True Blood PaleyFest'09: Q & A and Season 2 Info

Matt Fowler from IGN.com had the opportunity to attend the True Blood PaleyFest'09 panel discussion held at the Arclight Hollywood Cinerama Dome on Monday, April 13, 2009 and presents in his article what transpired during the evening. Mr. Fowler describes in his report the questions and answers that were presented and information regarding season 2. Now if you do not want to know anything about season 2 do not read any further. Many thanks to Mr. Fowler for giving TrueBloodNet.com permission to post his article in its entirety here for you. April 14, 2009 - The Los Angeles branch of the Paley Center for Media is currently conducting their annual William S. Paley Television Festival, AKA Paley Fest. This two-week event spotlights a group of noteworthy television series and television luminaries, with each night devoted to a different show or person. Be sure to check out the rest of IGN TV's coverage of Paley Fest 2009. If you'd like to read IGN's Q & A with the cast of True Blood - sink your fangs here! I was given the chance to attend True Blood night at the annual Paley Fest and I've got some quotes and reveals for all of you about the much anticipated Season 2. If you're someone who doesn't want to know anything about anything with regards to the upcoming second season of True Blood, which will kick off on June 14th, then read no further... During the Q & A panel, series Creator Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) told the story of how he first came across the Charlaine Harris book series. He was waiting around for a dentist appointment, and had about 20 minutes to kill when the first novel, Dead Until Dark, caught his eye. He was hooked from the beginning. He then said that he went through to following books in the series "like crack." "This wasn't a book I would normally read, but I couldn't put them down," Ball confessed. Ball has a strong desire to stay true to Harris' vision and spirit, but also added that it was important to flesh out the supporting characters from the book, and add extra stories in order to transform it into a viable TV series. The books are only told from Sookie Stackhouse's (Anna Paquin) perspective, so there was some work to be done. One of the big changes was adding in the character of Tara, who doesn't even appear until Book 2, as a main character in Season 1.

"There are some things from the books that aren't going to make it onto the screen," said Ball, "but there will also be things not from the books that are on the show that when you see them, your jaws will be on the floor." Heading into Season 2, we're also going to be experiencing the character of Maryanne (Battlestar's Michelle Forbes), the mysterious and seemingly generous "naked with a pig" lady, even more. Without giving too much away, Ball stated that "she is trouble. She's more trouble than anyone ever thought she'd be." He also seemed to relish in the fact that her character "celebrates chaos and destruction" and will somehow play a part in "opening up a doorway to hell for everyone to get sucked into."

What else do we know about Season 2? Well, as they did with Season 1, the writers will somewhat follow the corresponding Harris novel – this time around being book 2, Living Dead in Dallas. We know that it will incorporate a ton of the book, but also leave out some stuff in order to provide more of an overall story for each of the characters. Sookie and Bill (Stephen Moyer) are heading down to Dallas at the behest of their Vampire Sherriff, Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) to help a vampire named Stan (Ed Quinn) find a missing bloodsucker. The rest of the characters will stay back home and deal with new hellacious creatures of the night. Werewolves perhaps? Sookie's brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) will have a separate story from the rest of them, at least for the first six episodes or so. His character has joined up with the anti-vampire church, The Fellowship of the Sun, which is sort of a story that's downplayed a bit in the book itself. Eventually, after their dealings in Dallas, Sookie returns back home and will find everything turned upside down and in a state of ruin and it will piss her off, leading her to try and set things straight. The cast is busy filming episode 7 at the moment, and Ball himself said that he will be writing episode 11. During the Q & A, the entire cast seems to express their love for their job and their roles. Carrie Preston loved how her character Arlene always speaks her mind. Rutina Wesley, for whom this is her first real acting gig, loves Tara's loyalty and good nature. Alexander Skarsgard says that he thinks Eric is a "sweetheart" to those he's friends with, but that he's just not friends with many people. Sam Trammell, who plays Sam on the show, admitted that his least favorite scene to shoot was the "running naked through the woods" scene. "It's tough to watch yourself naked. But running? That's tough to watch," laughed Trammel. "And it was tough to do because I was running naked in beige colored jazz shoes." Paquin herself loved the scene when Sam wakes up naked on Sookie's bed, and the whole "shapeshifter" story. She also made a joking reference to the men's "sock," or "sack of destiny" as they refer to it on the set – which is the cover-up apparatus that the men dawn when they're in the buff. She also admitted to really loving getting the sh*t kicked out of her. Or being projectile vomited on by a vampire. Stephan Moyer really enjoyed the history behind Bill and the backstory that he got to shoot which took place during The Civil War. "As an English schoolboy, you don't learn about The American Civil War. Or Independence Day. I never knew what that was for." Carrie Preston's husband, Lost's Michael Emerson, was also in attendance, and I even got to hear him, on my way out, speaking to another gentlemen about his own desire to get a role on True Blood, possibly after Lost concludes. I would assume, since he has expressed his longing to be back home with his family in interviews, that he would love to share the screen with his wife.

We were all shown a scene from Season 2, which I will do my best to describe to you here. Again, if you don't want anything spoiled for you, then don't read the specifics that I get into here about the clip. The scene opens with Bill driving frantically down the road at night. Sookie, in the passenger seat, tells him to slow down. Jessica is curled up in the backseat, crying tears of blood. Bill is furious. Apparently Sookie had taken Jessica back to see her family, but it was against Bill's wishes. She's a vampire now and she's not supposed to see her old family. Bill is angry and tells Sookie that she undermined his authority as her maker. Sookie tells Bill to stop the car, because she's had it with him. She gets out and walks off down the road. Bill calls after her, but then gets back in the car. Jessica tells Bill that Sookie wants him to go after her, and kiss her. Bill chooses not to, saying that Sookie will come back when she's calmed down. Sookie, walking in the woods at night, hears rustling. She thinks it might be Bill trying to scare her so she'll go back to the car. It's quite evident that it's not Bill, it's some other creature. Sookie looks down a wooded path and sees, a giant monster, with curled horns. Almost like a bull's horns. It chases her down, she screams. The monster, which still cannot be seen fully, slashes with his claws and takes a chunk out of Sookie's back, knocking her down. Bill senses that she's in danger… Again, True Blood's second season kicks off on HBO on June 14th. SOURCE: IGN.com: Bloody Bites from True Blood Season 2 (Photo credit: Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media)

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