, fangbanging (no more eternal virgins for him!).
OTOH, perhaps Hoyt is an undercover vamp killer! (Would be cool to have him hold Jess in his arms once last time...and then...neck-snap!)
ALEXANDER SKARSGARD as Eric Northman in season five TRUE BLOOD (June 10) HBO: 'They. will. suffer.' - Eric (emulating Russell?)
Russell Edgington: "Ha.Ha. Haaa!'
Actor Denis O'hare is reprising his role as Russell Edgington. The actor does look thinner as some have noted, though wouldn't the character look worse for the wear after his near-true death burning/cement trauma/buried alive scenario?
On the subject of Russell, we've seen now a couple of times, a sequence where an unconscious-looking man is being effortlessly dragged to a small room by (presumably) a vampire, the door opens and the body is pulled inside by an unknown entity at vamp speed. Then we hear a man's cry and see a large blood splatter on the small window of the room. Could the 'person' 'procuring' the human be Steve Newlin? In the screencaps it sure does look like that Elvis-style hairdo he sports (even in death).
Several snippets seem to confirm actor Alexander Skarsgård's assertion that his and 'Bill's' (Steven Moyer) storyline this season is akin to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
STEPHEN MOYER, ANNA PAQUIN and ALEXANDER SKAGSGARD in TRUE BLOOD season 5: It would be nice if Sookie did not have to be paired up with either Bill or Eric for a season. No 'shipper wars would be awesome. For my part I've always found the non-sexual, maker-child Eric- Pam relationship much more satisfying on an ongoing basis, though it seems we will see them get 'closer' in a flashback origin sequence for Pam (KRISTEN BAUER van STRATEN):
The kiss between Alcide (JOE MANGANIELLO) and Sookie? He's gonna be real busy with were-issues and she with vamp/other stuff so I'm thinking they end up in much the same place that they did in the books (skipping the romance, tho'). Alcide and Sookie = flirtation.
Terry and Patrick. Apparently something bad happened over in 'the war' they were in together and now they must remedy it. I like giving Todd Lowe something to do but this sounds like a second-string story that is going to elicit a big 'who cares?' (See: Anything to do with Jason's Hot Shot story.) It's what's going on in crazy Bon Temps that we care about!
The Vampire Authority: We've long known there was one. We even saw them in shadowy silhouette on a big screen at Fangtasia. Now we get to meet them.
Though Chris Meloni brings the network & cable teevee name recognition that some of his fellow Authority figures don't, he also brings the baggage of when he's dressed up in a suit, he looks exactly like the guy he LAST played on network TV. Would that he looked exactly like the guy he played in the HBO series 'Oz,' but alas, he would need to wear a wife beater (or nothing) and be 15 years younger.
The Vampire Authority in general looks, or at least dresses like a bunch of middle-aged executives (except Salomé--how could she?). Their look as we see it now, is so bland that it raises no expectations. Perhaps because the Authority is so conformist their suits are meant to echo that? If so, great but I was hoping for each of them to show more individual personality in their appearance.
No Tara (Rutina Wesley) in True Blood's season 5 Trailer #1 save for the season 4 last shot of Sookie and a brains-splattered Tara on the floor of Sookie's kitchen. The character of 'Tara' is a hot topic because fans seem to be about 75% wanting her gone forever and 25% arguing for her to 'come back' some way. The only plausible way within the life/death parameters that have been stated thus far in the HBO TV series are that she could reappear as a ghost. For the Tara haters this would probably be a bad thing as the options left to send her away for good then would seem null.
It would however just squeak by into the parameters that the actress who plays Tara, set. Rutina Wesley has interviewed when speaking of the series in general and her role in particular that she would be happiest if that with so many characters on the show already supernatural, that Tara could remain human. Killing her, then having her reappear as a ghost sort of gives the actress her wish.
And finally, we have...Faeries! After nearly no faeries in season 4 despite the huge consequences of Sookie being part -Fae, some fairies are back. Behold:
Above: 'Microwave fingers' (One should be a re-cast 'Claude,' brother of the late 'Claudine'.)
You may have already heard that Stephen Moyer is trying his hand at directing this season, taking the reins of episode 8 (written by Mark Hudis). I asked Michael McMillian, who plays Steve Newlin, what it’s like to work with Moyer in such a different capacity and he had quite a bit to say:
"It's clear Stephen has a deep appreciation for these characters and a need to dig into things a little deeper than usual to find the truth in each scene. He has a natural talent for directing. He's really in his element behind the camera and brings a playful and wicked sense of humor with him. It was fun working with him. I felt like the parents had left town and our cool big brother was in charge of all us kids. He took his role seriously, but still managed to throw us a party."
This newly-available TRUE BLOOD CASTING CALL is so descriptive, so exacting in the detail of the the creatures being cast, that it qualifies for a SPOILER label.
First, this Casting Call is for episode 11 of TRUE BLOOD season 5--the penultimate eppy. It should be a big setup for the finale and, from the variety of characters that are being cast for episode 5.11, I'd say True Blood is going to end the "Alan Ball as showrunner"- era with a bang.
Vamp security guard. Check.
The Minister of the European Vampire League--which explains the need for the guy above.
A middle-aged werewolf 'elder' warns Alcide of a new breed of vampire(!)
Feral evil teen-girl vampire,
Feral, evil "businessman" vampire.
Feral, evil biker 'baby' vamp. Travels wit the teen-girl and businessman vampires.
Authority guards, vampire most likely.
It sounds like the faeries, who everyone thought were pretty funny anyway, are being played for laughs in this scene:'The ANGRY FAERIE gets into an argument with the Belligerent Faerie and the Pissed Off Faerie in a faerie free-for-all.'
This also sounds really goofy: [FAERIE BOY, FAERIE GIRL] 'This Faerie boy and girl get all amorous and excited as they pull Jason into their Faerie Club. '
So at a minimum, you have Alcide still up to his neck in vampires and still breathing which is good!-- as well as Jason alive and well it seems, and tangled up (sexually) with a couple of faeries! Go Jason. Though if he's gone to faeryland will he too, be away from Bon Temps for an extended time (ala Earl and Sookie)?
[GONDRY] Mid-30's, slimy and conniving, with slicked back hair, Gondry is a Vampire Security Guard. He has a sort of amused contempt for his assignment. Guest star.
[BERTRAND] A swarthy Frenchman, authoritative, confident, he is the Minister of the European Vampire League. Guest star.
[MURPHY ROLLINS] Mid 50s, a werewolf, strong, a man who speaks his mind, he brings a warning about a new breed of vampires to Alcide and Jackson. Guest star.
[TEEN-GIRL VAMPIRE] This teenage girl vampire with a ravenous, feral, just plain evil look about her. Co-star.
[ANGRY FAERIE] This angry faerie gets into an argument with the Belligerent Faerie and the Pissed Off Faerie in a faerie free-for-all. Co-star.
[AUTHORTY GUARD(s) #1, #2] These rough Authority Guards at the prison help keep order. Co-star.
[BIKER VAMP] This newly formed vampire with a feral, ravaneous, evil look is traveling around with the Teen-Girl Vamp and the Businessman Vamp. No lines, 2 scenes. (40)
[BUSINESSMAN VAMP] This businessman vamp with a ravenous, feral, just plain evil look. Co-star.
[FAERIE BOY, FAERIE GIRL] This Faerie boy and girl get all amorous and excited as they pull Jason into their Faerie Club. Co-star.
The 'Dark Shadows' Cast Dark Shadows cast members Chloe Grace Moretz, Eva Green, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Bella Heathcote.
Cast and crew members turned up in Hollywood to celebrate the premiere of "Dark Shadows," Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's eighth collaboration as director and star.
Prior to sharing the stage with Alice Cooper at the Dark Shadows premiere.
Johnny Depp Chloe Moretz
Depp reunites for the eighth time with director Tim Burton to play Barnabas Collins, the undead paterfamilias of the Collins clan who is released from the grave 200 years after he was buried.
Chloe Grace Moretz (right) plays Carolyn Stoddard, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard's (Michelle Pfeiffer) rebellious teenage daughter.
RUTINA WESLEY as TARA THORNTON in TRUE BLOOD Season 5 premiering on HBO June 10:
Despite reassurances that 'Tara' would again be a featured player in TRUE BLOOD season 5, some viewers were skeptical on account of her final scene in Sookie's kitchen. Wesley herself has said 'half her head' was blown off when Tara flung herself between (now dead) Debbie Pelt's shotgun blast and Sookie. Didn't look survivable.
However, through what can only now be attributed to mystical/supernatural forces of which there are many in Bon Temps, Tara looks fairly intact in this headshot (no pun) poster art, though to be fair, we are only seeing half her head.
CLICK TO Enlarge these TRUE BLOOD Season 5 Character Posters (May 10 2012)
Question: Do you have any True Blood scoop? The wait is seriously killing me!
Ausiello:
Terry (Todd Lowe) will spend much of the season on the road with his ex-military buddy Patrick (Scott Foley). “Most of the time we are out in the greater 50 states tracking down other members of our platoon trying to get some closure to this event that happened over in Iraq,” reveals Foley of the duo’s hush-hush storyline, which required “a lot of running and fighting and jumping. There’s a lot of physicality.”
UPDATE (MAY 9 2012) Game Of Thrones Season 2: The Story So Far (Episodes 11-16) VIDEO:
NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU as 'Jaime Lannister' in KING OF THRONES Episode #17: “A Man Without Honor” (HBO) Beginning MAY 13:
Game Of Thrones Season 2: Episode #17 Preview VIDEO:
GAME OF THRONES - Episode #17: “A Man Without Honor” SYNOPSIS:
Jaime (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau) meets a distant relative;Dany receives an invitation to the House of the Undying; Theon leads a search party; Jon loses his way in the wilderness; Cersei (Lena Headey) counsels Sansa (Sophie Turner).
Debut: SUNDAY, MAY 13 (9:00-10:00 p.m.) Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss; directed by David Nutter.
ALFIE ALLEN as THEON GREYJOY in GAME OF THRONES - Episode #17: “A Man Without Honor”:
Update May 9, 2012 - NEW! GAME OF THRONES: SEASON 2 SO FAR VIDEO ( The Story So Far (Episodes 11-16):
Game Of Thrones Season 2: Inside The Episode #16 VIDEO:
Game of Thrones Season 2: Recap #16:
This episode may have been the most exciting and tension-filled hour of Game of Thrones yet simply because I had no idea what would happen next!
Despite having to missed a week of Bronn (Jerome Flynn) and Ser Jorah (Iain Glen), we had some scorching scenes with many of our favorites (it was Stark-and-psuedo-Stark-intensive).
The opening scene was heartbreaking:
Theon: I sent my men over the walls with grappling hooks and took the castle.
Bran: Why?
As a almost synched-in-time-with GAME OF THRONES (HBO) and current book reader, this was hands down the most tense episode of the season as half-way through I realized that seriously, I had NO IDEA what would happen next.
This episode had some rocking scenes. My highlights:
All of the interactions with Arya (Maisie Williams) and Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) were chock full of seriously great chemistry. And when they added Littlefinger to the mix it was nail-bittingly intense. (For my part, I have no doubt whatsoever that he recognized Arya. Think about who and what Littlefinger is.)
Kudos to the brilliant Mr. Dance, who knows full well the caveat about working with animals and children in film and is handing every scene to Maisie and her wonderful expression. His restraint is superb—he never dominates with too strong a delivery, or upstages her with menacing hand motions, or any other bits of theatrical business —he just serves up one home-run ball after another and lets her hit each one out of the park.
Arya and Jaqen:
The annoyed look on Jaqen’s (Tom Wlaschiha) face when a frantic Arya demands an immediate kill was perfect. And then Tywin opens the door and Lorch drops in--dead. Spot.on.
The Jon and Ygritte scene where Ygritte kept… “moving” was sweet and sexy. Despite it being a departure from the books, it made me smile.
Osha = badass/ good heart:
Bran, Rickon, Osha and Hodor escape Theon's Winterfell invasion, but to where?:
Game of Thrones Season 2: Recap #16 VIDEO:
The episode opens on a frantic maester Luwin, attempting to send an S.O.S. message via raven. He just gets it off when the Greyjoys arrive. Theon wakes Bran and tells him to assemble everyone in the courtyard, where he will yield Winterfell to him, 'Prince Theon.' Bran does as Theon requests.
Ser Rodrik is captured by Theon’s men outside Winterfell, as he is returning from Torrhen’s Square. He spits in Theon’s face and Dagmer urges Theon to execute him or the men will lose respect for him (He must 'pay the Iron Price.') Theon mulls this over briefly and then takes way too many whacks at poor Ser Rodrik's neck before kicking it off. Later that night, Osha seduces Theon. When he is asleep she sneaks out of his room, casually kills one of the guards and then smuggles Bran, Rickon and Hodor to safety.
***I know this would have changed the story too drastically but logically, why wouldn't Osha have 'casually killed' the sleeping Theon before she did the guard?"***
In King’s Landing, Tyrion, Cersei, Joffrey and Sansa are seeing princess Myrcella off to Dorne. On the way back to the Red Keep, the motley & starving villagers get restless, taunting the royals. Some horseshit finds it target on Joffrey. He loses his shit and demands the head of whomever threw it and from there, things degenerate into complete chaos. Joffrey, Tyrion and Cersei make it back to the castle safely, but Sansa, separated from the group, gets left behind. Tyrion slaps the boy king around a bit and berates him for causing this riot and potentially losing Sansa, reminding him--again--that Jaime's life and Sansa's are tied together. Sansa has been dragged away from the mob and is about to be gang-raped when The Hound, prompted we learn afterwards by Tyrion, slashes and crushes his way to her rescue.
In Robb’s camp we again glimpse 'Lady Talisa' as does the King of the North. Under much quieter circumstances than their first meeting on the battlefield, she and Robb flirt--then Catelyn arrives with Brienne. Catelyn is introduced to Talisa. Cat and Robb then walk-and-talk until Roose arrives with some really.bad. news. Robb is furious with Theon and is ready to march to Winterfell and take it back himself. Roose suggests he send his own bastard son from the Dreadfort instead, that he would be happy to bring him Theon’s head. Robb says he wants him alive, so he can look him in the eye and ask him ‘Why?’ before executing him himself.
At Harrenhal, Arya continues to serve Tywin Lannister as cupbearer. In a meeting with his men, Tywin berates Amory Lorch for bungling a simple letter delivery because he cannot read. He dismisses his men and then chats with Arya, after he learns that she can read. Littlefinger arrives to meet with Tywin. Arya does her best to remain unnoticed while Littlefinger proposes an alliance with the Tyrells. After Littlefinger leaves, Arya spots a letter about Robb on the table and, while Tywin’s back is turned, snatches it. Later with the letter in hand, she runs through the castle and literally runs into Amory Lorch. Amory notices the letter and gets suspicious. Arya fears she'll be caught and punished so she runs. Amory heads for Tywin while Arya desperately searches out Jaqen. She finds him, names Amory Lorch as her second name, demands he be killed--NOW-- and just as Amory makes it to Tywin’s door, he falls down dead.
Beyond the Wall, Qhorin’s band treks through the mountains, looking for wildlings. They spy a small scout camp and attack and kill all but one of the wildlings, a red-haired girl named Ygritte. Qhorin tells Jon to kill her and meet up with them at the top of the mountain. Jon hesitates--he can't do this--and Ygritte uses his moment of weakness to break and run for it. Jon chases and catches her, but they have lost Qhorin and the rest of his brothers. Darkness is descending upon them so after binding her, the two settle in for the long, cold night, huddled together on the ground.
Meanwhile in Qarth, Danareys is trying and failing to bargain with the Spice King for some ships. Though he finds her intriguing and spirited, he won't make such a risky investment. Dany and Xaro return to his mansion to find his guards slain. Dany runs through the courtyard up to her quarters, passing a dead bloodrider on the way, and finding an apparently dead Irri lying on the floor. Worst of all, her dragon's cages are empty. The closing shot shows a hooded figure walking the dragons up steep steps toward a ominous-looking tower, whilst the dragons, cloaked and caged, cry out.
The Best Scenes:
Change is good, right?
Many changes from the way things went down in the book in tonight’s episode. Arya almost runs into Littlefinger, then she kills off Amory Lorch. Theon executes Ser Rodrik then sleeps with Osha. Jon doesn’t let Ygritte go and instead chases her down then ends up getting separated from Qhorin. And, of course, Dany’s dragons get stolen. The changes from book to screen really added a lot of drama and tension to the episode.
Ser Rodrik: Death with dignity – This scene was truly hard to watch, especailly with the plaintive wails of both Bran and Ricken who, like the rest of the the captives, bore witness. Ser Rodrik went out with class tho', despite Theon not giving him the clean execution he deserved. First, he calmed Bran and Rickon and then called out Theon one last time. “Gods help you, Theon Greyjoy. Now you are truly lost.”
The super-fast murder of Amory Lorch – This had to be the lightest moment involving death in the series thus far. The Hound saves Sansa – The Hound was all kinds of awesome in his rescue of the nearly gang-raped Sansa. It was a scene only alluded to in the book so it was very satisfying seeing it played out.
And not-insignificantly we had...Direwolves! -- There were three direwolves. Ghost looks magnificent in the white-on-white setting he's in. We had a non-gratuitous Osha(!) (Natalia Tena) naked scene and an awesomely-rendered Joffrey-bitch-slap from Tyrion ( for inciting the mob ("Kill them all!") after some poo-flinging at the boy king on some low-born's part.
EMILIA CLARKE as DAENARYS in EPISODE #16 of GAME OF THRONES:
The less-than-Best Scenes:
As Dany talked longer and longer to the spice king, she seemed younger and younger and less and less powerful/confident, even when yelling her standard 'Fire and Blood' threat. And all of her gravitas disappeared when she made her most feared discovery at episode's end.
This season Daenarys is beginning to sound like as a whiny, demanding 'little princess' stamping her feet when she doesn’t get her way. A little girl that is completely out of her depth and is falling apart...not rising.
VALENTINA CERVI as SALOME in TRUE BLOOD season 5 on HBO:
True Blood Season 5: Vampyr Tease:
True Blood returns with its 5th season on June 10th:
CHRIS MELONI as the leader of The Vampire Authority drops fang in TRUE BLOOD Season 5:
KRISTEN BAUER VAN STRATEN as 'Pam' in TRUE BLOOD Season 5 Official Character Promotional PHOTO (John P. Johnson/HBO): Click thumbnails (below) for full size.
True Blood - Season 5 - Various Promotional Episode Photos:
First look at the Authority! Chris Meloni looks like 'Stabler' in a more expensive suit. All the Authority looks/dresses like well-paid corporate people, save Jacob Hopkins as thes the youngest Vampire Authority chancellor who looks like he's dressing up as high-powered business guy (or maybe they all are all in fact, a vampire version of the one-per-cent).
TRUE BLOOD - Episode 5.01 - Turn! Turn! Turn! SYNOPSIS: Sookie and Lafayette clean up the Tara and Debbie Pelt mess; Bill and Eric are visited by the Vampire Authority; Sam and Alcide deal with an angry werewolf pack. (Written by Brian Buckner; directed by Daniel Minahan) (TV-MA) June 10 premiere
With the release of the TRUE BLOOD EPISODE 5.01 (#49) synopsis and the photo above we now know that Lafayette is the one we previously saw hooded, pictured with Sookie appearing to be filling in a grave in Sookie's yard. From there, it is really hard to tell. Did a vampire show up as well and attempt to turn Tara? Did Tara fully die making that impossible? Will Lafayette's new-found abilities as a medium--a communicator with the dead--'resurrect' Tara?
We know that the actress playing her, Rutina Wesley, is on-board with the show as a featured player but in what form? My guess is as a spectre or a ghost, if you prefer. She's not coming back as a (mindless) zombie. That would make no sense given that the stage is set with her cuz Lafayette being able to 'speak' with her still.
I suppose we could play around with the notion that oh, Pam say, turns her but I just don't get why Pam would be inclined to do so--even if she could.
(Fun observation: When the photo above is blown up, the blood pattern on Sookie's forehead looks just like the one she has in season 1 when she wakes up after nearly being killed by the 'Rattrays,' to Bill licking her forehead where blood was drying on her now-healed wound. Could it be a call-back to the time when Sookie was 'resurrected' by Bill?)
TRUE BLOOD - Episode 5.02 - Authority Always Wins - SYNOPSIS: Tara resurfaces in Bon Temps; Pam recalls her human life and first encounter with Eric; Bill and Eric meet Salome at the Vampire Authority headquarters. (Written by Mark Hudis; directed by Michael Lehmann.) (TV-MA) : June 17 Premiere.
TRUE BLOOD - Episode 5.03 - Whatever I Am, You Made Me- SYNOPSIS: Bill and Eric barter for their lives with Roman, the head of the Authority; Jason reunites with his old high school teacher; Sookie searches for Tara. (Written by Raelle Tucker; directed by David Petrarca.) (TV-MA) June 24 Premiere
The ill-fated 'Daphne' and Sam, (Sam Trammell) in 'Release Me':
Still being held in the basement at the Church, it becomes obvious to Sookie that Steve knew they were coming, but is not sure why. That tells her there is a spy among them. She tries to get a message to Bill, but he is being held prisoner by his maker, who refuses to let him go after the woman he loves. In flashbacks, Bill's conversion to a less violent lifestyle is revealed. When Steve learns Sookie's true identity, he makes the connection with Jason and assumes he's a spy. As they begin to wreak their vengeance, Sookie is saved by someone she has yet to meet. Back at the hotel Jessica and Hoyt decide to sleep together. In Bon Temps, Sam manages to escape, courtesy of a drunken Andy Bellefleur. Any plans he may have had for getting even with Daphne are overtaken by Maryann who has her own plans for her acolyte.(cont.)
Maryann and Eggs dispatch with Daphne:
The rest of the revelers have no memory of what happened the night before. Written by garykmcd
GODRIC (ALLAN HYDE) to the rescue:
ANNA PAQUIN as SOOKIE STACKHOUSE in True Blood Season 2:
Andy arrives in Maryann's orgy, shoots and saves Sam from the sacrifice. Sookie and Hugo are arrested in the basement of the Church, and Sookie discovers that her companion is the traitor that has informed the Fellowship of the Sun about her arrival. Lorena does not allow Bill to leave the room to save Sookie, and recalls their past together in Los Angeles in 1935. When Steve discovers the true identity of Sookie, he believes that Jason is a traitor and asks Gabe to kill him; however, Jason reacts and escapes. Sarah finds Jason and shoots him on the chest.(cont.)
DEBORAH-ANNE WOLL as Jessica Hamby in True Blood Season 2:
Meanwhile Jessica and Hoyt are in deep love with each other and sleep together in the Hotel Carmilla. Sam meets Daphne and she discloses that she had fun with him; further she tells that Maryann uses her energy to control humans, but shape shifters should go to her on their free will. She says that Maryann is a pagan Goddess, called Kali, Lilith, Isis, Gaia but she is a Maenad, the female follower of Dionysus. Gabe comes to Sookie's cell to rape her, but Godric saves her. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
MARIANA KLAVENO as "Lorena," Bill's maker who as of Season 3 ceasted to exist:
Having saved Sookie, Godric orders Eric to leave the premises with her - and to do so peacefully. Unfortunately, Steve Newlin and his followers are waiting for them in the Church and he isn't too choosy as to which vampire they use for their sunrise ceremony. Godric tries a different approach and hopes to make peace with Steve, who adamantly opposes any such possibility. Safely returned to their lair, Godric's peaceful approach and lack of desire for revenge doesn't sit well with some of his followers. Steve also has a surprise for him. In Bon Temps, Eggs tells Tara that he's blacked out again and they try to piece together where he's been. Maryann prepares a special dish for them. Sam Merlotte finds himself under arrest when Daphne's body is found in the restaurant freezer. Having finally slept together, Jessica and Hoyt discover a disadvantage to Jessica being a vampire. Written by garykmcd
Godric kills Gabe and Eric arrives after; Cedric orders him to take Sookie with him without killing humans. Sarah actually shot Jason with a paintball gun and he returns to the church to rescue his sister. Meanwhile people that are locked-in evacuate the church and the Soldiers of God chase the vampire inside the building. Eric offers himself to be sacrificed in place of Godric, but a group of vampires leaded by Stan arrives in the church ready to eliminate the humans.
GODRIC"S Lieutenants Isabel and Stan with Eric:
Rev. Steve Newlin (MICHAEL MCMILLIAN) returns to TRUE BLOOD IN Season 5 --as a vampire (!):
However, Godric arrives and avoids the bloodshed, offering peace to the stubborn and intolerant Steve that does not accept. Eggs tells Tara that he had another blackout. Sam receives a phone call from Merlotte's and finds Daphne's body without her heart in the refrigerating chamber. But it is a setup and he is arrested by Sheriff Bud Dearborne. Maryann cooks the dish Hunter's Soufflé using Daphne's heart and serves the dish to Tara and Eggs. Jessica discovers that she died virgin and her hymen restores after the intercourse. There is a reception for vampires and humans at Godric's house and the uninvited Luke comes wearing a bomb with silver. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A couple things about the screen caps above: Unless Alan Ball is pulling a fast one, Jason is shot by Sarah Newlin with a blob of red paint. It appears that both of them are missing the "meeting the morning" lock-in ceremony. Maybe that is for the best for both of them. Are the two thumbs above of Eric who clearly is healing from having silver chains around his neck and Steve Newlin in sequence? It appears that Steve is pitching or falling forward---has Eric killed him?*** It seems like we are missing a frame or two (maybe more) here. I was wrong about the couple in bed.That is clearly Jessica --her vamp teeth are visible and I guess that's Hoyt's hairline--it just seems odd-looking to me. Thanks to Jen S ,who helped me out on this.
***UPDATE 5.4.12/ As of season 5 TRUE BLOOD Steve Newlin is now in fact dead and a vampire!
First Look: Evan Rachel Wood on True Blood
by Rob Moynihan August 06, 2009 06:00 PM EST
Just when we thought True Blood could not get any sexier, Evan Rachel Wood joins season two of the HBO hit as Sophie-Anne, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. Wood will make her first appearance in the August 30 episode when a desperate Bill (Stephen Moyer) seeks Sophie-Anne's advice. MORE HERE
I'm sort of liking the screencaps of Sophie-Anne that I made some time ago a bit better than the prim-looking official first photo they've used, but to each her own.
UPDATE/ OFFICIAL PHOTO QUEEN SOPHIE-ANNE - TRUE BLOOD SEASON 3 (HBO):
Above: The Queen 'greets' Eric:
Below are my caps. Evan Rachel Wood as Queen Sophie-Anne greets a visitor:
Evan Rachel Wood as Queen Sophie-Anne in True Blood Season 2 (PHOTO):
TRUE BLOOD Season 3 Episode 9 "Everything is Broken" ERIC NORTHMAN (Alexander Skarsgård) is interrogated by the The Vampire Authorty (VIDEO) (HBO):
Russell will eat us after he eats our children... True Blood - 3x09 - 'Everything Is Broken' - Official HBO Recap:
Russell makes headlines in the latest episode. Watch the Recap.
Since we know that TRUE BLOOD Season 5 will have an emphasis that goes heavy on the previously barely-knownVampire Authority(we mostly knew of them through the now-truly dead "Nan Flanagan") and that will include the return of Russell Edgington, I thought it would be fun to revisit the episode that featured them both most heavily: True Blood - 3x09 - 'Everything Is Broken'.
True Blood Moments: Eric's panic (S3E09): The V-Squad is about to bust in...
Eric, Pam and Ginger with the V-Patrol busting down their door:
TRUE BLOOD - EPISODE 3.09 - 'Everything Is Broken' was not the best eppy of True Blood ever. But there were still some truly solid scenes. I've got a lots of screencaps as well as some great VIDEO scenes from the episode. Enjoy!
This episode did feel sort of choppy. It lacked cohesion as well as the thrills and chills of the previous 2 eppys. Yet Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) was a hoot. We got lots of Pam candy not to mention Pam crying. Crying! Over the prospect of her maker, Eric being punished by death when the Vampire Authority rendered it's opinion about his (mis)deeds. So sweet the way he held her head on his chest like the child (of his) she is. We also had Nan revealing her true colours, not mainstreaming.
JESSICA TUCK AS Vampire Authority rep., Nan Flanagan, storms Fangtasia and interrogates Eric & Co.. And she brought friends.
Good ole Jason proved that wooden bullets actually work! Almost made up for the Crystal storyline which has really been dragging. Vampire Bill going to the land of the Fae was pretty cool. Surprised the heck out of Claudine. She handled it well while he bungled it completely.The fact is, Bill will steal Sookie's light if she stays with him--any dead guy will.
Nan Flanagan goes to Fangtasia for answers about the Magister's whereabouts. Bill gets to the bottom of Sookie's real identity. Jason finds an unlikely ally in his feud with Felton and Calvin. Arlene has a pessimistic view of her husband. ' (AUGUST 15TH 2010)
Claudine not at all trusting or believing Bill's proclamation that he loves Sookie and 'would never harm her.'
True Blood Season 3 Episode 9 - Eric: 'Everything ends, even the immortals.' VIDEO (HD)
'If I can't go on, its your time to be a maker.' Eric to Pam:
JASON KILLS FRANKLIN/SAVES TARA HD (VIDEO):
TRUE BLOOD Season 3 Episode 9 : Jason Has A Wooden Bullet And A Great Aim!
In a scene that has since become a fan fave involving Jason and Tara and Franklin and the wooden bullet which Jason procured some months back during his Fellowship of the Sun detour.
Russell Has Spine (VIDEO):
Denis O'hare as deranged King Russell providing us with our weekly dose of crazy camptasticness in TRUE BLOOD - EPISODE 3.09 - 'Everything Is Broken':
Sookie and Bill: 'I'm a faery!?!' True Blood 3.09 Screencaps (HBO):
Some news I'd missed from TvGuide Magazine after the jump: A tie breaking opportunity for the two vamps will come soon, when Sookie learns a secret about herself. It’s the answer to “What are you?,” the question Bill asked Sookie the first day they met.
“It complicates issues,” says showrunner Alan Ball, adding that the discovery will have a major impact on all her romantic relationships. “It makes Sookie question a lot. She has moments where she’s like, ‘I’ve had it with vampires.’” Does that mean Alcide has a chance? Yep! “When you’re fighting for your life, and everything you’ve taken for granted is revealed as something else than what you thought, and there’s an insanely hot person next to you, there is definitely going to be energy,” says Ball, of the growing affection between the two. Adds Paquin, “They find comfort in each other. Plus, he’s big and he’s strong and he’s warm.” As season 3 winds down, expect more twists than a backcountry dirt road. The biggest may come from Sookie when she discovers just how dark passion can be. “Sookie started off the show as a virgin,” Ball says. “But we’ll see a whole new side of her. Had she seen that side back then, she, herself, would have been shocked.” And that’s not the only thing that will shake Sookie up. “Toward the end of the season, she’s not really concerned about “Who am I going to pick?’ She’s more concerned about evading forces that want her for reasons I can’t disclose,” says Ball.
CLICK FOR FULL SIZE TRUE BLOOD SEASON 5 POSTER ART:
ANNA PAQUIN and ALEXANDER SKARSGARD in TRUE BLOOD - 'Conjuring Up Season 4' Promo VIDEO airing MAY 27 on HBO:
Conjuring up True Blood Season 4 premiering May 27th on HBO.
True Blood Season 5 premiers this June 10th on HBO.
Looks like the TRUE BLOOD gang's all here except Rutina Wesley (Tara) who tooka bullet to the brain for Sookie (Anna Paquin) at the end of season 4. Very much reminds me of the season 1 cliff-hangar with the foot of a person unknown with toenails painted much like Lafayette's hangin' outta the back seat of Andy Bellefleur's (Chris Bauer) car. We'd last see "Lala" takin' out the trash behind Merlotte's and then being startled by something coming at him at vamp speed. He wasn't seen in any of the season 2 previews prior to the season premiere but then we found he was safe and sound locked up in Eric's dungeon as punishment for sellign "V' (vampire blood).
Here's some intel on what to expect from True Blood season 5 fresh off the press earlier today:
Question: Any True Blood scoop? Answer:
Sorry, Sookie (and fans of the love triangle), but this is the season of the bromance!
"There's a bit of a bromance between going on this year between Eric and Bill," Alexander Skargård tells us.
"It's fun because I love Stephen Moyer to death and after four years of butting heads, this is more like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We have a common enemy and we have to team up this year."
Stephen Moyer as Bill, Alexander Skarsgård as Eric and Lucy Griffiths as Nora, Eric's sister in TRUE BLOOD Season 5:
Lucy Griffiths is playing Eric Northman's, Godric-sired sister, Nora. Says Griffiths:
"She's an irreverent British lady who we think was turned during Elizabethan or Victorian times," Lucy reveals. "It's been years since she's seen Eric, and she is very excited. She looks up to him, but they've had a fiery love/hate relationship in the way that brothers and sisters do."
Nora is a member of the Vampire Authority ruling council, and is rumoured to be a double agent. Juicy!
Update May 3, 2012 - CASTING CALL:
True Blood - Episode 5.09 - Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Casting Call:
[FAERIE] Female Caucasian, early to late 20s. She is radiantly beautiful and British. POSSIBLE RECURRING Source: Rhoswen7
TRUE BLOOD, Episode #510, "Gone, Gone, Gone" (4.26.12) Director: Scott Winant Writer: Alexander Woo Location: L.A. Start Date: Approx. 5/3/2012
[COLE AND ROBBIE] Male, mid 20s to early 30s. These two redneck vampire-haters at Merlotte's plan to take out a vampire, but they're quickly neutralized, terrorized, and humiliated. Co-stars (17)
[PROFESSOR WILLIAM O'CONNELL] In his 40s, divorced, youthful and nerdy, this linguistics professor can't make heads or tails of an ancient text. He thinks it's probably a hoax, or a prank sent by a rival university. One day guest star (33)
[AUTHORITY GUARD CAPTAIN] Male, 30s. Businesslike, polite but firm, this vampire is sent to retrieve another vampire's progeny and escort her someplace else. Co-star (34)
ALEXANDER SKARSGARD as Eric Northman in TRUE BLOOD HBOGO Season 5 SNEAK PEEK:
True Blood Season 5: (EXTENDED) Waiting Sucks - Eric and Pam
TRUE BLOOD Season 5: Waiting Sucks - Eric/Pam VIDEO:
KRISTEN BAUER van STRATEN in TRUE BLOOD in HBOGO Season 5 SNEAK PEEK:
In which Pam does the unthinkable and demands that Eric, her maker, release her if he is unwilling to trust her. She seems especially aggrieved that Eric she says, takes the word of Bill Compton and 'a werewolf' (probably Alcide) over hers.
Eric had just accused her of lying about digging up Russell Edgington--which she vehemently denied--to which he responded he trusts no one and she should not, either.
Janina Gavankar as 'Luna' and Sam Trammell as 'Sam' film TRUE BLOOD episode 5.05:
True Blood Season 5: Waiting Sucks - Sam/Luna VIDEO:
Hardcore TRUE BLOOD fans know that there remains just 6½ weeks until the premiere of season 5 on HBO Sunday nights. In past years there's been an absolute blitz of media like giant murals, adverts on the side of buses and at bus stops, tons of sneak peeks, and many other "extras." This year seems, to me anyway, more muted.
Perhaps it is wise that HBO continues to hype to the extreme it's massively successful adaption of George R.R. Martin's book series "A Song Of Ice and Fire" which is almost halfway through it's 10-episode season 2 run (Yep. It's in True Blood's timeslot).
Thus far, there's been three NEW behind-the-scenes snippets from Season 5. Wisely, the promo people chose to insert Sookie (Anna Paquin) in one as well as Alcide (Joe Manganiello) and if you perused the HBOGo site you'd see Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) enter that scene, too. Pretty good, though completely spoiler-free spot.
I figured that to build anticipation that we'd next get a scene with Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) or Bill (Stephen Moyer) as they are two of the featured stars of the show. If not them, then a scene with the hotly anticipated, newly cast Chris Meloni.
But no.
What we have is Sam & Luna & Terry & Patrick.
We also have a problem. Problems, actually.
Sam (Sam Trammell) and Luna (Janina Gavankar) have no chemistry what.so.ever. and they are playing a couple so that scene is a big zzzzz, save for it's extended version, also residing at HBOGo (sense a pattern?) in which Sam exits stage left leaves Luna's only to have her hear a gunshot ring out seconds afterward. Anyone worried that Sam is shot? No? Me neither. You know that in episode 5.05 True Blood is not killing off Sam. And they are ripping themselves off in that they had Sam in similar circumstances with the,"Did Sam shoot Tommy?" scene that was a season 3-ender. Mostly, we didn't care but just the same, it was a red-herring, Tommy got winged. At most, Sam will too.
True Blood Season 5: Waiting Sucks - Terry/Patrick VIDEO:
OK. Terry and Patrick. Terry (Todd Lowe) is well-liked by fans and a scene with him and maybe his cousin Andy (Chris Bauer) might have been good enough but they didn't do that. Instead, we are offered up 'Patrick', an old Iraq war buddy of Terry's that showed up at Merlotte's at the tail-end of last season. We don't know anything more about Patrick so why should we care when shown a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of him and Terry getting caught doing "whatever" by some guys we've never seen before? We don't. Which defeats the point, the very reason for a sneak peek/teaser: to entice us to watch.
Given that True Blood is coming off a disappointing season 4, you'd think that they would haul out their big guns (those would be the stars of the show) and tease the hell out of us.
Six more weeks guys, to entice, to build anticipation and excitement about the TRUE BLOOD season 5 premiere.
Time to haul out the big guns.
Season 5 of "True Blood" premieres Sunday, June 10th. For more on True Blood, go to http://itsh.bo/HAObVp or jump in on the Twitter conversations http://twitter.com/truebloodhbo
TRUE BLOOD Star ANNA PAQUIN, who last week announced her pregnancy, is ambushed by paparazzi as she tries to run errands near her home in Malibu.
Credit: Pacific Coast News /Apr 25, 2012 via PEOPLE
True Blood stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer confirmed this week that Anna is expecting their first child. This of course has set off a media frenzy to get a snap of Anna's belly. Though her tummy does not look particularly big her boobs are ginormous. My guess is she could have hid the evidence of a growing tummy a bit longer but no way could the formerly conservatively endowed Paquin hide her now-ample breasts.
I'm not now, nor have I ever been very interested in Paquin and Moyer's private lives. You won't find but a couple of photos like the one above over the 4-plus years I've written about the show, as I do feel her privacy is being compromised.
HOWEVER, I am really curious as to how this will affect her work on HBO's TRUE BLOOD.
Unconfirmed reports have the baby arriving this fall, 2012. Filming of TRUE BLOOD season 6, if there is to be one, would commence around the beginning of 2013 if the show sticks to it's previous schedule. It seems then that this baby was perfectly planned to give Paquin and Moyer a traditional maternity leave of about 3 months or so. She'll need to get back into 'perfect' shape in time for season 6 though one wonders if Anna's bare-it-all True Blood scenes are now behind her, not so much because she won't ever look great (I'm sure she will). More, she's attained power-player status and really doesn't have to 'serve the story' any longer.
I'm curious too, how her maternal status has affected the True Blood season 5 story. Obviously, Paquin's character Sookie Stackhouse, won't get pregnant and now it seems that unless she filmed her sexy-time scenes already she won't be baring too much at all in season 5 (body doubles are not ruled out, I suppose).
That jibes with what has been reported about True Blood season 5, that the Vampire Authority will be the central focus and that this year will deviate greatly from the original source material by writer Charlaine Harris.
I do applaud leaving the Sookie Stackhouse books behind as after the first couple they decline greatly in quality. (Just the same, I read the entire series in an effort to be well-informed about the show.)
With showrunner ALAN BALL exiting TRUE BLOOD after this season, and Paquin and Moyer starting a family, my feeling is that True Blood is winding down. I'm curious too about what kind of audience numbers True Blood will pull in for it's debut on June 10--and beyond. It's my prediction that this will be the first year that True Blood loses some of it's steam. I'm no psychic but perusing the bloated terrain of True Blood websites I have read hundreds of comments especially from fans of the Sookie Stackhouse book series, that they are done with the show. I've seen such 'threats' (promises?) before but after last season I totally understand where they are coming from. Even tho' I'm not a Charlaine Harris book fan-- I am a fan of good TV. And season 4 True Blood to put it kindly, was uneven in quality, as was to a lessor extent, seasons 2 and 3.
You can only squeeze so much juice out of what was a sexy, bloody, fantastical R-rated romp before the source runs dry. Better to exit while you still have a respectable fan base than dying a slow death. In other words, after season 5 TRUE BLOOD, let's stake it and move on.
JOHNNY DEPP as vampire Barnabas Collins in a scene from TIM BURTON'S film DARK SHADOWS in theatres on May 11 2012:
DARK SHADOWS Official UK Trailer (2012) Johnny Depp, Tim Burton Movie HD:
SYNOPSIS: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet--or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.
Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger's precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath).
The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David's new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.
There have been a lot of remembrances of Jonathan which have appeared on the Internet since yesterday. I’m proud and honored that mine has been quoted and linked to by many sites. But I want to share two posts I read this morning which are special and revealing.
The first is from Jonathan’s hometown newspaper The Spec and includes wonderful quotes from Jonathan’s nephews and friends about Jonathan’s everyday life in Ancaster.
The second is from The Plain Dealer. Mark Dawidziak writes with such insight. It really is the best appreciation of Jonathan that I’ve read so far.
Jonathan Frid, best known for playing vampire Barnabas Collins on ABC's Dark Shadows, has died. He was 87. The actor died on April 13 of natural causes at Juravinski Hospital in Ontario, Canada, according to Digital Spy.
Dark Shadows, a gothic soap opera, aired from 1966 to 1971 and drew nearly 20 million viewers at the height of its popularity. Frid joined the show in 1967 as Barnabas Collins, a vampire returning to his family's estate, and quickly became the star of the show.
Above: On the set of Dark Shadows - Jonathan Frid, Kathryn Leigh Scott, John Karlen
"May Jonathan Frid, 'our reluctant vampire,' live on in our hearts!" Frid's co-star, Kathryn Leigh Scott, wrote on her website. "How blessed I am to have known this dear man and to have such wonderful memories of him, both on screen and off. ... He was irascible, irreverent, funny, caring, lovable and thoroughly professional, and in the end became the whole reason why kids ran home from school to watch Dark Shadows."
Before his death, Frid, who also starred in the TV movie The Devil's Daughter and the horror film, Seizure, filmed a cameo appearance for Tim Burton's forthcoming big-screen remake of Dark Shadows, in which Johnny Depp will play Barnabas. The film is set to be released May 11.
Johnny Depp on Jonathan Frid's Death:
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Johnny Depp paid tribute to his "Dark Shadows" predecessor Jonathan Frid on Thursday, telling the Los Angeles Times that the first time he met Frid was "elegant and magical." Frid, who played vampire Barnabas Collins from 1967 to 1971 on the soap opera, died April 13 at the age of 87, though news of his death began to filter out on Thursday. "Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch ‘Dark Shadows,'" Depp told the paper. "His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one forever more. When I had the honor to finally meet him... generously passed the torch of Barnabas." Depp, who called Frid "a true original," plays Collins in the big-screen adaptation of "Dark Shadows," which hits theaters on May 11.
Frid has a bit part in the film, as a party guest. According to Depp, when he met Frid, the elder actor was " elegant and magical as I had always imagined."
'I won’t ever forget the moment when the two Barnabas Collinses met, one in his late 80s and the other in his mid-40s, each with their wolf’s head canes. Jonathan took his time scrutinizing his successor’s appearance. “I see you’ve done the hair,” Jonathan said to Johnny Depp, “but a few more spikes.” Depp, entirely in character, replied, “Yes, we’re doing things a bit differently.' -KATHRYN LEIGH SCOTT
I'd not ever heard of Carolyn Hennesy prior to her being cast in season 5 TRUE BLOOD but I did react to the photos that I found of her. She's not a 20-something-- yay! And this came on the heels of not-twenty-something Chris Meloni and Peter Mensah being cast as fellow vampire Authority members! Anyway, I've sorted through some recent Hennesy interviews in which she does spoil (depends on your personal spoiler threshold) aspects of both her character and that of some of her co-stars as well as some Vampire Authority plot points.
Carolyn Hennesy was recently interviewed by Lena Lamoray...* (Please someone, tell me how Lena Lamoray gets so many interviews? Never has she done a good one. Am I being non-PC when I ask if English is her second language? I'm serious, 'cause that would explain a lot and I would need to stop being snarky about it.) ...and Carolyn describes the background of her character, Rosalyn Harris, and her storyline in Season 5. In addition to TRUE BLOOD, Carolyn’s prior and current projects include; Cougar Town, General Hospital, and her Pandora book series for young adults. Book six of the Pandora series, Pandora Gets Greedy, comes out in June.
Carolyn Hennesy joins the cast of True Blood for season 5, playing Authority member Rosalyn Harris, an (ancient) vampire with a love of cigars and steaks. This Texan 'broad' enjoys the finer things in life ... and likely gets her way almost all of the time!
Q: Prior to your casting had you been a fan of True Blood?
Carolyn Hennesy: I had actually not watched the show before. We didn’t get HBO, so the day after I was cast, we got HBO, and I spent the 10 days before Christmas [watching] — 48 episodes in 10 days(!)...It’s one of those things where you snatch yourself up by the head and say, "Where have I been for the last four years? What have I been doing?" It’s like candy...
Q: So what can you tell us about your character, 'Rosalyn'?
Carolyn Hennesy: She is from Texas, or I should say, has been for maybe the last 200 years. She’s very old as vampires go, so her history before that is all over the world. She has been a member of the Vampire Authority for a very long time... She’s a broad. She’s a dame. She likes a good joke and a good cigar and a good roll in the hay...And when she was alive, she enjoyed a good steak. E-A-K not A-K-E.
Q: It seems we're going to learn more about the Authority this season. What can you tell us about this mysterious group?
Carolyn Hennesy: There’s a tremendous battle brewing. There’s been hints about who’s coming back on the show and all of that. We have learned in the past that there are those who thoroughly believe in mainstreaming and there are those who don’t. There are two main factions really of the vampire society — the mainstreamers and the fanguenistas. And Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare) — we know he falls or where he fell: "we are vampires we will eat you."
The mainstreams, The Authority, sees the wisdom of assimilating with society. They outnumber us. They’ve made all these incredible strides in the last 2,000 years, not the least of which is creating drinkable blood, synthetic blood for vampires, well if they can do that, what else? What else can they do to help the vampire society?
Carolyn Hennesy: And in order to be a part of that we have to assimilate and mainstream and let them know that we’re not really a danger. And that’s where the Authority is coming from.
Q: Christopher Meloni has also been cast as someone in the Authority. Have you worked with him?
Carolyn Hennesy: I have worked with him for the last two months. It has been like a gift. like a master class. when Christopher Meloni speaks we go, "Oh that’s how it’s done." It’s just lovely working with him. He is very intense and rightfully so.
Q ;Can you tell me anything about his character??
Carolyn Hennesy: He is the guardian. His name is Roman. He’s one of the heads of the Authority. He’s the one we look up to, and swoon over, and follow.
Q: Are you higher up in the Vampire Authority?
Carolyn Hennesy: I am not. The Authority was started by one particular member. I am not the oldest member of the authority but I was there shortly after it started. Very shortly. There are, chronologically, older members of the Authority. But it's [all relative]. It's like if the Authority is 2,000 years old, Rosalyn has maybe been on for 1,950 years. In the grand scheme of things all the Authority members - it used to be eight with Nan Flanagan, but she's gone so it is seven - are the most powerful vampires on the planet.
Q: The description I have here says that Rosalyn has "hair high enough to interfere with air traffic."
Carolyn Hennesy; Well, where Rosalyn comes from is still something of a mystery. I've kind of solved it myself, with the character background I have created. Rosalyn is from Texas - for the last 500 years or so. Where she comes from before that is Prague, or someplace overseas. But she loves Texas. She is one of those women who helped tame the Wild West. She loves everything about Texas, that it's a man's world and she is a hell of a woman in it. In Texas, as they say with regard to everything, but especially to hair, "big is just the place to start." So Rosalyn embraces everything Lone Star. When you think of Rosalyn, you need to think of Anne Richards and Mae West and Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar. She is a broad and a half. She's a great dame. Pearls go with everything, and your hair can never be too high. And she will kill you on the spot!
Q: How much of Rosalyn's background did you get to create for yourself?
Carolyn Hennesy: I got three things: that she is from Texas; that she has hair high enough to interfere with air traffic; and she has a "home-spun wisdom." So she'll come up with the quip that relates to gelding a horse, or say, "Well, when I was on the ranch...." But her instincts are almost always right. Once she makes up her mind, and she knows she is right - and it takes a lot to change Rosalyn's mind. But it can be done.
Q: Is Rosalyn for assimilation?
Carolyn Hennesy: Very much so. She understands the wisdom of it. In the time that Rosalyn has been alive, we have put a man on the moon; we have conquered oceans; we have this synthetic blood. What else can [humans] do that can be of benefit to vampire-kind? That is what really interests Rosalyn, and the only way vampires can reap the benefits of these discoveries is if they act in concert with human beings.
Q: Would you consider Rosalyn a "good guy" or a "bad guy?"
Carolyn Hennesy: A good guy. A very good guy. Of course, if you cross her, she will snap your neck. As far as I am concerned, Rosalyn loves humans. She loves them for what they may be able to do for vampires.
Q: I know you can't say much about the season as a whole, but is there a general direction this season is going in?
Carolyn Hennesy: Well, with only my scenes, it would be that there is a real push for mainstreaming. A real push. And then what ultimately results from that tremendous push. That's really all I can say.
Q: Are you done shooting for the season?
Carolyn Hennesy: No. We're only half-way. We started in late December / January.
Q: How many episodes are you in?
Carolyn Hennesy: So far I am in seven.
Q: Are you going to be in the whole season?
Carolyn Hennesy: I don't know. The mind of god - also known as Alan Ball - he knows all those answers. So we shall see.
Here it is helpfully established for us that this Sookie and Alcide scene was was filmed last December. Why is Sookie always so snarky to him?! Is it because she only goes for the really bad boys?
True Blood Season 5: Waiting Sucks - Sookie/Alcide VIDEO:
If you have HBOGO, you can “have another bite” by checking out an extended version of that scene that includes Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis.) EDIT/ This HBOGO True Blood season 5 sneak peek extendeds toLafayette's part of the convo in which he makes clear to Alcide that he (and Sookie) are done with all things supernatural to which Alcide growls and insists that he is throwing Sookie 'a lifeline' and he asks her 'please' to take it. She responds with, ' I can't.' Duh-duh-duhn.
'Vampire Bill' Compton (Stephen Moyer) Season five TRUE BLOOD PHOTO:
CREDIT: HBO
Unknown set: True Blood - Season 5 CREDIT: HBO - TRUE BLOOD By Gianna Sobol
FWIW.
'New Mystery Set'
What (or who) do you think brings us here this season?
Incidentally, this is the same location used in the pilot of 'Six Feet Under,' but according to Alan Ball, 'in our use of it, something very different lurks inside these body lockers.'
Now from HBO - TRUE BLOOD comes a spine-shiver-inducing new PHOTO from the season - 5 SET (currently filming for 6.10.12 Sunday night premiere).
Care to guess what is going/went on here (above)?
I love that the best episode (except for the last) of the eponymous Six Feet Under found a way to be incorporated into Alan Ball's last season with True Blood as it's showrunner.
It did not look that grungy in the 'Fisher' basement--never even close to it's current incarnation on the True Blood set. They were very clean. Especially the guy that turned into Dexter (Michael C. Hall).
SIX FEET UNDER -Pilot PHOTO (HBO)
Below: Detail - the Fisher's body lockers -
'Nate Fisher' (Peter Krause) in Six Feet Under 'Pilot' (HBO) with body coolers:
Fans of TRUE BLOOD will (finally!) be able to plan their summer vacations now that HBO has revealed the start date in the U.S. for TRUE BLOOD's NEW Season 5 episodes. They commence on SUNDAY, June 10 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO:
"True Blood" returns for a Season 5 with familiar faces like Sookie (Anna Paquin), Bill (Stephen Moyer), Eric (Alexander Skarsgård), and new faces including Christopher Meloni in a featured role 'an ancient, powerful, vampire who holds the fate of Bill and Eric in his hands' & Spartacus's (STARZ) recently killed off Doctore/Oenomaus, Peter Mensah, in a recurring role as Kibwe, a ruling member of the Vampire Authority!
CASTING CALL: TRUE BLOOD, Episode #509, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World":
True Blood - Episode 5.09 - 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World'
(Approx. 4/18/2012)
[ELIJAH] Male, Caucasian. In his 20s to 40s, a very strong, cocky, Marilyn Manson-esque vampire. 2 episodes. Guest star.
[JACKSON] Male, Caucasian. 50s. Seen in flashback to the late 1980s, he's a giant of a man, powerful and inspiring and heroic. In the present, however, he's a sad, old man who's given up on life. Recurring. Guest star. (20)
[LOCAL REPORTER] This reporter grills Andy outside the Sheriff's Station. Co-star.
[SEXY VAMPIRE] Female, 20s. This sexy female vampire is a customer at Fangtasia. Co-star.
**[TEENAGE ALCIDE] Male, Caucasian, 14. Seen in flashback, he is Alcide (Joe Manganiello) as an innocent-faced 14-year-old. Co-star.
**[TEENAGE DEBBIE] Female, Caucasian, 14. Seen in flashback, she is Debbie (Brit Morgan) as an innocent-faced 14-year-old. Co-star.
I wonder if teenage Alcide is sort of the 98-lb. weakling stereotype? It's always been hard for me to wrap my head around 'why' Alcide was involved with 'Debbie', a crazy, skanky-looking were chick with a bad attitude and a "V' addiction, when he could have had his (excuse the pun) pick of the litter? Perhaps going waaaay back to their beginnings will proffer a clue?
Starting on April 5th at 9PM, catch back to back episodes of Season 4 of "True Blood". Tune in to a new episode every Thursday night at 10PM. For more information on True Blood, go tohttp://itsh.bo/ibzU7X or jump in on the Twitter conversations http://twitter.com/truebloodhbo#trueblood. Watch True Blood online at HBO GO® http://itsh.bo/hWfz80.
True Blood Season 5: Echoes Of The Past - "Merlotte's ..." (HBO) VIDEO:
The True Blood publicity machine must be overwhelmed by the Game of Thrones people cranking out sneak peek/teaser videos 'cos Merlotte's is not a 'house,' rather is is the Bon Temps local watering hole a/k/a Sam Merlotte's bar. Anyhoo, last night the Merlotte's "voices' video was released and it, like the previous three (below) has snippets of converstaons/exclamations that took place in this case, at Merlotte's in season's 1 - 4. Enjoy.
Colour me a tiny bit surprised by this trio of just-released True Blood Season 5 trailers. Each video focuses on a particular setting--Sookie's home, Eric & Pam's 'home', Fangtasia, and Bill's house. Over the four season of True Blood a lot has happened in these settings. The only one 'left out' is Merlotte's (Sam's bar) which has seen an equivalent amount of 'happenings, IMO. Small quibble, though. These teasers recap the entire series via 'tours' of each location with voice-overs from many of the cast. What they say illustrates seemingly innocuous comments like Sookie's first utterances about meeting Bill to Nan Flanagan's last utterance before she met her 'true death' (and a lot in-between so be sure to watch them!)
True Blood Season 5: Echoes Of The Past - "Fangtasia" VIDEO:
True Blood Season 5: Echoes Of The Past - "Bill's House" VIDEO:
Above: from True Blood Season 5: Clip Tease (HBO):
Deborah Ann Woll as vampire Jessica Hamby
True Blood Season 5: Clip Tease (HBO):
What did we learn? Um. Not a lot.
(Above) View screencaps from this season 5 True Blood clip for more detail:
NEW SEASON 5 CHARACTERS:
The woman who is kissing Eric in the clip tease appears to be Salome, daughter of Herodias. Valentina Cervi has been cast to portray her. Salome is a powerful, extremely intelligent ancient vampire and a world-class seductress who is also quite mad. Sounds like a fun vampire!
The woman with Bill and Eric at the 25-second mark is Nora, who will be played by Lucy Griffiths. She and Eric share the same maker, "Godric,' which makes her Eric's sister. Nora is a double agent within the Vampire Authority. She has joined True Blood as a series regular.
Christopher Heyerdahl is doing the voiceover in this clip. Heyerdahl will play Dieter Braun, an Authority interrogator.
Here's the text of the narration.
"We were created in the image of God, not humans, and their flesh will feed yours. May their blood flow inside you, like the beetle feeds on a lark, so humans will feed the vampires "<
Not much to go on here, though with the show more than 2 months off still I suppose we should be grateful to see many of the characters. Notably missing is 'Tara' played by Rutina Wesley, who at season 4's end had her brains blown all over Sookie's kitchen floor when Alcide's angry ex, Debbie Pelt, came gunning for Sookie and Tara intercepted the bullet.
For my part, I hate Rev. Steve Newlin and I don't care for the actor that portrays him. Tara is another part of True Blood that I wish could have been relegated to 'FoS' (friend of Sookie) in a marginal role (as in the book series). Actress Rutina Wesley stated after her character's 'death' at the end of season 4 that Tara would be back in season 5 as per Alan Ball. I've maintained that if so, she'll need to be a ghost, not a vampire (and ffs not a zombie!).
HBO has just announced via Twitter that just prior to Game of Thrones this Sunday, April 1 at 10 p.m. E/P we will have a first taste of (actual) scenes from Season 5 of True Blood.
See the tweet below:
So True Blood fans, what are you most curious to find out about in the the season 5 vampire drama?
I have to admit, I am curious to know how 'Tara' will continue to exist in the Bon Temps realm.
One would hate to see any old tropes trotted out to explain how someone who just got her brains blown out could still 'be.'
Despite protestations to the contrary, neither Bill nor Eric--the most likely candidates to 'hear' Sookie's distress call can do anything with the fully dead Tara. The most Rutina Wesley fans could hope for is that she returns as a ghost. It would be super-convenient given that as revealed in season 4, her cousin and confidante Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) is a medium (he communicates with ghosts) so they could work as a sort of 'living-dead' team.
True Blood: Debbie kills Tara and Sookie kills Debbie VIDEO
'When the promos start you know that the biggest part of the wait is over.'***
HBO producer Jenn Grauer was present at a cast interview for behind the scenes promos with Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgård and posted the following pic on Twitter.
Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Moretz, Eva Green, Gulliver McGrath, Bella Heathcote, Johnny Depp, Ray Shirley, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller and Michelle Pfeiffer star in Dark Shadows
DARK SHADOWS looks great! Love Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaborations. 'Shadows' the TV show was so terribly written--it's the characters that counted--and Barnabas was such a square. Looks like he's loosened up a bit.
BTW, have you seen Chloe Moretz in the remake of "Let the Right One In" called "Let Me In"? I would watch anything with her in it. In that film she played the vampire.
And bonus! We have Helena Bonham Carter and Michelle Pfeiffer, too. It should be awesome.
You knew the minute that Burton/Depp's names appeared on the production which if I'm not mistaken, Depp has been trying to get made for years, that the film at a minimum would be very, very strange. I did not expect funny, though.
Obviously, Barnabas and David Collins are playing with 'monsters':
SYNOPSIS: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet--or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.
Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger's precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath).
The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David's new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.
Official Site: http://www.darkshadowsmovie.com
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Eva Green, Chloe Moretz, Bella Heathcote, Thomas McDonell, Gulliver McGrath Writers: Seth Grahame-Smith
So far, all the focus has been on a sinister looking Johnny Depp as a back-from-the-buried vampire in forthcoming Tim Burton film Dark Shadows...but 20 new HQ film stills now show the rest of the star-studded cast - looking a little less pale, but equally creepy.
Helena Bonham Carter, who plays psychiatrist Dr Julia Hoffman in the film, sports a orange curled wig, bright blue eye shadow and frumpy dress in the photograph which shows the characters looking rather menacingly at the camera.
The U.S. director's interpretation of the U.S. sixties soap opera sees Depp's character Barnabas Collins as a rich and powerful playboy who breaks the heart of Angelique. Played by Eva Green, Angelique is the one who turns Collins into a vampire and also buries him alive.
However, two centuries later, Collins is freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He finds cousin, family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has brought psychiatrist Hoffman to live at Collinwood to help with her with her family's various troubles, including her brother Roger's (Jonny Lee Miller) troubled son, David (Gulliver McGrath). Bella Heathcote co-stars as nanny Victoria Winters, Ray Shirley is Mrs Johnson and Jackie Earle Haley as Willie Loomis.
The gothic-horror tale is Depp's eighth collaboration with his close friend, director Tim Burton and was filmed in the UK last year. The 48-year-old actor says he wanted to bring the classic look of horror back to cinema for his character. 'Over the years all these vampire TV shows, the movies have come out and nobody looks like a vampire - what happened?' Depp recently told MTV.
Dressing up once again: Depp collaborates with Tim Burton to play vampire Barnabus Collins in the gothic-horror tale Modern version: The film is an adaptation of the sixties cult soap opera and also stars Michelle Pfeiffer.
'I adored Dracula and still do. All those wonderful horror films. This was an opportunity to go into something which doesn't really exist any more, which is classic make-up and a classic monster character. 'So that was really the inspiration and what Tim and I talked about a lot.' And Depp's character certainly looks sinister, with a pale white face, dark circles under his eyes, ultra long fingernails and a slicked down hair style.
'We're changing it a little bit,' Burton previously told MTV about his take on the TV show. 'I wouldn't do it if it felt like it was just doing the same thing.
First look: Depp was spotted filming the movie on a beach with co-star Heathcote in Devon last year 'For me, it's about trying to go back to the original drawings and kind of capture that spirit a little bit more of what the drawings are. 'It feels different even though it's a similar story, but we're kind of expanding it a bit.'
PHOTO: Dark Shadows is Depp's eighth collaboration with his close friend Tim Burton.
Depp's work with Burton in the past has seen him recreate famous characters such as Willy Wonka in 2005's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, and the Mad Hatter in 2010's Alice In Wonderland.
As casting of TRUE BLOOD season 5 progresses it is becoming ever-more apparent that the ancient ruling body, The Vampire Authority, will be part of a story arc that spans much of the season.
The most recent addition to the cast comprising TRUE BLOOD'S Vampire Authority is it's first child: Jacob Hopkins has been cast as 'Alexander Drew', an Authority chancellor who became vampire at the tender age of 9 (which I'm sure 'Eric' would appreciate), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Also guest-starring in TRUE BLOOD Season 5:
Christopher Meloni...
Carolyn Hennesy...
...and Peter Mensah(!)
True Blood returns for it's 5th season on HBO this June, 2012. Stayed tuned for a precise premiere date.
TRUE BLOOD, Episode #505, "Boot N' Rally Ally" Director: Michael Lehmann Writer: Angela Robinson Start Date: 2/10/12 Location: L.A.
[SCRAWNY MAN (JIMMY)] In his 30s, very skinny, babbling in terror, he's found in a padded cell. RECURRING
[KATE] Late 20s-early 30s. Skinny, unconscious, Kate is one of the prisoners with the Scrawny Man in the padded cell. No lines in this episode, RECURRING
[KATHY] 20s. This pretty brunette fangbanger is more friendly than slutty. 4 lines, 2 scenes (10)
[BEVERLY] This plump, good-natured family friend of Luna's has been babysitting for Emma while Emma is out with Sam. CO-STAR
[BURLY VAMPIRE] This burly vampire at the bar asks for a Tru-Blood. CO-STAR
----------------------------------
TRUE BLOOD, Episode #506 Director: Dan Attias Writer: Alan Ball Start Date Approx. 2/29 Location: L.A.
[VIVIAN] Female, Caucasian, early 20s to late 20s. She is radiantly beautiful and British. RECURRING
Yes, its true --True Blood is heralding the return this summer of the (former) king (of Mississippi, Russell Edgington) played by Denis O'Hare.
The first teaser for the HBO drama’s upcoming fifth season warns, “In Bon Temps, Nothing Stays Buried Forever,” a reference to the exhumation of Russell Edgington in the Season 4 finale--and possibly a reference to the 'closing' of the land of the Fae a/k/a Faeryland. Despite Sookie's faery godmother's untimely demise in season 4 at the fangs of mindwipe!Eric as reported earlier, Claudine's twin 'Claude' shall make an appearance in Bon Temps, too!
THR has this to say about the True Blood season 5 tease:
But as themes go in True Blood, they seem to apply to everyone. So, what things can yet still be uncovered next season?
Other than Russell’s return, here are four more suggestions as to what won't stay buried on Season 5:
2. Sookie’s (Anna Paquin) fairy friends and family. We know there’s always more to learn about the waitress’s past. The news that fairy Claude returns for next season (recast with actor Giles Matthey), and he must have a reason for coming back.
3. What’s Terry’s war buddy up to? Patrick (Scott Foley) first appeared in the Season 4 finale and we know he recurs next season. What does he know and why did he pop back up in to Terry’s (Todd Lowe) life now?
4. As mentioned, The Vampire Authority is staffing up. Last season, we saw the vampire politics go haywire in Bon Temps and its surrounding towns, but we know the show is casting ancient vampires aplenty. And they’ll probably want to regain the control their underlings have lost.
5. Werewolves out for blood. Marcus’ (Dan Buran) violent demise last season may carry some consequences. We hear the series has cast as his bereaved--or vengeance-seeking (or both) mom with My Name Is Earl’s Dale Dickey. What could she want?
Giles Matthey will play "Claude' inseason 5v True BLOOD
Kristen Bauer van Straten as vampire 'Pam de Beaufort' in True Blood (HBO)
For the next few months, if you stay current on the casting calls and newly-cast members you'll have a good chance at getting a rough sketch of what some of TRUE BLOOD Season 5 will look like. So far, the biggest casting coup has been that of one Mr. Chris Meloni.
Casting however, is ongoing along with the rest of the season 5 True Blood production so between now and True Blood's June 2012 season 5 debut, I'll gather up the latest scoopage (and spoilers!) and periodically share with you. I'm not wild about blaring trumpets announcing casting calls for expendable extras (for example) so I'll hold on to that stuff to include with posts like this one with news worthy of you sinking your fangs into.
Kristen TRUE BLOOD SCOOP - January 23, 2012:
Anything more on True Blood? Fact: We love us a good flashback, but we love 'em even more when they answer questions that we've been pondering for years. In episode four we're finally going to learn what happened to Terry (Todd Lowe) back in '03 when he was serving in Iraq—and believe us when we say it's going to be intense.
Newcomer Giles Matthey has landed the multi-episode role of a hot and mysterious British faery. One report has him catching Jessica’s attention, but that’s not confirmed. 'Claude' was previously played (briefly) by Neil Hopkins (LOST) on the show.
In the books, Claude is described as “the nephew of Sookie’s half-human/half-faery grandfather, 'Fintan', and cousin to Sookie’s father … He makes an impact on all women and is described as being absolutely breathtaking … He started out as a stripper at Hooligans, a club in Monroe, which he later becomes owner of, and has branched out to print and runway modeling … Women usually say “wow” when they see him, but his interest is men.”
There has been speculation that this season Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten), Eric Northman’s (Alexander Skarsgård) 'child' and confidante, will have her origin story explored.
Alan Ball, creator and lead writer on the True Blood team is looking for a diverse roster of new cast members. A 'non-threatening man in his 30s' and a prostitute named 'Washcloth Helen' are among the casting calls. Both of these characters will be introduced during a flashback to a San Francisco brothel in 1905. The date is significant because 1905 is supposedly the year when Eric maid Pam vampire if you are following the books. The True Blood scribes have previously changed the story so the 'book fact' that Pam actually turns in London doesn't at all mean that TV Pam will do the same.
It's no secret that the legions of Pam fans have been clamouring for her backstory (we've witnessed both Bill and Eric's being turned) and it's also no secret that a) vampires don't age and b) human actors do. So doing the math, yes, season 5 would be a very good time to enjoy the story of how Pam voluntarily(!) became a vampire.
1 | Janina Gavankar revealed that “a major thing happens to Luna early in the season, and it’s going to change her life forever.”
2 | The cast learned that Chris Meloni was Bon Temps-bound last month at a table read, news that elicited “gasps” throughout the room, recalled Gavankar. “We’re so excited to have him.”
3 | Alcide’s days of playing Mr. Nice Guy are over. “As you saw at the end of Season 4, he’s not taking anyone’s s— anymore,” said the man-beast’s portrayer, Joe Manganiello. “Now you’re going to see an Alcide who’s going to slam you up against the wall and do his thing. Who doesn’t like being slammed up against the wall, right?” Asked to clarify his use of the word “slam” — i.e. is it a euphemism for, ahem, another s-word — Manganiello cracked a devilish smile and replied, “It could be a fun slam. And it could be an angry slam. You never know?” He then reminded us that, “Alcide is single.”
4 | The latest True Blood script Manganiello read contains “some really fun [Alcide-Sookie] stuff,” he revealed. “Stuff that makes you really nervous… I’m watching my words really carefully.”
5 | Ryan Kwanten hinted that Jason may have bitten off more than he could chew with regard to his romance with Jessica. “As you know, anyone who gets involved with Jason better have her wits about her,” he said. “But I think in this case, it’s Jason who better watch out. The tables have finally turned.”
6 | Where do you go after spending half of Season 4 being raped by a werepanther? “Even that can be topped,” teased Kwanten. “Jason was very lucky to survive; he was down for the count. He has a desire to life. I admire that in a man.”
Christopher Heyerdahl, who plays an ancient vampire in the Twilight Saga movies, will now play one in another screen adaptation of a popular book series, this time on TV. Heyerdahl is joining HBO’s hit vampire drama True Blood in a recurring role. He will portray 'Dieter Braun', an ancient, powerful vampire who plays a large part in the intelligence of the Authority and especially enjoys enhanced interrogation. That is familiar territory for Sanctuary alum Heyerdahl who played the ancient Volturi vampire Marcus in 3 of the Twilight movies: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and the upcoming Part 2. Additionally, he played a demon in an arc on the CW’s Supernatural. Heyerdahl... currently co-stars on the AMC drama series Hell On Wheels, playing Norwegian badass The Swede. The period Western was recently renewed for a second season.
[TODD JEFFRIES] Seen in flashback to Iraq in 2003, this U.S. Marine joins his squad (which includes Patrick and Terry) on a trip to a small village, where their plans to party and wreak a little havoc go tragically awry. 5 lines, 1 scene (26).
[JEMARCUS KESSLER] Seen in flashback to Iraq in 2003, this Marine Lance Corporal is traveling into a town with his squad (which includes Patrick and Terry) and is preparing for a night of partying and mischief-which goes tragically awry. 7 lines, 1 scene (26).
[IRAQI BOY] YOUNG LOOKING ARAB 18 YEAR OLD. Seen in a flashback to 2003, this Iraqi boy whose village is being blown up by American soldiers speaks out in Arabic to the soldiers. 2 lines in Arabic, 1 scene (28) MUST SPEAK ARABIC OR BE FAMILIAR WITH IT.
[IRAQI MAN] Seen in a flashback to 2003, this Iraqi man whose village is being attacked by American Marines as a lark speaks out in grief and rage after they murder a 12 year old Iraqi boy. 1 line in Arabic, 1 scene (29) MUST SPEAK ARABIC OR BE FAMILIAR WITH IT.
[IRAQI WOMAN] Mother of the Iraqi boy seen in a flashback to 2003, wails with grief. Recurs in episode 505. [Non speaking in episode #504, recurs with lines in episode #505] (29) MUST SPEAK ARABIC.
[ANGELA, LILIANNE, DELILAH] These three impossibly gorgeous, flirtatious, charming women in cocktail dresses greet Judge Clements (an old customer) and Jason and Andy as they take them on a limo ride to a mysterious destination where they find a sensual party in an exclusive club. 4 lines, 2 scenes; 3 lines, 2 scenes; 3 lines, 2 scenes respectively (35).
[LEDA] This radiant, beautiful woman with just a hint of sadness in her face is in the exclusive club. She beckons to Jason and freaks him out a bit by seeming to know a bit too much about him. 6 lines 2 scenes (43). [DANCER] FEMALE, SCANTILY CLAD. This beautiful dancer in a very exclusive, secret nightclub recognizes Judge Clements and goes off with him. 1 line, 1 scene (43).
[MELANIE] 20s, this female fangbanger goes with Pam to entice a young vampire to feed on her. 2 lines, 1 scene (49).
My take on the new casting is that (tiptoes out on limb) "Claude" with the British accent is 'Claudette' the faery's twin brother. He may have ditched Faeryland when Sookie and Earl did or there may still be a passageway from the human to the world of the Fae. I don't think True Blood is done with the faerys as the show's lead is one and there's a lot of story potential there whether or not they follow the books.
My second observation is that bringing Debbie Pelt's parents into the mix could mean big trouble for Sookie. Again, it won't have to be by the book--but why not? That particular thread of the story worked out really well.
TRUE BLOOD Se.ason 5 Casting News - Episode 5.03 - 'Whatever I Am, You Made Me' - Casting Call:
[LINDSEY] In her 20s, attractive in a small town kind of way, she’s fixing a flat tire in a narrow country road when a vampire comes upon her. 1 speech & 3 lines, 1 scene. Co-star.
[MOLLY] In her 20s, bubbly, with a retro Bettie Page/Suicide Girl vibe, “cute as a button if buttons had fangs,” she works for the Vampire Authority and outfits two prisoners with complicated deadly devices. Visible tattoos a plus. One-day guest star. Possible recurring.
[MISS JILL STEELER] In her 40s, an ex-teacher, recently divorced and back in town, “she used to be beautiful, now she looks like an attractive, pleasantly plump housewife.” Guest star. This role contains topless nudity.
[BARBARA PELT] In her 50s, a kindly, well-dressed woman, she is Debbie’s (Brit Morgan) mother who is anxiously searching for her missing daughter. She and her husband, Gordon, confront Alcide. Guest star.
[GORDON PELT] In his 50s, a kindly, well-dressed man, he is Debbie’s (Brit Morgan) father who is anxiously searching for his missing daughter. He doesn’t appreciate Alcide speaking ill of Debbie. Guest star.
[DOROTHY] Seen in flashback to 1905, this pretty young prostitute has been glamored and is being drained by two vampires when another vampire saves her. 1 line, 1 scene. This role requires nudity.
[TRACY] In her 20s to 30s, heavily made-up, hair-sprayed and spray-tanned, she owns a small town clothing store and talks trash about Jason to Jessica. One-day guest star.
[CLAUDE] Early 20s. Very attractive, omni-sexual guy (with and without a shirt) A mysterious young man who speaks with a British accent and catches Jessica’s attention and curiosity. Recurring. Must have a British accent.
Director: David Petrarca Writer: Raelle Tucker Start Date: Approx. January 12 Location: L.A.
True Blood | Remember Alcide’s crazy ex, Debbie Pelt? Well she’s about to be crazy with family. The HBO drama is in the process of casting the not-so-dearly departed’s mom and dad, Barbara and Gordon, who will hit Bon Temps loaded with questions bout their “missing” little girl. Though both ‘rents are described as “kindly,” Gordon will be riled up and grow defensive soon enough when Alcide speaks ill of the dead. Er, of the “missing.
SOURCE: Matt's TVLine - ”Matt's Inside Line on Castle Bombshells, Secret Circle, True Blood, OLTL Finale, Revenge & More
I really like the True Blood - season 5's new cast thus far, both the female (below) and the (alpha) male (above). Chris Meloni is pretty awesome playing awesome so he ought to be quite enjoyable to take in on screen with the rest of the True Blood crew. Another flavour of male. Yum.
I'm anxious too to see Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and a female not Sookie have some heated discussion--which no doubt his sister, 'Nora' plyaed by Lucy Griffiths (below) and he will do.
This would be a good season for True Blood to surprise people with it's regained momentum. Adding Meloni is a very positive step in that direction.
I am looking forward to bringing Denis O'Hare as Russell Edgington too, back into this mix as the True Blood Season 4-ender all-but-spelled out (previously hinted at, after the finale his return was verified in the press). Right now, he's doing a glorious job on American Horror Story on FX as a murderous, treacherous, brain-cancer-addled, love crazy, serious burn victim.
An HBO spokesperson confirmsthat Chris Meloni is joining True Blood as a series regular for Season 5!
Executive producer Alan Ball, True Blood's creator, first shared the news with TVLine. Ball describes Meloni’s role as 'an ancient, powerful vampire who holds the fate of Bill and Eric in his hands.'
Ever since the news broke that Meloni was negotiating for a role, fans have suspected he may be part of 'The Vampire Authority', the council which rules over all vampires and gives its royalty their power.
Meloni recently left Law & Order: SVU after 12 seasons on the show. This casting represents a homecoming for the actor after starring in the HBO series, Oz, from 1998-2003. He has also starred on several other series, including NYPD Blue. He appears in the next Superman movie, Man of Steel, due out in 2013
Dec 2011 Update: True Blood season 5 Episode Title - Episode 5.02 - 'Authority Always Wins'
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A fresh pile of crazy is making tracks for Bon Temps.
Italian actress Valentina Cervi is joining True Blood‘s upcoming fifth season as a series regular —
The 35-year-old beauty will play Salome, an ancient vampire who is a world class seductress and fiercely intelligent. She also has quite a lot of madness in her. She is the most powerful person in every way yet capable of hiding this power when it serves her purposes.
True Blood Small Season 5 Premiere Spoiler:
The season-five premiere of True Blood will have a flashback to Sookie's (Anna Paquin) childhood, and we get to see her use her powers in a deliciously evil way to embarrass a couple of playground bullies. What did they do to piss her off? They don't pick her for their kickball team!
Lucy Griffiths will play Eric Northman's sister who has a 'higher calling'--to The Authority in True Blood - Season 5. Griffiths has been cast as 'Nora,' at several centuries old, very much Eric's junior--yet Bill's senior.
British actress Lucy Griffiths is coming to America in a big way.
The 25-year-old stunner — best known for her role as the ill-fated 'Marian' in the BBC drama Robin Hood — is joining True Blood‘s Season 5 cast as a series regular.
Griffiths will play 'Nora', 'Eric'’s (Alexander Skarsgård) centuries-old vampire “sister” (they were both progenies of Godric) who is working as a double agent within The Vampire Authority.
Described as 'intelligent, intimidating, cool under pressure and a very good liar, Nora loves Eric deeply, but has dedicated her life to a higher purpose.' (SPOILER: Serving 'The Authority.')
True Blood‘s fifth season starts production later this year ahead of a Summer 2012 premiere.
The character is to be featured in True Blood Season 5
The fifth season of True Blood promises to be a hairy one — the show is hunting for actors to play werewolves galore, including one who sounds suspiciously like he could be Alcide’s father!
The lycanthrope in question, J.D., is said to be a hard-bodied fiftysomething who isn’t likely to share a water bowl with the new pack leader anytime soon. And since 1) that sounds a lot like Alcide to begin with, 2) his pop features prominently in Charlaine Harris’ fifth Sookie novel, and 3) our resident werehunk was last seen being growled at by an unidentified wolf… well, you can do the math!
EDIT/ Wait! Wasn't it Sam (Sam Trammell) not Alcide (played by Joe Manganiello) who came upon a none-too-friendly-looking wolf in True Blood's season 4 finale?/End EDIT
My picks to play the part? Maybe Andy Garcia? Mitch Pileggi, who just took another recurring role in the Dallas reboot… or what about Mr. Intensity himself, Vincent D’Onofrio?
EDIT/ I'd like to see Ron Perlman get the part.
We’ll also be meeting: former pack leader Marcus’ mother Annie as well as a hot young she-wolf named Rikki who’s determined to sniff out the deceased’s fate;
EDIT/"Marcus,' who was killed by Sam and Alcide was in his thirties. His mom will probably be in the age range of Alcide's dad (see above). It's possible that "Rikki' will be the late Marcus' sister.
...a couple of beta dogs charged with interrogating someone (my guess? Sam);
EDIT/ This is quite possible and is more in line with the snarling wolf that was facing off with Sam when last we saw him.
'Holly’s teenage sons, Rocky and Wade'
EDIT/ I actually have come to like Holly or more correctly, the actress Lauren Bowles who plays her. Bringing in her sons sounds to me like Holly will continue to get some decent face time-- which makes me happy.
"... a corrupt judge (aren’t they all?); a humorless vamp named Cat (to… balance out the canine/feline ratio?); and a couple of sexy spoilers for Jason and Jessica’s romance.
Add all that to what we already knew — that Salome*** (yes, the Salome) will feature prominently in the season, and so will Eric’s vamp sis, Nora — and it’s obvious that we’re in for another jam-packed season."
I am super-curious to see 'who' True Blood will cast in the role of Eric's maker's other sire, Nora. She's got to be someone who is going to get on Eric's last nerve.
Now that I've read the description of Salome, it should be a hoot to see who lands that role, too.
***Christian traditions depict her as an icon of dangerous female seductiveness, for instance depicting as erotic her dance mentioned in the New Testament (in some later transformations further iconised to the dance of the seven veils), or concentrate on her lighthearted and cold foolishness that, according to the gospels, led to John the Baptist's death.
A new ramification was added by Oscar Wilde, who in his play Salome portrayed her as something of a femme fatale. This last interpretation, made even more memorable by Richard Strauss's opera based on Wilde, is not consistent with Josephus's account; according to the Romanized Jewish historian, she lived long enough to marry twice and raise several children. Few literary accounts elaborate the biographical data given by Josephus.
The Season 5 Premiere of True Blood will be called "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Filming starts at the end of November, 2012.
Pretty amazing to think that True Blood season 5 news has begun begin trickling in (out?) the month following the Season 4 finale!
Kathryn Stanley as Salome (1926, photo by Edwin Hesser)
“Thou rejectedest me. Thou didst speak evil words against me. Thou didst bear thyself toward me as to a harlot, to me, Salome, daughter of Herodias, Princess of Judaea!
Well, I still live, but thou art dead, and thy head belongs to me.”
Somewhere between the beginning of season 4 of HBO's True Blood and now--True Blood lost me:
I still find many of it's characters compelling but a significant number over the last two seasons were not remotelyso. They include the deceased 'Tommy Mickens', shapeshifter and brother to the owner of the local 'Cheers'-type-establishment Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell). Let's not forgettheir trailer park-stereotype parents (mom was a shifter, dad just an abusive drunk) were mercifully were given little screen time i season 4 and better, were swiftly killed off.
Anytime they were onscreen I was drifting off:
Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwantan) and Crystal, the werepanther and the entire 'Hot Shot' storyline. It seems that the producers of True Blood figured out in Season 3 to not take this cringe-worthy story much further so they didn't. Unfortunately, they dropped the story like a hot potato at the very beginning of season 4 after a big season 3 build-up so it felt very abrupt. Literally, it felt dropped--though the ultimate goal was met quickly which served the story despite it's other flaws.
They did the same to the "Fae' storyline, pretty much. The audience was not really receptive to the faery godmother thing and the rest so--poof! Gone. (And, they killed off Claudine, those bastards! She was so cool in the books.)
The witches' invasion was OK. Certainly casting Fiona Shaw in the lead was a good choice but the outcome of the witches' Bon Temps takeover was so that Eric would lose his memory and embark with a clean slate, in an affair with Sookie Stackhouse. Beyond that, did anyone really fear Marnie/Antonia or care all that much except for Eric getting his memory back?
And that is probably NOT the worst of it about things not-great in season 4. After so much hype about Sookie and Eric the romance just went pfft. Though I thought it impossible, beyond flirtation Alexander Skarsgård and Anna Paquin don't have the chemistry that makes for a believably hot, intense romance. I don't know why--or maybe that is exactly why but their lovemaking scenes never came near the hotness of some of the 'Sookie and Bill in love'-action.
Finally, they still haven't figured out what to do with poor Tara (Rutina Wesley). The season-ender of True Blood had Tara getting her brains literally blown out.
Too bad this scene (above) never happened. It looks like it has potential.
EDIT/Oh yeah. This too. The reconciled werewolf couple Debbie Pelt and Alcide Herveaux. Except when Joe Manganiello as Alcide has his shirt off, this was another wasted effort that show a complete lack of...IDK, caring? on the writer's part. It made no sense whatsoever that Debbie attempt to murder Sookie as she and Alcide have not even made it beyond hugging. Just the same, true to form Debbie tried to kill Sookie in her own house only his time she got both herself and Tara shot. (Tara's brains spattered so far that if she comes back as anything but a ghost I may-- though I almost never threaten this--I may say to hell with the show.)
Tara's (Rutina Wesley) brains in True Blood - Season 4 Episode 12
Sookie (Anna Paquin) reacting to Tara's sacrifice, screams for help (guess who will respond first? The list is ever-growing).
So where will the series pick up next season? Right after this moment? Would you feel cheated if it didn't pick up on this moment if somehow Tara still 'exists?' I think I would.
Vampires have feelings, too:
Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) shown with 'Ginger' (Tara Buck) is as upset as we've seen her, again for the same reason--her maker, Eric. This time in disgust (and still bedding Sookie) he ordered her away after she disobeyed a direct order (and said screw the safety of the humans, essentially). But he and Sookie (and Bill) are kaput so I'm thinking it will be easier for Eric and Pam to resume their very smooth relationship as boss and the boss's 2nd in command. Let's hope so!
Despite my numerous quibbles I am curious about season 5 True Blood so read on about some of the first tidbits of True Blood Season 5 info. spilling forth as the TB writers 'break' season 5.
So far, we have had official confirmation--as well as duh! the big hole where Russell Edgington used to be in episode 12, that Denis O'Harewill return to season 5 True Blood as the former King of Mississippi. I'm sure his story of escape will be intriguing. I'm guessing one of Russell's other 'progeny' finally found him(?) due to the signal of 'maker in trouble' getting through--but truly, I have no idea.
True Blood Season 5 NEW Character Announcement and Descriptions:
As the producers promised, True Blood is introducing several new characters in season 5 — and EW got the early word on two of the roles.
Creator Alan Ball and his team of scribes have put out a casting call for someone to play Nora, a beautiful and intelligent 25-to-35 something who plays a double agent within the Vampire Authority. What’s even better than that? She’s got a big history with Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) because she too is a progeny of Godric(!). Nora will be a series regular role that may (or may not) involve a little nudity...
Meanwhile, Co-Executive Producer Raelle Tucker told EW that they’ll include a “very significant, strong, mysterious woman at the center of one of our main stories next year … a very familiar and compelling character. It may be someone you’ve heard of before.” Especially if you’ve read the Bible: The True Blood team also put out the call for someone to play Salome, as in THE Salome, daughter of Herodias.
She’s a powerful ancient vampire (hmm, don’t remember that part from the New Testament) and a world-class seductress who’s also a little mad. So she’ll fit right into Bon Temps.
True Blood Season 4 - 'Alcide Makes His Pitch to Sookie' (VIDEO):
Uploaded by trueblood on Sep 8, 2011
For The Love Of Sookie:
'Watch a clip (above) from the season finale of True Blood which premieres on Sunday, September 11th at 9:00 pm.'
Poor Alcide! (Joe Manganiello) Gorgeous, sweet hunk of a guy just can't seem to get any good lovin'!:
Now that he has divorced demented Debbie--wolf-style ("I abjure you!') after finding her in their home in her underwear with now-dead Shreveport packmaster Marcus, Alcide finally turns to Sookie (Anna Paquin) urging them both to not follow their hearts but instead--their brains! It is a highly unlikely prospect for either one of the notorious 'fools for love,' but still, hafta give Mr. Herveaux props for trying. Sookie could do a lot worse than Alcide Herveaux but if her TV counterpart !!!BOOK series SPOILER!!! follows her Sookie Stackhouse series self, Alcide shall only have a brief interlude of happiness with our fair Sook.
Let's face it, Sookie is on team fangbanger all the way. It's either Eric Northman (played by Alexander Skarsgård) or Bill Compton (Paquin 's real-life spouse, Stephen Moyer). No other human, faery, shifter, shifter-werewolf or wereother, truly has a chance for the love of Sookie.
Joe Manganiello is a very likable Alcide whose physical attributes need no touting. Clearly, Sookie could make a go of it with this hot-blooded man-creature. But <sigh> Sookie still has much to learn and the kids question has not been addressed between these two yet, (mostly 'cause Sookie keeps shutting him down).
Episode #48: “And When I Die” (season finale) Debut: SUNDAY, SEPT. 11 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
It’s Samhain, Wicca’s greatest holy day, and spirits of the dead surface in Bon Temps, giving Sookie (Anna Paquin) valuable allies to combat Marnie’s (Fiona Shaw) newest incarnation. Lafayette’s (Nelsan Ellis) latest medium encounter imperils his relationship with Jesus (Kevin Alejandro); Jason (Ryan Kwanten) finds confession good for the soul, but not the body; Alcide (Joe Manganiello) makes a heartfelt appeal to the woman he loves; Terry (Todd Lowe) receives an unexpected visitor at Merlotte’s; Sam and Luna (Janina Gavankar) envision a storybook ending, for once; Nan (Jessica Tuck) wears out her welcome with Bill and Eric. Debbie confronts Sookie and Tara(Rutina Wesley) with deadly consequences, and the denizens of Bon Temps brace for a new crisis with a familiar face.
Written by Raelle Tucker; directed by Scott Winant.
'How many times has Sookie saved your life, letting you drink from her like your own private soda fountain?' - Jason to Bill:
True Blood Season 4: Eric, Bill, Pam, Jessica, and Jason Clip (Effing Sookie Clip):
Bill (Stephen Moyer), Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) and Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) are about to blow up the Moon Goddess Emporium when Jason (Ryan Kwanten) intercedes, informing them that (in addition to Tara) Sookie is now held hostage inside as well. So commences a chorus of exclamations from the vampires beginning with Eric, of 'Effing Sookie.' Jason takes great umbrage at this display of disrespect and ungratefulness and proceeds to stand up to them, ticking off a list of the many ways that Sookie has pulled the vampires' collectives butts out of the fire on multiple occasions.
'Fuck you chump, it's her home!' - Jason to Eric
True Blood Season 4 - Sookie, Marnie, Lafayette, Jesus, and Tara Clip:
'Marnie just puked the bitch out.' Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) the medium, after witnessing Antonia leaving Marnie's (Fiona Shaw) body.
True Blood Season 4 Episode 11 (4x11) Promo - 'Soul of Fire' (HD)
True Blood - Season 4 - September 2011 - Episode #47 Synopsis:
As the Wiccan-vampire standoff reaches a critical juncture, Sookie (Anna Paquin) summons her faerie powers to prevent Marnie (Fiona Shaw) from bewitching Bill (Stephen Moyer), Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) into a suicide march, while Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) casts a secret spell designed to un-bind Marnie/Antonia and break the witch’s deadly defenses. Sam (Sam Trammell) settles a score with Marcus (Dan Buran); Alcide (Joe Manganiello) confronts Debbie (Brit Morgan) about her allegiances; Andy (Chris Bauer) finds unexpected passion in the forest; Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) is consumed by the past. Written by Mark Hudis; directed by Michael Lehmann.
Alexander Skarsgård smolders in HBO's True Blood as the spellbound 1000 y.o. Viking vampire, "Erik Northman":
The official synopsis for True Blood season 4, Episode 10, "Burning Down the House":
"As all hell breaks loose in Shreveport, Sookie summons her most potent powers yet to save Bill, in the process breaking a spell and leading Marnie to re-evaluate her mission. Jason urges Jessica to glamour him for Hoyt’s sake; Terry drags Andy to “Fort Bellefleur” for an intervention; Alcide reconsiders his allegiances after Marcus’ fight with Tommy. Jesus, accompanied by Sookie, Lafayette and Jason, tries to breach the Moon Goddess Emporium’s defenses to liberate Tara and Holly, while Bill leads a brigade of vampires committed to blowing the place to kingdom come."
After the jump - True Blood - Season 4 - September 2011 Episode Press Releases
Anyone else wondering where True Blood is taking the the Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) storyline?:
(Cont.)
Or is 'Jay' that great of a BFF to Hoyt (Jim Parrack)? Also, there was that little matter of Jason's nearly-life-wrecking 'V' (vampire blood) addiction, too. Jessica would be quite a package of temptation. Pretty sure Jason would be gone in a flash even if he attempted to succumb to temptation. You just know Hoyt hasn't talked about it -- 'Jessica's problem' -- to Jason. Jessica's eternal vamp virginity is going to be a big shocker for him--if the two ever even get that far.
We haven't seen this scene yet (as of pre- 8.21.11), right ?
Isn't Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) (Episode 8 spoiler) possessed in this shot by the lullaby-singing French lady who is obsessed with poor little Arlene's (Carrie Preston) & the season 1 Bon Temps serial killer's baby, 'Mikey'?
Cool! There are some shots that are from next Sunday or beyond here! Sort of spoilers. I'm pretty sure that is a possessed Lafayette in the (current 8.24.11) shot above.
Your thoughts (about any of these shots)? Note:Be sure to click to enlarge and look through the slideshow. There are many more of the entire True Blood cast--wth several stills of not-yet broadcast scenes).
On Sunday - HBO True Blood Season 4, Episode 9: 'Run' Original Air Date—21 August 2011:
Synopsis True Blood Episode 4.09 -
Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there's room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica; despite Tara and Holly's misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a "Festival of Tolerance" event at Shreveport.
Next US airings: Sun. Aug. 21 9:00 PM HBO Sun. Aug. 21 11:05 PM HBO
The premium cable television series True Blood, is based on the book series by Charlaine Harris about a telepathic waitress in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps and her fairly speedy realization (after 20-something years) that she is not the only one with special powers, that in fact, Bon Temps is a sort of mecca for all things fang-tasticly supernatural.
Even Sookie herself is less human than she once thought.
The scene in question took place in book four of the Sookie Stackhouse series entitled 'Dead To The World.' It was the first time that Sookie, having found out about her first vampire lover Bill Compton's deception/betrayal, took the Viking vampire, Eric Northman into her bed--or more correctly, shower, where they made crazy-hot, passionate love.
The fans lapped it up and for years have been looking forward with great anticipation to the 'Sookie and Eric shower scene'. Well folks, this is it.
Did it live up to the sky-high expectations that all the waiting and and especially talking up of the scene had generated? In a word, no.
As show-runner (and writer of this episode) Alan Ball had hinted that the shower scene on True Blood wasn't going to play out like the shower scene from the book.
Boy, was he right! Fact is, Sookie and Eric never actually even got wet in the shower. They both were taking the equivalent of "V" trips (vampire blood--humans get high on it) and instead of water emanating from the shower--snow began to fall from above. Then Sookie and Eric found themselves in some kind of Viking forest fantasy world--complete with comfy bed where they hopped in and went to it.
And that, along with some trippy, you-had-to-be-there dialogue , was that. Ball has been knocked--even before this non-shower scene, that he favours the Sookie and Bill (Stephen Moyer) pairing over the Sookie-Eric one. If so, this scene would seem to give further evidence to that assertion. For my money, all the Sookie-Bill scenes have been hotter than whatever heat Sookie and cold, dead lover Eric have generated.
Anna Paquin as Sookie is still very beautiful to look at but for my (cable bill) money I'm more satisfied with Sookie and Bill and in fact, look forward to the day that they reunite. Whether they stay that way is a big question but I have no doubt that before Alan Ball departs, there will be at least one more go-round with Bon Temps's sexiest twosome.
Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) has a "Russell Edgington' moment after he rips out the throat of a Wiccan (HBO credit).
HBO True Blood Season 4, Official Episode 4.09 Promo: 'Run':
UPDATE! Episode 4.08 VIDEO Recap with Screencaps:
Joe Manganiello as True Blood werewolf Alcide Herveaux, carries a limp, gutshot Sookie (Anna Paquin) to safety.
This is NOT a promo--it's only a tease. My bet is there will be more coming up this week--longer, better (maybe) but still I agree with other disappointed #trueblood fans, we absolutely got shorted on the promo for next week's True Blood episode "Run" (4.09).
Season 4, Episode 9: 'Run'
Original Air Date—21 August 2011 Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there's room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica; despite Tara and Holly's misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a "Festival of Tolerance" event at Shreveport. Next US airings: Sun. Aug. 21 9:00 PM HBO Sun. Aug. 21 11:05 PM HBO
True Blood Season 4 -: Episode 8 "Inside The Episode" with Screencaps:
Inside the Episode #44: Writer Alan Ball and director David Minahan offer their insights:
After the Jump - Recap True Blood Episode #44 'Spellbound' [VIDEO]:
Vampire Bill glamours his way onto the evening news:
Best clip of the three.
In the aftermath of the vampire suicides (under the spell of the witches) 'Vampire Bill' Compton a/k/a the 'Vampire King of Louisiana', (Stephen Moyer) glamours his way onto the TV news after the reporter's initial refusal to allow him to make a statement.
True Blood Season 4 - Marcus, Alcide, and Debbie Clip:
Marcus (Dan Buran), the packmaster of Shreveport, says the word 'f*ck' or a variation of it about 15 time in 60 seconds whilst discussing the witches vs. vampire situation with his pack.
True Blood Season 4 - Antonia and Tara Clip:
Tara (Rutina Wesley) listens intently to Marnie/Antonia (Fiona Shaw) ranting that their efforts to kill 'all vampires' were almost for naught as just 'a single vampire (Maxine Fortenberry's neighbour) burned.' She insists that the vampires must be 'snuffed out, once and for all.'
After the jump: HBO RENEWS HIT SERIES TRUE BLOOD FOR FIFTH SEASON:
True Blood (HBO) Season 4 Eric & Sookie 'Best Of' Scenes Episode 4.07 "Cold Gray Light Of Dawn':
This compilation video is a really nice effort to bring all things Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) & Sookie (Anna Paquin) together from episode 4.07 in which Eric and Sookie make love for the first time (versus the previous 'blood fantasies' with strong sexual overtones which Sookie experienced from ingesting Eric's blood).
In addition, the possessed Wiccan palm reader Marnie, casts a spell on all vampires which compels them to 'walk in the daylight.' Vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer), now 'Vampire King Bill of Louisiana,' has ordered the extremely harsh measure of 'silvering' all vampires to prevent them from going up in flames to their 'true death.' Sookie stays with the bound and heavily silvered Eric while they wait for the call of the witches. (If video is unavailable please see this post which has overlapping content and should remain available.)
Eric reacts to the witches' call to walk in the sunlight:
True Blood Season 4 - Inside The Episode: Episode #43 (HBO):
Go inside the episode with Writer Alexander Woo and Director Michael Ruscio.
True Blood - Eric & Sookie Make Love VIDEO & PHOTOS:
True Blood Season 4 - Episodes 6 and 7, 'I Wish I Was The Moon', 'Cold,Gray Light of Dawn' Screencaps & Video.
Sookie and a devoid-of-memory but totally smitten Eric, finally give legions of Truebies (True Blood fans) what they've been waiting for--carnal knowledge. HBO copyright.
People often remark about how beautiful Deborah Ann Woll is. I agree completely--especially about the porcelain skin--she has a flawless, creamy complexion though ironically, as a kid she got teased for it.
She was blond then too, and became a redhead and a self-professed 'theatre geek' about 13 years ago. She's one of the actors I most enjoy on True Blood as she brings a magnetism to the screen that is irresistible. (Poor Hoyt and now, Jason. No chance at all! LOL)
SPOILER ALERT:
Bon Temps' witch's coven led by the possessed "Marnie" (Fiona Shaw):
The undead face their greatest threat in tonight’s episode of HBO’s “True Blood” (at 9 p.m.).
In “Cold Grey Light of Dawn,” Marnie (Fiona Shaw) is gone. Her body has been taken over by the 400-year-old witch Antonia, who, as flashbacks revealed, died a gruesome death during the Spanish Inquisition and has good cause to want payback. With her powers, she can compel vampires to walk into the sunlight - to their own fiery doom.
Bill (Stephen Moyer) quickly realizes she could massacre them all. His plan to save his subjects is almost as deadly as the sun itself.
Meanwhile, Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) take their lovemaking to just about every part of Bon Temps it seems, much to the distress of Alcide (Joe Manganiello). Eric decides he doesn’t want his memory back if the price is losing Sookie’s love.
Tara’s (Rutina Wesley) life is saved by TMZ - sort of. Sam (Sam Trammell) uncovers his brother’s deception. Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) realizes the sad truth about her relationship with Hoyt (Jim Parrack), who has no idea his best friend Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is also lusting for the red-headed vampire.
Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) begins to learn just how powerful he is. Could he be key to fighting Marnie? Trouble is, she makes a great case for wanting to rid the world of vampires, one even Bill acknowledges.
At hour’s end, one familiar vamp cannot resist the siren call to daylight …
Deborah Ann Woll as Jessica Hamby in the last moments of her human life
At the tender age of 17, True Blood's quasi-innocent vampire Jessica Hamby has studied up on carnal knowledge, killed a horny trucker, and attacked her boyfriend's mom. But this works out just fine for Deborah Ann Woll, the actress who plays her, who gets to live out all her unfulfilled adolescent angst. Woll spills more details on her character's season-four exploits, then got to the bottom of other pressing matters, such as her favorite flavor of blood and her policy on biting folks for a photo op.
Q: Part of being a vampire is being loyal to your maker. How would you defend your character's maker, Bill Compton, who's become a jerky politician?
He's under incredible pressure. And he has some incredibly powerful people making decisions for him. I think Bill is as disappointed with that as we are. Bill is really alone now. He doesn't have a family except Jess, and I think it's really wonderful that this season they get to [bond] quite a bit. Because things aren't going so great with [her human boyfriend] Hoyt, [Bill] is all that she has.
Q: So … Jason Stackhouse and Jessica? Didn't see that one coming. I'm actually really excited about that story line. The thing is, Hoyt is such a great guy, but the really sad part of it is that his mom was right: She told Jess all those years ago that Jess can't give him what he wants. While Hoyt is more open-minded than his mother, Hoyt really wants conventional things. He wants a wife and a normal life. And that's not something Jess is capable of, nor does she want it.
Brit Morgan as were 'Debbie Pelt'. I'm really surprised she is not shifting and showing big fangs at this moment as the subject is her husband, 'Alcide's' obsession with "Sookie."
True Blood Season 4, Episode 7 - 'Cold Gray light Of Dawn':
Original Air Date—7 August 2011 With Marnie empowered by spirits of the dead, Bill issues an unpopular order to save vampires from the light. Eric embraces his amnesia; Luna discovers Sam is not the man she thought he was; Lafayette expands his consciousness; Pam gets a body peel; Andy's date with Holly doesn't go as planned; Jessica has doubts about her future with Hoyt; Alcide and Debbie join a new pack.
From the looks of the promo for True Blood Episode 4.06 "Cold Gray Light Of Dawn,' the vampires are going to take a real beating--and that is if they are lucky!
Throughout the clip we see vamps in silver, vampires with the bleeds (due to extended periods of awake-ness) and vampires either attempting to go into the full sun or actually blazing away in it.
The burned-at-the- stake-witch, 'Antonia' has taken possession of Marnie's (Fiona Shaw) body and she, in her words, is seeking 'vengeance.'
It's pretty clear that vampire King Bill of Louisiana's (Stephen Moyer) solution to stopping the vampires from being compelled by the witches to walk in the "light of dawn' is to order them to SPOILER/speculation chain themselves in silver. Pretty harsh but Bill is obviously out of other options--and things only look to get worse in the coming weeks. Can't wait-- because it looks fangtastic!
SNEAK PEEK VIDEO UPDATE 8.04.11 - Alcide and Debbie Get Initiated - Jason and Hoyt Talk Jessica:
True Blood Season 4: Debbie and Alcide Get Initiated (HBO)
Alcide is stoking the flames of jealousy in Debbie with his obsessing over Sookie. Even off 'V' (vampire juice to which she was addicted), Debbie is a loose cannon and he knows that. He needs to 'wolf up' and either follow his heart or put thoughts of Sookie on the shelf...because there's a bad moon rising if he does not.
True Blood Season 4: Jason Counsels Hoyt (HBO)
Hoyt has been Jason's best friend forever. Arguably, he is smarter that 'Jay' (isn't most of Bon Temps?) so how is he NOT going to see that Jason's innocent act is just that? (SPOILER) The promo shows a shirtless Jason being knocked around. I think buddy Hoyt has had just above enough--of everything-- and Jason's prevarication regarding Jessica is the last straw.
After the jump: The Buzz: True Blood Season 4 - Comic Con VIDEO & SCREENCAPS (SPOILERS)
Though most all of the True Blood behind-the-scenes interviews are well worth watching, this video clip of episode #41 'I Wish I Was The Moon,' is not to be missed:
In this season 4.05 Inside The Episode segment, writer Raelle Tucker makes mention of what I thought was the show's most outstanding acting sequence(s)--all done by Sam Trammell as 'Sam Merlotte,' personifying the character of his brother, 'Tommy' (Marshall Allman).
Tommy, who was attacked the prior night by both his shifter parents, kills them in self defense and the next morning inadvertently shapeshifts into his older brother. Trammell nails everything from Tommy's swagger/limp to his voice inflections-- as well as his overall mannerisms. It's really hugely impressive, so much so that I immediately watched the "Tommy as Sam" scenes before I re-watched the whole episode the next night. Trammell set a high bar for the rest of the cast and they really stepped up.
"I Wish I Was The Moon," was easily the best episode of season 4 (I may have chosen another 'best so far in S4' but that was then--and it doesn't diminish either eppy). If season 4 continues offering the caliber of this episode's writing, acting & direction it is on track to being the best season since True Blood's very first. It is fan-bloody-tastic to be truly pumped for the next episode and beyond and we haven't even yet gotten to the Sookie - Eric shower scene!* (From book 4 of the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, which this season of True Blood is loosely based on. We don't know yet if the show will actually feature it but Eric and Sookie fans have been clamoring for it for years. Fingers crossed for them that their wait is rewarded!)
True Blood Season 4 - Fiona Shaws looks suitably witchy as possessed fortune teller, Marnie Stonebrook.
Update! July 29, 2011 - HBO renews True Blood, Show creator Alan Ball signs on for Season 5:
Big news at the opening of the True Blood panel at TCA: Series creator/executive producer Alan Ball said he has just closed a deal to do another season of the HBO series(!), effectively sealing the fifth-season renewal of the hit vampire drama. Ball disclosed the fact that he has re-signed in response to a request to address speculation that Season 4 could be his last. "I have no desire to leave," he said. "Doing the show, I'm having more fun than I have ever had in my life." He later said that he and the show's writers are already breaking stories for Season 5 and one of them is about "how one of the vampires was made."
Jul 29, 2011 - This trailer is comprehensive through the first 9 episodes of Season 4 of HBO's True Blood.
Other highlights from the True Blood presentation at TCA [SPOILERS]:
* They will be going back to see how one of the vampires was made in season five. Kristin Bauer van Straten said at Comic-Con that she really hopes we get to see how Eric made Pam*, so it looks like she'll get that plot wish granted.
<raises hand>
Me, too!
Wouldn't you love to see Pam get made!?
On HBO series True Blood she is known as Pam de Beaufort. On the show except for the fact that Pam is cryptically funny, beautiful, ruthless, lesbian/maybe bi and most importantly, Eric Northman's sire, we know little of her backstory.
In in the Charlaine Harris-penned Sookie Stackhouse book series (where she originated) Pam Ravenscroft was a young, aristocratic but unconventional woman who did not want to be penned in by her circumstances.
Unlike many made vampire, Pam voluntarily surrendered herself to Eric Northman and, she is very happy being vampire. She expresses this sentiment very succinctly to Bill Compton at the end of True Blood - Season 1, when he is being made to 'make' Jessica as punishment for killing another vampire (to save Sookie, which 'The Magister' found completely irrelevant to the charge). Pam considers 'makers' god-like and admonishes Bill with disgust that he needs to fly his maker-grade colours proudly.
*Alan Ball says the biggest challenge in shooting the show is getting everything done on time. In the end, they have to scale back on or drop certain scenes altogether. "The key to it is everyone really loves working on this show," Ball insists.
* Ball admitted that Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer were able to keep their offscreen relationship a secret for a while, but then he turned to them and said: "Not as long as you thought."
* "It's not a show where you think there's a lack of imagination," Paquin tells the crowd of reporters. Both actors insist they are encouraged to pitch their own ideas for their character. "When we were down at Comic-Con, we were pitching ideas. (Vampire King of Louisiana) Bill Compton taking over the world. That sort of thing," Moyer said (maybe?) jokingly. He also wishes for Bill to visit Merlotte's more often.
* Prepare to be quoting Pam yet again on Monday morning. "Kristin's got [a line] coming up that is possibly the greatest line of all time," Moyer reveals. * Paquin is comfortable with the fact that Bill and Sookie will remain apart. "Our love in real life is fine, so I'm fine with our characters being distraught and sad," she says. "It's not interesting television if everything works out for Bill and Sookie and they adopt five babies and live happily ever after."
Episode 4.11: ‘Soul of Fire’ – As the Wiccan-vampire standoff reaches a critical juncture, Sookie summons her faerie powers to prevent Marnie from bewitching Bill, Eric and Pam into a suicide march, while Jesus casts a secret spell designed to un-bind Antonia and break the witch’s deadly defenses. Sam settles a score with Marcus; Alcide confronts Debbie about her allegiances; Andy finds unexpected passion in the forest; Lafayette is consumed by the past.
Episode 4.12: ‘And When I Die’ – Season Finale. – It’s Samhain, Wicca’s greatest holy day, and spirits of the dead surface in Bon Temps, giving Sookie some valuable allies to combat Marnie’s newest incarnation. Lafayette’s latest medium encounter imperils his relationship with Jesus; Jason finds confession good for the soul, but not the body; Alcide makes a heartfelt appeal to the woman he loves; Terry receives an unexpected visitor at Merlotte’s; Sam and Luna envision a storybook ending, for once; Nan wears out her welcome with Bill and Eric. As Season Four comes to a shattering conclusion, Debbie confronts Sookie and Tara with deadly consequences, and the denizens of Bon Temps brace for a new crisis with a familiar face.
True Blood Season 4- Tara and Naomi 'Passionate' Clip: Jul 28, 2011 Clip from True Blood - Episode 406, 'I Wish I Was the Moon': Make sure to watch True Blood season 4 every Sunday night, 9 pm, only on HBO.
True Blood Season 4 Episode 6 'I Wish I Was The Moon' Preview:
TRUE BLOOD, Episode 4.06, 'I Wish I Was the Moon' Sneak Peek Screencaps - Synopsis
Director: Jeremy Podeswa Writer: Raelle Tucker
Synopsis - True Blood - Episode 4.06 (#42) : Sookie searches for Jason under a full moon; Marnie connects with spirits of the past; Arlene and Terry cope with a suspicious inferno; Debbie urges Alcide to join a new werewolf community; Tommy trades places with Sam; Lafayette feels the spirit in Mexico; Eric surrenders to his rival, the vampire king of Louisiana's will.
(Written by Raelle Tucker; directed by Jeremy Podeswa.)
Airs: July 31
Catching up with The True Blood season four, witch-infused storyline and accompaniing images via HBO, Inc.
True Blood Season 4: Jessica's Vlog - The Worst Spa Night Ever:
True Blood Season 4: Mythological Creatures - Were-Panthers:
Alexander Skarsgård ('Eric Northman') & Anna Paquin ('Sookie Stackhouse') True Blood Season 4
San Diego 2011 Comic Con True Blood VIDEO & Screencaps:
I think I snagged a few more intriguing screencaps that I've added to the Picasa album but bewarned--they look super-spoiler-ish.
I realize that some scenes (most?) have been rearranged to insinuate something. Even so, certain stuff is right in your face and clearly actual scenes, not dreams. The rest of True Blood - Season 4, as rumoured, looks like a very bumpy ride, particularly for the vampires of Louisiana.
True Blood Season 4: Comic-Con Trailer (HBO):
See what's to come in the upcoming episodes of True Blood Season 4.
Jessica Tuck as 'Nan Flanagan' TreuBlood (HBO) Season 4 2011
SPOILERS Season 4 Comic Con 2011:
Jessica, with wrist's already showing deep silver chain burns, runs through Bill's mansion in the daylight and throws open the front double doors to the bright sunlight.
Also The Authority mouthpiece, Nan Flanagan, King William of Louisiana (Vampire Bill Compton) and Eric a/k/a Amnesia!Eric are, or have been in custody of captors bearing the same silver chain restraints.
Sookie and Eric get it on. I hope she fell this hard and fast on account of his blood that he tricked her into ingesting. She got all moony-eyed over him pretty quickly, like he was a rescue puppy in Adonis form.
Were-bitch Debbie Pelt confesses to were-husband Alcide Herveaux her insecurities regarding Sookie.
She's shown at Sookie's door, being let in--and pulling out something that was clearly being held behind her back like "Surprise!"
I'm thinking maybe sewing scissors?
The Shreveport pack leader harassing Alcide to join up...is Luna, Sam Merlotte's new girlfriend's, -ex. He looks to be tangling with both Sam and Alcide.
Sookie is shot in the gut. It is implied that Alcide carries her to get help as there is a very fuzzy screencaps with tiny Anna Paquin (Sookie) in Joe Manganiello's (Alcide) massive arms.
Deborah Ann Woll as 'Jessica Hamby' True Blood Season 4
