True Blood Season 3: Who Is Holly Cleary?

Welcome to the tenth in a series of features about the new characters coming to True Blood in season 3. We’ll be taking a look at these new characters using both information from casting calls and from the novels on which the show is based. Beware, spoilers ahead!

Who Is Holly Cleary?

Lauren Bowles will play Holly Cleary

Here’s a twist: True Blood is introducing a character in season 3 who we should have met last season! Holly Cleary first appears in the second Southern Vampire Mysteries novel, Living Dead in Dallas, although her character gets more attention in book four, Dead to the World. She’s a minor but recurring character throughout the books, even dating Hoyt Fortenberry at one point. In the novels she’s in her mid-20s, divorced and the single mother of five-year-old Cody. She’s a waitress at Merlotte’s, and a Wiccan. Although she does practice some witchcraft, she’s mostly interested in living the Wiccan lifestyle.

The casting call for Holly on True Blood alters things a little bit. She’s now the thirtysomething “presumably single” mother of two children who applies for a job at Merlotte’s. The “presumably single” qualifier suggests that she might be hiding out from an estranged husband, thinking that Bon Temps is a sleepy rural town where she can live quietly. And really, considering this show, she must have a secret of some kind! The casting call also notes that Holly is “oddly prescient”, which disturbs the already high-strung Arlene, so we can assume she will have at least some sort of supernatural prowess. Holly Cleary will recur from mid-season 3 possibly into season 4, which has book fans pretty excited about a certain Eric storyline that we suspect will end season 3 and kickstart season 4.

Lauren Bowles will play Holly Cleary on True Blood.

Holly Cleary In Brief

Sex: Female
Species: Human
Age: thirtysomething
Status: Single (we think)
Relatives: Two children
Occupation: Waitress at Merlotte’s
Location: Bon Temps