True Blood’s Alex Skarsgård Has Praise for Co-Stars

HBO’s Viking Vamp Dishes On Castmates:

With the return of True Blood for Season 5 on June 10, and the release of ‘Battleship’ into theaters on May 18, fans of Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman) will have much to enjoy this summer.

Skarsgård’s film, ‘Battleship’, also marks the acting debut of singer Rhianna. Skarsgård shares several scenes with her and says he was not at all surprised at how easily she took to acting.

“I was honestly not surprised. Just like, watching her on stage, or her videos, you can tell [from] her energy and her charisma and personality, you know that she’s gonna be great in that part. I knew that and she really is.”

New to the cast of True Blood for Season 5, but making his return to HBO, is Chris Meloni (Oz, Law & Order: SVU). Skarsgård regards Meloni, who plays Vampire Authority member Roman, as a great addition to the cast.

“It wasn’t easy. His first day was basically him coming in. It was five pages of dialogue. Half of it was in Aramaic. That was like, ‘Welcome to the show, Chris.’ But he’s a trooper, a really amazing actor – obviously — and a great guy. We’ve had a lot of fun together on the show.”

It’s no secret that Skarsgård and True Blood co-star, Kristin Bauer Van Straten (Pamela DeBeaufort) have always held one another in very high regard.  A recent teaser video, released by HBO, gives us a peek at a scene that might indicate a rift between the Viking Vampire Eric Northman and his progeny, Pam. Does Eric release his child? Do they find a way to ‘kiss and make up’? What do you think?

Sources: Access Hollywood & YouTube

Photo: HBO

True Blood Season 5 Poster – Eric!

30 Days to True Blood Season 5!

The posters are out for the HBO True Blood stars for season five! There will be one for each actor and we at TrueBloodNet.com have decided to present one per post in order to give each its own top billing. Last season, Viking Vampire Eric Northman played by tall, blond and sexy Alexander Skarsgård, lost his memory and won Sookie’s heart despite eating her fairy godmother. By the end of the season he had regained his memory, lost Sookie and fallen into a bromance with Vampire Bill. Can two alpha males co-exist for long? Will Eric make up with Pam? Only time will tell!

Photo Credit: HBO

 

Alexander Skarsgård Takes a Break From Filming True Blood to Appear at WonderCon 2012

After a Night of Portraying Eric Northman, Skarsgård Promotes Upcoming Film:

First, a little background. WonderCon is a comics and media convention produced by the same group who brings us the San Diego Comic-Con. While much smaller in attendance (by several thousand) than its big sister, WonderCon does not fall short in quality programming.

I attended WonderCon on Saturday, March 17. It was held at the Anaheim Convention Center, not far from Disneyland. A primary, although not singular, motivation was to see the panel promoting the upcoming film ‘Battleship’. Panelist Alexander Skarsgård, who portrays Viking vampire Eric Northman on HBO’s series True Blood, plays Stone Hopper in ‘Battleship’. This is my first-hand account from dead-center in the room and reflects my perceptions, observations and opinions.

Living just outside of Los Angeles, I have been privileged to see Mr. Skarsgård in person four times, including WonderCon. I have previously attended the True Blood panels at both Comic-Cons in which he appeared, as well as PaleyFest in 2011.  He is typically very engaging and witty, answering questions openly and teasing fellow panel members.

When Mr. Skarsgård was introduced and entered the stage, a large group of 6-8 women seated around me gave a collective gasp. They all watch True Blood but apparently were unaware either that Mr. Skarsgård was in ‘Battleship’ or that he was scheduled to appear that day. The group began to giggle and squeal, shifting in their seats, several of them saying – in loud voices – “It’s Eric Northman!”

Mr. Skarsgård typically wears a suit to panel appearances, but this day he was dressed more casually in jeans, gray Converse tennis shoes, a gray t-shirt and dark jacket. It could have been a concession to exhaustion (due to a late night filming of True Blood) or to the unusually heavy rain storm we experienced. Rounding out the panel was Director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom) and co-star, Brooklyn Decker (Just Go With It).

The first video clip shown was an actual sequence from the film. It featured Ms. Decker, Mr. Skarsgård and Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, John Carter). Mr. Kitsch plays Alex Hopper, brother to Mr. Skarsgård’s character (who did not attend the panel). Mr. Skarsgård’s performance in the clip ranges from funny, to brotherly, to annoyed, to resigned and culminates in horrified surprise. It was entertaining and a pleasure to watch.

Skarsgård Found Working on “Battleship” to Be “scary”:

When the panel moderator asked Mr. Skarsgård what it was like working on such a large and complex production, he answered: “Scary”. He then explained that in a particular scene, a window is blown out and the glass and debris strike him. The shot was accomplished with a large air gun that Mr. Skarsgård said resembled a World War II cannon. The blast had been strong enough that his reaction was genuine; no acting had been required.

Peter Berg, who directed the film, paid Mr. Skarsgård a compliment. He said that when casting, he seeks out smart and complicated actors, which he considers Mr. Skarsgård to be.

Two more clips were shown of the film before the panel was concluded. On the whole, the movie appears to be a traditional summer action flick that could prove to be highly entertaining. In addition to the cast already mentioned, it also stars Liam Neeson (Clash of the Titans, Schindler’s List) and singer Rhianna in her acting debut. Mr. Skarsgård’s role seems to be sizable and significant and makes me wonder if this won’t be what catapults him from genre popularity to outright stardom within the U.S.

Battleship releases overseas in April and hits theaters in the U.S. May 18^th.

Photo: whoalopez.tumblr.com

True Blood’s Viking Vamp Hits Up the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards

Skarsgård Makes a Daytime Appearance:

Alexander Skarsgård took a stroll down the purple carpet at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards on February 25th in Santa Monica, CA. The Independent Spirit Awards, first held in 1984, brings together the film community to celebrate the best of the best of independent cinema. Skarsgård was sporting some pretty nifty shades in an effort to avoid the blistering sunlight:

ASkars makes that suit look good! Accompanying Skarsgård on the purple carpet was his brother, Gustaf Skarsgård.

Any Truebies here a fan of independent cinema? Did you catch the awards on TV? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Source Credit: WetPaint.com

Photo Credit: PacificCoastNews.com via zimbio.com

True Blood’s Pam Dishes on the Upcoming Season

Need Another Reason to Look Forward to Season 5?

If you are anything like me and my friends, one of your favorite things about True Blood is Pam‘s great one liners. Between her and Lafayette there are plenty of great quotes throughout each season. E! Online sat down with Kristin Bauer van Straten to talk about the upcoming season and what’s in store for her character.

Though she was reluctant to reveal any plot details concerning the new season, Bauer still gave Pam fans plenty to look forward to. She gushed:

“Every script I get I go, ‘Oh my god, that’s better than I thought it would be.’ And wardrobe fittings, ‘Oh my god, that’s better than I could have imagined.’”

When you see one of the show’s actors this excited about things to come, you can’t help but to feel some of that energy and excitement. Bauer also spoke about working with Alexander Skarsgård, the sexy Eric Northman, and if his increasing fame has changed him at all. She spoke of Skarsgård’s fame, saying:

“He’s the same guy…We’re buddies. But watch I’ll go watch the movies and then get starstruck all of a sudden.”

Good to hear that he is still the same down to earth guy.

Though Bauer didn’t give away any plot point from the upcoming season, in my opinion that’s a good thing. That way we can all be shocked by those OMG neck twisting sex moments we all love!

Source: E! Online - True Blood‘s Pam Talks Season Five “Goodness” and Working With Superstar Alexander Skarsgård!

Photo Credit: HBO, Inc.

Winning the Heart of True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård

ASkar Gives Us a How-To in December’s Elle UK:

Ladies –and all delusional queers like myself– apparently all you need to do to win over this heart-throb is compliment his acting (instead of his indubitable good looks.  According to Skarsgård, “Vanity is suicide for an actor.  Your creativity will die if you focus on looking good”) and obsess over the Hammarby Fotboll Club.  (I’m Googling all things Hammarby in the adjacent browser tab as I write this… Swedish soccer players, you say? Double-yum.)

Skarsgård is featured next month in Elle UK and writer Tim Teeman sat down with the Nordic god-of-a-man for the interview.  In it, readers can relish in the actor’s mini-bio details, e.g. he started acting at age 7 but didn’t appreciate the overzealous attention he received after The Dog That Smiled.  From there he joined the Swedish Royal Navy for a year and a half, toyed briefly with the idea of becoming an architect at Leeds Metropolitan University (but spent most of his time drinking instead of studying) before deciding to return to acting.  His big break came from Zoolander, but his major fame has stemmed from his role as Eric Northman on HBO‘s True Blood.

He’s not only gracing the small screen (i.e. Generation Kill, 2008 mini-series) with his talents, though.  His film career is w(h)etting our –let’s say– appetites, as well.  Most recently released, in Straw Dogs, Skarsgård plays a tenacious, rural ex-boyfriend.  His object of obsession and tight-grip is on urban Kate Bosworth‘s (who Skarsgård dated through July ’11) character who is involved with the character played by James Marsden.  The film is a remake of a 1971 movie of the same name and includes a powerful and violent rape scene between Skarsgård and Bosworth’s character that was “tough for us all.”  Before that but also released this year, he played in Melancholia with Kiefer Sutherland, Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg.  He just wrapped up filming an adaptation of Henry James’ What Maisie Knew this summer.

About his personal love life, the 35 year-old Swede is not stressing.  He likes being in relationships and he likes being single.  He says that it’s possible to be happy or miserable in either situation, but obviously he’d rather be happy.  He loves cooking, traveling, and because he comes from a family with six younger siblings, eventually wants kids.  He says that a lot of girls want him to bite them (no surprise there… I’d let him take a chomp of anything of mine) but, “I can’t [bite them] because I’ll end up doing it for the next thirty years.  There will be no biting,” he says. (Darnitall!)  However, the message he does want to send to all Elle readers: “Tell them I will marry them all.” So that’s it, I’m moving to California where it’s legal.

So Truebies: if you can get your hands on Elle UK, do it! You can check out the linked interview here, or click on the pictures below for the full story and let us know what you think in our comments section!

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources: Elle UK and askarsgard.com

 

Video: Joe Manganiello Reveals His Love for True Blood

Yorkshire Terriers, Love Squares, and Werewolves, Oh My!

In a recent interview, Emma Roberts, an Entertainment Reporter for MSN Entertainment, spoke with the statuesque Joe Manganiello about his role as Alcide Herveaux on HBO‘s True Blood.  At 6’5″ and 225 lbs, Manganiello is not only a beefy hunk of a man, but as Roberts notes, is charming and adorable.  When Alcide growls, Manganiello revealed that he’s channelling his 8 lb Yorkshire Terrier when Hercules (how effing sexy is a big man with a tiny dog named Hercules?) is threatened with the prospect of losing his pig-ear treat. If you weren’t swooning over Joe before, now would be a good time to start.

What Manganiello loves, and what audiences love about his role as Alcide, is what we love about dogs: “he’s very loyal, he has a big heart; no matter all the bad things that happen to him, he keeps coming back.”  And why does Alcide originally fall for Sookie?  She smells good.  (I wish he’d sniff me out!)

About the forming love square between his character, Sookie Stackhouse, Bill Compton and Eric Northman, Manganiello surmises,

“My character offers something very different to the other two vampire suitors – he can go out with Sookie during the day, take her to tea, go to the beach. So they can do other things in the daylight that the others can’t.”

He adds that vampires can be “savage and duplicitous.” Whereas werewolves can also be savage, “Alcide in particular has a very strong moral code which isn’t necessarily present in the other characters on the show.”  He articulates that Alcide has fallen for Sookie because she has a spunk, an energy of light; when he’s forced to take her into the underground world of werewolves in Season 3, he feels inclined to protect her and those feelings never disappear.

Truebies, if you want to enjoy Manganiello’s delightful personality in video form, watch the full interview below and let us know what you think in the Comments section!

Source: MSN UK TV

Photo: HBO

Big News for True Blood Comic Series

Publishers Have Announced a Monthly Release!

According to IDW Publishing the TRUE BLOOD comic book series has become one of their most popular titles.  Since its first issue was published by IDW in July 2010, each installment has given Truebies a deeper insight into their favorite characters.  Now, a new comic will be released every month.  Alan Ball, the show’s creator, says about the series:

“The comics are a great way to continue telling True Blood stories off screen. With this new ongoing series, Truebies will be able to find a new comic in stores every month. We’ll also have even more room to create in-depth drama and further explore the world of Bon Temps.”

After IDW and HBO reached the New York Times‘ Best-Selling First Comic Collection with their compilation of ALL TOGETHER NOW, they released the second compilation entitled TAINTED LOVE.  All Together Now is about a woodland monster who ravages Merlotte’s and Tainted Love revolves around Jessica ingesting some poisoned bottles of True Blood and Bill‘s search for its origin.  In stores now, the third mini-series (not yet compiled) is called THE FRENCH QUARTER and:

“finds Sookie and Eric in New Orleans tracking a killer, whom Eric and Godric thought they killed in Paris more than 200 years ago, while Bill is in town investigating a local Hep-D outbreak that may be connected to the killer’s latest victims. Meanwhile, back in Bon Temps, Truebies will wonder why Pam is hanging out at Merlotte’s and what it is she wants with Lafayette.”

The French Quarter issues will be compiled as a series and released in March 2012.

TRUE BLOOD: ALL TOGETHER NOW ($24.99, 160 pages, hard cover, full color) is now available in stores. Diamond order code DEC10 0370; ISBN 978-1-60010-868-6.

TRUE BLOOD: TAINTED LOVE ($24.99, 160 pages, hard cover, full color) is now available in stores. Diamond order code JUL11 0370; ISBN 978-1-61377-019-1.

TRUE BLOOD: TAINTED LOVE ($11.99) is available in Apple’s iBook Store here: http://bit.ly/smqTIA

The entire TRUE BLOOD COMICS COLLECTION is available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch through the Apple App Store [http://itunes.com/apps/idwpublishing/truebloodcomicscollection]

TRUE BLOOD comics are available for the Sony PSP through the Sony Digital Comics store here: http://bit.ly/fKNzWV

Whoever has these comics or loves comics and True Blood should let us know what you think in the comments section! If you have any Truebie friends, I know the books make a great holiday present! (I’m hoping to find Tainted Love in my stocking since I’ve already purchased and devoured All Together Now.)

Image and Article Source: IDW Publishing

Alexander Skarsgård Makes AskMen’s Top 49 Men List

The Results are In:

After more than two hundred thousand AskMen.com readers voted on which men they feel have earned the right to call themselves one of the Top Most Influential Men of 2011, the results are in…

One of our favorite Vamps has managed to lock in recognition on this Hot List! Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman) on HBO’s True Blood has secured the 17th spot on the Top Most Influential Men of 2011. For True Blood fans it will come as no surprise to see that this Vampire Viking has received this much deserved recognition. Skarsgård plays the gorgeous, smoldering, powerful, Sheriff of Area 5 on True Blood, who has recently become entangled in a VERY sexy love triangle with Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Bill (Stephen Moyer), which hit its climax in Season 4 and answered the “Will they?Won’t they? ” between Sookie and Eric with a resounding hell YES!

Skarsgård receives this recognition alongside some of the world’s most popular and influential figures; Piers Morgan, George Clooney, and the late Steve Jobs (number 1) all of whom received status as one of the Most Influential Men of 2011.

I’m sure I speak on behalf of all the Team Eric fans when I say congrats Alexander, you deserve this acknowledgement, and we can’t wait for you to work your way up this list next year!

Source: Askmen.com - Top 49 Men 2011

Photo: HBO

True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård in New Movie “The East”

Actor to Appear in Fox Searchlight Thriller:

Tony and Ridley Scott are producing The East, which will feature Alexander Skarsgård and Brit Marling. Ellen Page is also in talks to join True Blood’s Eric Northman in this project.

The East is a thriller about a private firm contracted to protect large corporations from environmental and anti-business extremists. This firm attempts to infiltrate a secretive anarchist organization known as “The East”.

Brit Marling will appear as the undercover agent who tries to infiltrate The East and finds herself falling in love with the group’s enigmatic leader, Skarsgård. Page’s character, Izzy, is a former lover of Skarsgård and jealous of the attention he has been paying to Marling.

Viking Vampire Eric Northman starring as an environmental extremist, will you be running to the movies to see this thriller? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

Source:  Variety - Ellen Page Infiltrates “The East”

Photo: HBO

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