COMIC CON 2011: The True Blood Panel Report

This afternoon at the San Diego Convention Center, the beautiful cast of True Blood took the stage, delighting thousands of fans who had waited in line for literally hours. Before they were introduced, however, we were treated to a short clip of what we can expect from the rest of the season. Fans, you do not want to miss this. For those of you who have been thinking that this season has been a bit too slow for your liking, strap yourselves in and hold on. Eric/Sookie fans squealed – a lot. Bill fans roared their pleasure. Sookie amazes with a fantastic display of her power. Well, you can see for yourself in the clip we posted here.

First on the stage was the lovely Kristin Bauer Van Straten. Pam is a fan favorite and they let her know it with a loud welcome. Next up, Alexander Skarsgard. I still do not have my hearing back. The applause was tremendous, and yet Skarsgard maintained a cool and almost humble demeanor. Kevin Alejandro was next followed by Nelsan Ellis. The crowd roared for Lafayette almost as much as for Skarsgard, and Ellis takes it all in stride. Ryan Kwanten came out sporting a bit of a new look, and the crowd loves it – and him! Deborah Ann Woll was introduced next, and Jessica is another Truebie favorite. Rutina Wesley brought on more cheers, because what’s not to love about Tara? Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin finish off the cast with Alan Ball last, but certainly not least, in my book.

Moderator Tim Stack begins asking his questions and he only asks a few so that he can open up the floor to the fans. Nice touch, Tim! Anna Paquin talks about Sookie being a bit divided. “There’s a part of her that’s sweet and a part of her that has really dirty vampire sex. Possibly with two vampires. And maybe werewolf sex!”

Nelsan Ellis reveals that Lafayette doesn’t really want to do the supernatural thing, especially with witches.

Deborah Ann Woll talks about the final scene in episode 4.04, when Jessica gives Jason some of her blood to heal him. “Giving Jason blood has after effects, and that’s what’s going to be interesting.”

Alan Ball said that we will find out about the creepy doll and whether or not Arlene’s baby is evil. He asked the crowd what we thought about the baby, and most believe he’s evil. One fan shouted out “KILL THE BABY!” That shocked even Alan, who replied, “I knew True Blood fans were sick, but not that sick!” It was all in fun!

Regarding the famous and highly anticipated “shower scene”, the only thing Alan would say was, “There will be a moment on the show when Sookie and Eric are in the shower. It will be weirder and dirtier.”

Alexander told us his favorite scene so far this season: Eric’s swim in the sunlight. Deborah’s was when Jessica was throwing eggs at Hoyt. She said they had a lot of fun with that. Alan said his fave was Jason’s gang rape, and Ryan said, “I’ll take it!” Rutina’s favorite scene was the cage fight. She secretly loves the UFC.

In talking about some points for the rest of the season. Kevin Alejandro was asked if Jesus was dark, and he says, “There’s a little darkness in all of us, but we’ll have to wait and find out what that is.”

Kristin Bauer delighted fans when she talked about filming the scene where her face starts to peel off from Marnie’s curse. After applying all the makeup and goop made out of tapioca pudding and coffee grounds, they told her to ‘find the hole and push up.’ She loves it when the show can make us squeamish.

The floor was opened up to fan’s questions, and there were some really great ones. Alan was asked if Eric would remember his time with Sookie after he regains his memories. He would not say because he didn’t want to give that spoiler away. He was also asked if we would get to see when Eric made Pam his child. Alan said yes, in season five.

When asked if there was any hope for Sookie and Bill, Anna said, “It’s complicated.” She also answered a fan’s question about the lack of Sookie’s telepathy this season. “It’s still there, but we don’t always see it.”

Nelsan was asked if Lafayette weren’t dating Jesus, who would he choose, Eric, Bill or Jason? Ellis says Jesus is pretty happy with his current squeeze, but he’s do all four!

The next fan didn’t really have a question. She just wanted to yell, “What were you thinking? You are all going to hell!” Who could be so bold? Only Janina Gavankar (Luna), who stood in line patiently waiting her turn to ask her fan Q.

An interesting question came from a fan who wanted to know how Eric’s memory loss would effect his part in vampire relations and politics, when he eventually is healed. Alan says, “The vampire community is under siege this season, so they all band together to fight a common enemy.”

Are Sam and Tara over? Alan says, of course, nothing is ever over on True Blood.

Anna explained to one fan who wanted to know where she got her inspiration to play Sookie without all the powers. “Even though these characters are supernatural, they are grounded in human reality. What Sookie goes through is real.”

Stephen adds, “It all comes down to the writing. Unless the writing is good, you can’t do it. We’ve got an unbelievable group surrounding Alan.”

Alan talked about some supernaturals that we have yet to see. “Spirits without bodies. Brujo-based creatures. More research to come.”

Alexander wants Eric to fly more. He enjoys that and the flashbacks to his Viking past.

Alan was asked about the differences between “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood”.  “True Blood is never depressing. The supernatural nature makes it fun to come to work.”

What if Pam lost her memory & Eric had to take care of her? Kristin says, “I’d like to think he’d do anything to save Pam.” Skarsgard adds, “He’d do anything for her. We saw last season that he’d die for his progeny.”

The inevitable book vs. show question was answered by Alan. “One, the books are all Sookie’s story. We can’t do that. Two, if we stuck to books, there’d be no surprises. Though we stray a bit from the books, we try to stay very true to the spirit of them.”

Fan: will we every get some waitresses at Merlotte’s with some staying power for the guys to look at? I don’t know where this guy has been for three seasons, but he missed Sookie and Arlene and Jessica. Alan answers though. “She (Sookie) takes her clothes off all the time! Just wait for this season.” Alan says we’ll meet more waitresses this season, but how long they stay he won’t say.

The cast were asked about their auditioning process for True Blood. Nelsan remembers thrusting his crotch slightly at Alan during his audition. A tip to remember, Alan says. Kevin had to do a chemistry read with Nelsan as did other actors. ‘I won.’ Deborah remembers rolling around on the floor during her audition. ‘I guess it worked.’ Rutina almost wrecked her car when she got the call that she landed the role. Stephen’s story had me teary-eyed. He was burgled the same day he put his audition on tape. Computer was stolen. His son immediately ran into his room and checked for his teddy. He got the call to live audition the next morning. Met Anna the next day. ‘It’s been alright.’ Anna stalked Alan until he said yes.

And that’s about it! We’ve got hundreds of photos loaded in our gallery, with more on the way, so be sure to head over there with a cup of your favorite refreshment and browse!