Embracing the Life of Sookie:

Despite her Academy Award-winning film career, Anna Paquin is probably best known as the sweet yet scrappy Sookie Stackhouse on True Blood. In just three seasons—only months in Bon Temps time, Sookie has lost her beloved ‘Gran‘ (Lois Smith), dealt with a murderous maenad, endured betrayals of the heart and has both staked a vampire (Lorena) and been saved by the staking of another vamp (Long Shadow), resulting in a complete drenching in vampire goo, giving her the appearance of  ‘Carrie.’  And despite all this, she has managed to hold down her job as a waitress at Merlotte’s!

Recently, the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress sat down with New Zealand Women’s Weekly to discuss being Sookie, how she stays in shape, and what she thinks about her infamous Rolling Stone cover, among other topics.

Paquin has embraced the emotional, physical, and often bloody challenges of playing True Blood’s leading lady. Indeed, she confirms that she likes the stranger things in life and that she was never much of a girly girl:

“I love getting really involved in it and getting into weird, physical, dirty, vampire, blood, whatever. That, to me, is the fun stuff. …I was never one of those prissy, girlie girls that didn’t want to get their clothes dirty. I never cared. When I grew up in New Zealand, I was always barefoot and hanging upside down from a tree.”

The blond Bon Temps waitress/telepath/faery goes onto say that she loves to play a strong woman like Sookie because: “She can handle a chain, or outrun a serial killer. She’s hardcore, in a very sweet, southern, charming kind of way.”  In fact, Anna says that because of playing Sookie she has found herself being nicer to people as well as being happier, too.

Anna on Staying in Shape and the Issue of Sex in America:

Playing Sookie also requires the actress to have a fantastic body in addition to her acting chops. So how does Anna keep in shape? Well for one, she has a thing for boxing. Not only is it good for getting out aggression, it’s also something that she can spend time doing with husband and co-star Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton). She’s also a fan of pilates, running, and yoga. Anna maintains that exercise is very important when faced with the task of getting naked on camera, like it or not. Luckily she enjoys it.

Speaking of getting naked, Paquin was also asked about the cover of Rolling Stone which featured her pressed up against her husband and our favorite Swede, Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman), all three of whom appeared as if they had just had a ménage a trois the way only two vampires could with a human; covered in blood. The pose sparked a bit of a controversy due to its sexual nature. She addressed the issue of sex very articulately saying:

‘People seem to be a lot more uptight about that here [in the US],” she says. ‘I don’t care. I don’t see what the big deal is. People have sex; people are usually naked when they do it. They’re not usually wearing a bra and having the sheets really delicately placed… are you kidding me?’

Paquin says her outspoken nature can be attributed to her upbringing in New Zealand as the youngest of three children, which gave her confidence and made her learn to speak quickly if she wanted to be heard at all.

On Being Blonde:

Born a brunette, Paquin bleached her hair for the role of Sookie and finds that blonds really do have more fun. Her golden locks also seem to get her noticed more, she says. Paquin’s theory is the attention is due to how bright and shiny her hair appears. She goes on to say that she’s very happy right where she is on True Blood and that she will continue to do the show for as long as people will watch it.

There will be certainly plenty to watch in season four with Sookie seeming to have disappeared to the land of the Fae in the final moments of last season. While we will be kept guessing for a good six months regarding the fate of Sookie and our other beloved characters, it certainly is nice to know this leading lady loves the show as much as we do.

Source: New Zealand Woman’s Weekly – Anna Paquin Hangs Tough

(Photo Credit: New Zealand Woman’s Weekly)