Post-True Blood Update: Anna Paquin, Joe Manganiello, Riley Smith

Our True Blood alumni sure are keeping busy! Stephen Moyer’s new show, The Bastard Executioner, premiered on FX last night and now comes word that Anna Paquin has a new gig.

A&E announced today that Anna has joined the cast of the network’s remake of Roots, the classic mini-series from the 1970s based on the novel of the same name. The four-night, eight-hour scripted miniseries follows one family’s struggle to survive the American slavery system. Anna will play Nancy Holt, “the wife of a Confederate officer who has her own agenda when it comes to the handling of slaves.”

In other “where are they now” news:

• Joe Manganiello guests on Nickelodeon’s Blaze and the Monster Machines as the voice of the Fire Chief in “Fired Up!” premiering Friday, Sept. 25, at 12 p.m. (ET/PT). As commander of Axle City’s firefighting brigade, the Fire Chief tackles the toughest emergencies with authority and thinks Blaze may have what it takes to be a firefighter. Blaze and the Monster Machines follows the adventures of the amazing monster truck Blaze and his eight-year-old driver AJ. It’s the first preschool show on TV to comprehensively cover all areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in every episode.

  In “Fired Up!” Blaze smells smoke at Axle City’s garage, so he calmly and courageously leads his friends outside to safety. The Fire Chief is impressed with Blaze and encourages him to work hard to earn his firefighter badge and join his team. Blaze and AJ set out on a series of thrilling adventures to avert disaster in Axle City.

• Riley Smith, who played Arlene’s vampire love interest Keith in the final season, will appear in several episodes of ABC’s Nashville this season before filming Fox’s drama pilot Urban Cowboy, a modern reimagining of the 1980 country music-fueled movie starring John Travolta and Debra Winger. According to Deadline, the “reimagined” story is infused with Latin music and follows star-crossed young lovers Kyle (Alfonso Herrera) and Gaby (Nathalie Kelley) “as they pursue their dreams and passions through the sweat of line dancing in honky tonks, the grime of the oil refineries and the glamour of modern Texas. It’s about family legacies, starting over, finding true love and the American dream.”Riley, a series regular, plays bad boy Wes, the handsome head of security at a honky tonk who is helping run drugs through the bar while looking to become a rodeo star. He convinces Kyle to train him and makes a move on Gaby. Jim Belushi, Bryana Salaz, Edward James Olmos and Lindsey Gort co-star.