Loading...
On-Air Promo Creative 115x175
|| Television ||

POST COMMENT(5)   Bookmark and Share EMAIL  PRINT  RECOMMEND

19 readers have recommended this story.

1 2 NEXT  Page 1 of 2

Fresh Blood

With True Blood a bona-fide cultural phenomenon, producer Alan Ball offers tantalizing hints about what to expect on season 3.


STEPHEN MOYER ALAN BALL ANNA PAQUIN X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

Stephen Moyer, Alan Ball, and Anna Paquin

Out writer-director Alan Ball continues to win over the hearts of LGBT audiences, first with his Academy Award–winning screenplay for American Beauty, then with HBO's critically acclaimed and Emmy-winning drama Six Feet Under. Now, with two seasons of his intoxicating vampire drama True Blood under his belt, the writer and executive producer of the HBO fanger, based on Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels, paused ahead of the October 28 Paley Center for Media writers roundtable to discuss staying true to the source material, why gay audiences love their vampires, and the slate of gay characters set to join the drama's third season next year.

Advocate.com: What initially attracted you to the Sookie Stackhouse novels?
Alan Ball: It was an impulse purchase and it was just so much fun. The minute I finished the first book, I wanted the second one; it was like crack. I got addicted. I guess it was somewhere around the third or fourth book where I thought, This just really holds up, I think this could be a great TV show.

Were the gay metaphors something you envisioned immediately as you read the books?
All that is in the books. Also, there are a lot of gay characters in the books as you get further and further into them. We'll be introducing some of those gay characters this new season.

What other gay characters will be introduced in season 3?
We'll be meeting the vampire king of Mississippi and his long, long-term companion -- and by long-term I mean really long-term -- Talbot. I think Lafayette may meet a love interest, and certainly Pam, who works with Eric, she's certainly got a lesbian vibe -- I don't know that that's all she is, but she certainly does seem to appreciate the women.

Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Facebook. 1 2 NEXT  Page 1 of 2

POST COMMENT(5)   Bookmark and Share EMAIL  PRINT  RECOMMEND

19 readers have recommended this story.

Reader Comments
  • Name: Luis Boki
    Date posted: 10/31/2009 11:26:54 AM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    Zee: Someone is writing a comment on a blog. I would suggest if you want to offer grammar lessons, this is not the most appropriate forum. That said, you are listed as being from Studio City. That says it all to me. Onto my comment on the show. "True Blood" has been one of the most enjoyable series I have ever encountered. I am selective about getting wrapped into a weekly series in general. I also am a bit of a coward so I was personally surprised that I took to this series so well. It really is a composite of great characters, great writing and intriguing storylines that go far beyond sensational blood and gore usually associated with vampires. I have a strong attraction to Stephen Moyer and Anna Pacquin's affair. It is so wildly romantic with more than a hint of danger. Between "Mad Men" on AMC and "Hung" on HBO, this past season made my Sunday evenings such sweet anticipation. Looking forward to Season 3. (Here's hoping that I do not get a failing grade from Zee).

  • Name: Donna Dutkiewicz
    Date posted: 10/29/2009 9:14:48 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    AQ smile! We as watchers and readers of Sookie Stackhouse novels do not see you smile that much when you are with SM during pictures and during Comic Con and of course this picture! What are you afraid of? We love ya! You are a great actress and do not let any relationship get in your way of your great acting!!! You have a long life ahead of you! Be yourself, especially acting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are all behind you!!!!!! SM - sorry but I seen your interviews and I " " , got really turned off and others got turned off, about your comment about Twilight's LEAD actor " ", you said " A poster boy for Diet Coke and other things, I will not mention". Would you like us to state that about you ---- like, "Diet blood for True Blood". Why not", you have gotten away with it! Why can't us watchers. Hint SM - fame can be fun but can turn what you say!!!!! Good luck!

  • Name: Ness
    Date posted: 10/28/2009 10:19:12 AM
    Hometown: NYC

    Comment:

    I hope these gay character are hot . We all know how television loves to negatively portray the gays --over effeminate and extra flamboyant.

  • Name: Marshall
    Date posted: 10/27/2009 11:26:17 PM
    Hometown: Huntington

    Comment:

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bona%20fide. Well according to Webster, bona fide is a word.

  • Name: Zee
    Date posted: 10/27/2009 4:00:22 AM
    Hometown: Studio City

    Comment:

    This Q and A doesn't make any sense - was a question and answer left out or transposed? Also, "bone-fide" is not a real word. Q: Denis O’Hare has just been cast as a regular for season 3. His character Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi, is gay in the books, so is this something we can expect to see in season 3? A: I think the kings and queens of the various states are aware of each other, and yes, he definitely knows who she is. Whether or not they end up in a scene together I can't really say; it depends on actors' availability and scheduling and those kinds of things. But they definitely are aware of each other.



More Online Only
  • Photography Artist Spotlight: Didio

    São Paulo photographer Didio says he enjoys observing the daily life of normal men. If these photographs tell us anything, it's that Brazil has raised the bar on what defines normal.

  • DVDs Hot Sheet: Sade, Channing Tatum

    This week's hot sheet includes a movie about a gay romance in Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community... and shirtless performances by Channing Tatum and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

  • Books Jackie Collins Takes on Hollywood

    From overdoses to horny old men to gay guys landing leading roles, best selling novelist Jackie Collins runs her mouth... and it's juicier than ever.

  • Sports Weir Comes Out ... Against Anti-Fur Activists

    With one week to go before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, irrepressible men’s figure skating star Johnny Weir talks about the threats that led him to rip tufts of fur from his long-program costume.

  • Music Stephin Merritt Keeps It Real

    Stephin Merritt, the lead singer of the critically lauded group the Magnetic Fields, is one of the few openly gay artists in today's music world. Just don't call him "indie."

  • News Features The Strains of DADT on One Couple

    Andrew Cirner tells the story of his relationship with a military man, evading "don't ask, don't tell," a blackmailing ex-lover, and the extreme steps his mother took to save the day.

  • Sports Saints Linebacker Fujita Tackles Gay Marriage

    As New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita gears up for Super Bowl XLIV, Fujita talks to The Advocate about standing up for gay rights and against inequality, and about Tim Tebow's draft prospects thanks to Focus on the Family.

  • Commentary Mosbacher Family Affair

    Nanette Gartrell pays tribute to former Secretary of Commerce Bob Mosbacher, the father of her partner, Dee. Mosbacher, one of the Republican Party’s most successful fund-raisers, passed away in January. 

  • News Features The Faces of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

    Tuesday's Senate hearing sparked what promises to be the biggest discussion of "don't ask, don't tell" since the antigay policy was instituted in 1993. So The Advocate is spotlighting some of the biggest voices on both sides of the debate.

  • News Features They're Having a Baby

    Thomas Moore, husband to fellow transgender man Scott, talks to The Advocate about helping his spouse get through nine months of doctor issues, baby showers, and bellyaches.

  • Prop 8 Prop. 8 Plaintiffs Speak  

    Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami, two of the four plaintiffs challenging California’s Prop. 8 in federal court, talk to Advocate.com about their resolve (and occasional nerves) during the testimony phase of the trial.

  • Music The Grammy Awards in Pictures

    From Lady Gaga's many costume changes to Pink's wet and wild aerial act, take a look at the some of the highlights from Sunday night's Grammy awards.

  • Books Book Excerpt: The Play That Changed My Life

    Playwright Doug Wright, who was awarded the Pulitzer, a Tony, and a GLAAD Media Award for his play I Am My Own Wife, remembers how Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company inspired his illustrious career.

  • Activism Leaderless

    Porn impresario Michael Lucas looks for the country’s gay Martin Luther King Jr., and finds little to celebrate.

  • Society Life on the G-list: Episode 2

    It may be the most cliché line in all of Hollywood: “What’s my motivation?” And for actor David Moretti, motivation does not include having just conquered Britney, Beyoncé, or J.Lo.