True Blood Finale Shows Bill Compton’s True Colors

Always pay attention to your instincts. That’s what Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) learned on the season finale of True Blood Sunday.

Earlier in the season, Sookie wondered if she could really trust her on-again, off-again vampire beau Bill Compton, played by Paquin’s real-life husband Stephen Moyer.

After Sunday, it seems like the answer is no — or is it?

SPOILER ALERT!

In an episode filled with spectacular bloodshed and surprising deaths, Bill unceremoniously tries to kill Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) by covering him with cement.

Bill later tells Sookie what he’s done, claiming it was only to protect her -– because she is part fairy and in great demand among vampires who crave her blood.

Just as Bill seems to be winning Sookie over, Eric comes back from his concrete tomb and reveals Bill’s original intention behind courting Sookie: He was sent by the Queen of Louisiana (Evan Rachel Wood). Eric also points out that during their initial meeting, Bill allowed Sookie to get nearly beaten to death so that he could swoop in to save her by giving her his blood, which helped her heal and would give the two a bond.

Devastated to learn of Bill’s deception, Sookie screams and throws him out, though he weeps bloody tears and swears he still loves her.

So can Bill be trusted? One of True Blood‘s many cliffhangers includes an apparent battle to death between Bill and the Queen who wants Sookie — and her blood — for herself.

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer Get Married

From True Blood to true love – Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer have tied the knot.

"Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin were married on Saturday evening in Malibu surrounded by their family and friends," the couple's reps said.

Paquin – wearing a white halterneck gown and Neil Lane jewelry with her hair in an updo – and Moyer, clad in a dark suit, exchanged vows at sunset under a white tent at a beachside villa.

"It was a beautiful evening to get married and the sunset was gorgeous. Anna and Stephen seemed very excited to celebrate their wedding day," a source stated.

Celebrity guests included True Blood creator Alan Ball, costars Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley and Carrie Preston as well as actor Elijah Wood.

The good news comes after a year-long engagement for the stars of the hit HBO series. Moyer, 40, proposed with a vintage-style ring on the beach last August.

"It’s great to have the freedom to enjoy your work and not feel like you're leaving your other life behind," Paquin, 28, says of the couple's relationship. "It’s a pretty sweet setup."

Stephen Moyer: There's 'Nothing Exciting' About Filming Sex Scenes

Stephen Moyer says filming sex scenes for his hit show True Blood isn't as thrilling as it might seem. He says he's often just thinking about what he's going to eat for lunch while all the steaminess goes down behind the cameras.

He said: “The naked aspect is part and parcel of the show. And honestly, when I'm doing a sex scene, all I think about is the food I'm going to eat after the scene is finished. Everybody has to starve themselves so if they put the sex scene after lunch, it's a f***ing nightmare. Believe me, there's nothing exciting about doing those scenes."

Stephen, who plays vampire Bill Compton opposite his real life fiancee Anna Paquin, 28, also claims he wasn’t worried about meeting Anna’s mother, Mary, even though she had seen his and Anna’s naked sex scenes. He said: “Was it weird that Anna's mum had obviously seen a lot of me before we met? Well, I don't know. I didn't ask Mary that.”

The 40-year-old actor was quick to praise his future mother-in-law calling her “evolved”. He added to the New Zealand Herald newspaper: "But you need to realize that she's a very spunky, very modern, evolved woman. She's very aware of what it is that we do and what it is that Anna does. Remember, she was with Anna was she was 14 or 15 and doing all those provocative movies like Hurly Burly and 25th Hour.”

The Joy of Vampire Sex: 'True Blood' on Rolling Stone's Latest Cover

The following is an excerpt of an article from the September 2, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone. This issue is available today on newsstands, and Friday, August 20th online via Rolling Stone's premium subscription plan.

The idea of celibate vampires is ridiculous, True Blood creator Alan Ball says. "To me, vampires are sex," he says. "I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed."

On his show, every available orifice is used for intercourse: gay, straight, between humans and supernatural beings, and supernatural being on supernatural being, whether he be werewolf, dog or an enormous Minotaur-looking being called a maenad. None of the sex is quite as good as vampire sex, though, which can happen at the astonishing rhythm of 120 bpm while simultaneously devouring one's neck and making your eyes roll back into your head.

Says Stephen Moyer — who plays Bill Compton, the undead Southern Civil War Veteran — "If we go from a base level, vampires create a hole in the neck where there wasn't one before. It's a de-virginization — breaking the hymen, creating blood and then drinking the virginal blood. And there's something sharp, the fang, which is probing and penetrating and moving into it. So that's pretty sexy. I think that makes vampires attractive." He laughs a little. "Plus, Robert Pattinson is just hot, right?"

To read Vanessa Grigoriadis' story in full and read about why sex is the centerpiece of the show, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer’s on-set romance and how Alexander Skarsgard channels his inner evil, you must be a subscriber to All Access.

Already a subscriber? Starting Friday, August 20th, continue on to The Archives. Not a member and want to learn more? Go to our All Access benefits page.

“True Blood” Star Stephen Moyer Talks About Co-Star and Fiance Anna Paquin’s Being Bisexual

Actor Stephen Moyer, who has starred as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series True Blood since 2008, knew almost from the very beginning that his co-star and fiancee Anna Paquin is bisexual – something she made public fairly recently.

“I’ve never been in a relationship before in which, literally within the first three days, all the cards were laid out,” he says in a new interview with Playboy. “It wasn’t something that was kept from me. I condone what she has done 100 percent, and it’s her business to talk about it, not mine. It doesn’t change anything. I’m proud of who she is.”

Sounds like a great guy.

The couple will not be lacking for work. True Blood has just been renewed for a fourth season.

Stephen Moyer Digs Being Naked on 'True Blood'

True Blood stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer can get carried away during their sex scenes in the vampire drama.

Stephen, 40, admits his real-life relationship with 27-year-old Anna means there are no boundaries on set.

Speaking about their chemistry on set, he joked: "I think that one great bonus is we don't need a fluffer."

A fluffer is a person who helps male performers maintain their erections in adult movies.

Bisexual Anna also admits she and the rest of the show's cast are comfortable being naked around each other on set. She told Entertainment Weekly: "It doesn't really bother me. I'm really close with all of our cast, and we've all seen each other in various compromising and odd situations."

Anna and Stephen have been together since 2007, and play lovers Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton on the show, which is based on the The Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris.

Also joining the popular program is Joe Manganiello, who plays werewolf Alcide in the new series, and he has wasted no time in getting his clothes off for the role.

He said: "Having been a fan of the show, you know you're going to be naked at some point. I will say that I was welcomed into the brotherhood of the

Paparazzi!: Blood Ties

Anna Paquin and her on and off-screen fiancé Stephen Moyer stay close Tuesday at the Hollywood premiere of the third season of their HBO series, True Blood.

For Gay Celebs, 'Out' Is A Matter Of Definition

Anna Paquin, who is engaged to her 'True Blood' co-star Stephen Moyer, has explained the thinking behind her surprise decision to come out as bisexual in a gay rights public service announcement this April.

"I'm not someone who endlessly talks about her personal life for no reason, but obviously, as someone who identifies as bisexual, those are issues I really care about," she told Zap2it on Tuesday. "It wasn't like it was a big secret. It was just a cause I cared about and privately supported, but not one that I had ever had an opportunity to speak out about in a way that would be useful."

In a year of coming out stories, some more surprising than others (Sean Hayes, Ricky Martin, Chely Wright), Paquin's case casts light on the constantly shifting politics of how we view celebrities and sexuality.

Like celebrity pregnancies, the matter of whether a gay star is "out of the closet" or not is one of those things that should be black-and-white, but isn't. If a star is openly gay among friends and family but hasn't issued a press release, are they considered "out"?

For years, Neil Patrick Harris occupied that middle ground that so confounds journalists who want to stick a label on people. He would attend public events with his boyfriend, but given that they stubbornly refused to have the word "gay" tattooed on their foreheads, it was hard to know what to call the relationship in print.

Reporters are in a similar situation right now with a prominent singer and actress that often goes to media events with the same lady by her side. But because there has been no press release, respectable outlets will not report what seems to be the blatantly obvious conclusion: That the couple is in a public lesbian relationship. (Needless to say, many blogs and tabloids do not exercise that restraint.)

So are relationships like that, to use Paquin's words, "a big secret"? Hardly anyone was surprised when Ricky Martin came out as a "fortunate homosexual man," but that didn't mean the press could call him that before he made his statement. (In 1956, Liberace successfully sued the London Daily Mirror for implying that he was gay. He won $22,000 in damages because the paper called him "fruit-flavored.")

Clearly, celebrities feel more comfortable coming out in 2010 because it is not the career-ending revelation that it would have been for an earlier generation of stars, like Montgomery Clift (who never came out) and Tab Hunter (who did). However, even gay-rights supporters would probably agree that the world is not yet ready to accept a publicly gay actor playing a heterosexual romantic lead in a Hollywood blockbuster. Sean Hayes's credibility was recently questioned by a Newsweek reporter (who is also gay) for playing straight in a Broadway musical.

From a journalist's perspective (at least this journalist, who is gay), sexuality should be reported on as merely a fact, like marital status or hair color or whether they own a dog. However, a rising star who could potentially lose an eight-figure paycheck if he or she were disqualified from a leading role would reasonably look at the matter differently.

The only thing which is certain is that attitudes toward gay celebrities are changing to be more tolerant. Perhaps the next generation's Anna Paquin won't have to do a PSA about gay rights, because it won't be necessary.

New Release Tuesday!

Here's a list of what's new on DVD, Blu-ray and CD today including the release of True Blood's second season on DVD starring Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell and Ryan Kwanten.

MOVIES
Dear John
Mystery Team
The Road
Tell Tale

MUSIC
Marc Anthony - Iconos
Sex And The City 2 - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Smashing Pumpkins - Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. 1: Songs For A Sailor
Stopne Temple Pilots - Stone Temple Pilots
True Blood - Music From The HBO Original Series, Volume 2
Will Young - Leave Right Now

TV SHOWS
Flashpoint - 2nd Season
The Real Housewives of New York City - 1st & 2nd Seasons
Royal Pains - 1st Season
Top Chef Masters - 1st Season
True Blood - 2nd Season
The Virginians - 1st Season

New True Blood Cast Photo

With just six weeks to go until the racy vampire drama True Blood returns to airwaves, HBO has released the first official cast photo from season 3, putting the love triangle between Bill (Stephen Moyer), Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) front and center.

But could the shot — which also features Kristin Bauer as Pam, Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette (who’s getting a love interest this season), Ryan Kwanten as Jason and Deborah Ann Wall as new vamp Jessica — foretell romance between former flames Sam (Sam Trammell) and Tara (Rutina Wesley), huddled together in back?

Only time will tell. True Blood‘s third season premieres June 13th on HBO.

Brother Approves of Anna Paquin's Engagement to True Blood co-Star Stephen Moyer

Sibling revelry: Now that Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are altar-bound, Anna's older brother has given his blessing to his sister's True Blood costar joining the family.

"I absolutely approve! Steve will be an amazing husband to Anna and a great brother-in-law," Andrew Paquin said at Saturday's Tribeca Film Festival premiere of his directorial debut movie, Open House, which also happens to star Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.

Assuming the role of the protective older brother, Andrew, 33, has no problem with the 40-year-old English actor marrying his 27-year-old sister. In fact, Andrew and Moyer have become close buddies themselves.

"She's in very good hands," says Andrew. "Steve's a lovely man and a really great guy. He's become a very good friend. Everything is great and I'm really happy for them."

A psychological thriller, Open House was filmed in Andrew's own home – before his sister and Moyer became engaged. Still, the director says he saw something special brewing between them.

"They have amazing chemistry together on and off the screen. There's something special going on, and they understand and respect each other."

Now with their plans to tie the knot, "They are certainly in love and very good to each other and very kind to each other," says Andrew. "That's important."

And while, like all siblings, they fought while growing up, when it came to directing his Academy Award-winning sister, "It was fantastic … but I was nervous because she's such a good actress," he says.

"We only had two days together and it was my first time directing and I wanted to do a good job. But she made my life pretty easy as a director. She knows her lines perfectly and she understands her character."

True Blood's Stephen Moyer Says Bosses Helped Spark Romance with Anna Paquin

There are social networks for meeting people, and then there are TV networks – and Stephen Moyer credits the latter with hooking him up with his fiancée, True Blood costar Anna Paquin.

"It's HBO's fault," the British actor, 40, tells Details in its May issue. "They put us in the same hotel" – though in not the same room, at least "not to begin with," he adds.

"No, I'm joking. They put us in these hotel suites, and we hung out for a while and got to know each other. The attraction was there, so it was a matter of whether we acted on it or not."

And, obviously, act they did. While they announced their engagement last August, the closest date Moyer will forecast for an actual wedding is 2020 – not that he sounds serious.

He is open about discussing his relationship with Paquin, 27, and admits he was cautious when it first started. "To get a pilot that runs to a series, it's big s--- to people," he says. "And so to come along and go, 'Oh, let's have a quick f---,' and then risk arguing and being a nightmare when you're playing the two people who are together the whole time – that would be immature."

A Link to Venice

Having lived for seven years on a houseboat in London's waterside canal area called Little Venice, Moyer now resides with Paquin in a house on the canals of Venice, Calif. "I have to live in places that are called Venice," he jokes. "I'm a Venice-zuelan."

He's also the father of two children, Lilac, 7, and Billy, 10, from two separate past relationships.

As for his distinctive way of pronouncing "Sookie" (Paquin's character on the vampire series), Moyer is equally candid. "'Sookie' rhymes with 'cookie,' " he says. "It doesn't rhyme with 'kooky.' "

Asked if he calls her that at home, the leading man replies with a straight face, "All the time. When she's chained up."

True Blood VILF: Which Vampire Does Sookie Want?

The latest "True Blood" Season 3 teaser poster is simple, suggestive and hilarious. Simply one acronym written in bold caps, "VILF" really says it all, doesn't it?

Since we are not HBO, we really can't spell that out for you, but if you're a red-blooded adult, chances are you know what this stands for. Just a hint: the "V" stands for "vampire."

Ah, but this begs the question: Which vampire does Sookie (Anna Paquin), uh, want to face?

Is it Bill (Stephen Moyer), who went missing at the end of Season 2? Or possibly Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), whose blood she drank out of necessity?

In this first-look photo printed in the recent TV Guide, we see that there's definitely something there between Sookie and Eric ... and it's not halitosis.

Producer Alan Ball hints: "Sookie is sexually drawn to him because she's had his blood. But there is another reason he is drawn to her, one that will be revealed this season."

If you have read the books (which I have not), then you already know why Eric is so attracted ... but there may be a twist in TV version of "True Blood".

"True Blood" is back on June 13th. Waiting truly sucks.

Anna Paquin Comes Out as Bisexual

No one saw this coming! Anna Paquin, who plays a telepathic vampire lover on HBO's True Blood, has come out as bisexual.

Paquin, who's engaged to her True Blood costar Stephen Moyer, makes the announcement in a PSA video promoting the Give a Damn campaign, which features celebritiess speaking out for equality.

"I'm Anna Paquin. I'm bisexual and I give a damn," Paquin, 27, says on-camera during a private taping on Jan. 30 in Los Angeles. Sources said they were unaware beforehand that Paquin would make the announcement.

Others who were present at the taping included comedian Margaret Cho and singers Mya and Jason Mraz.

Paquin's PSA comes on behalf of the True Colors Fund, an organization dedicated to earning equal rights for people who are gay, straight, bisexual or transgendered. The organization's "Give a Damn" campaign launches Thursday, with Paquin's spot as the first of several to be unveiled on-line in coming months.

Other major names in the campaign include Kim Kardashian, Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Cynthia Nixon, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, Judith Light, Clay Aiken and Wanda Sykes.

Stephen Moyer Misses Scenes with Anna Paquin

When it comes to fiancée Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer can’t get enough of a good thing.

“We haven’t been working together that much this year and I kind of miss that,” said Moyer, whose True Blood character Bill Compton has been separated from Paquin’s Sookie Stackhouse. “We met during the show, we met on camera, we met doing something that we love and that’s what we do. And I really miss her when Bill’s been taken [away].”

And it’s not just his significant other he misses – it’s the crew dynamic as well, he told reporters at Cosmopolitan’s Fun Fearless Male Awards in New York Monday night. “It’s quite fun too, when [the camera’s] not rolling,” he said. “I think the thing is because the crew and everybody grew up watching us, they’ve seen every move I’ve ever made on her.”

But the couple, who kept their relationship secret as long as possible, knew the pitfalls of pursuing an on-set romance. “I can imagine why it would be [risky] and certainly to begin with when we got together, we were really concerned because it’s ridiculous to get into a relationship when there’s a possible seven years of working together. But it’s been nothing but lovely so I hope it carries on.”

As for Paquin’s reaction to his latest title, Fun Fearless Male, said Moyer with a chuckle, “She knows a little bit about my past, so she wasn’t that surprised.”

Paparazzi!: Bloody Date Night

After cuddling up at the SAG Awards this weekend, True Blood lovebirds Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer get in line Sunday for Radiohead's Haiti benefit concert at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theatre.

Paparazzi!: Bloody Love

No fangs tonight! Stephen Moyer plants a tender kiss of approval on Anna Paquin's plunging, printed Alexander McQueen dress as the on- and off-screen couple make their way down the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

True Blood Casts Werewolf Alcide Herveaux

There’s a hot new werewolf on the scene!

Taylor Lautner may be People Magazine’s most wanted star in 2010, but True Blood fans will have something to growl about now that the show has cast Joe Manganiello as Alcide Herveaux, who will appear in season 3 as a love interest for Sookie Stackhouse.

In the books by Charlaine Harris that HBO’s hit is based on, the werewolf Alcide helps Sookie (played by Anna Paquin on the show) search for her missing vampire beau Bill Compton (played by Stephen Moyer).

According to http://www.ew.com/, which first reported the casting news, producers were looking for a “good-looking, rough-around-the-edges, articulate, heroic, and decent” man for the role.

They found their guy in Manganiello, who is best known for playing bartender Owen on One Tree Hill and his recurring role as Brad on How I Met Your Mother.

In another bit of casting news, Emmy-winner Alfre Woodard will guest star on True Blood, according to The Hollywood Reporter, as the mother of Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), Merlotte’s short-order cook who illegally sold vampire blood.

Song Sparked Stephen Moyer's Marriage Proposal to Anna Paquin

When Stephen Moyer proposed marriage to his True Blood costar Anna Paquin, he looked to his onscreen vampire character, Bill Compton, for a little inspiration.

"There's a song Bill listens to in the car about a white sandy beach," Moyer tells British Glamour magazine in its November issue. "So we decided to go away for a break – to a white sandy beach – and that's where it happened."

Moyer, 39, and Paquin, 27, managed to keep their off-screen romance a secret on the set until an awkward love scene forced the actor to do the honorable thing and 'fess up.

"One of the cast had to do an intimate scene with Anna," says the Brit actor. "I felt it would be so wrong for him to do it, then find out down the line that we were together."

Like many of the couple's fellow costars on the hit HBO series, the cast member's reaction was one of utter shock. "So after 10 months, we had to tell him," said Moyer. "He couldn't believe it!"

True Blood Wedding Going to the Dogs

Sure, vampires and weredogs have never gotten along in Bon Temps, Louisiana, the fictional setting of HBO's hit series True Blood, but when Stephen Moyer marries Anna Paquin, those of the furry kind will be well-represented in the wedding party.

"Splash, my alpha, will be the ringbearer," Moyer said at the L.A. Dogworks and Good Dog Animal Rescue fund raiser on Wednesday. "My son [Billy, born in 2000] might be unhappy about that."

But Splash, a 10-year-old border collie Moyer calls "a grumpy little sod," won't have to worry about getting fitted for a tux quite yet. Moyer, 39, and Paquin, 27 – who spent nearly the entire event holding hands – haven't set a date yet.

"We haven’t planned anything," Moyer said. "People say, 'You are engaged to be married,' and I’m like, 'Really? I thought we were just engaged.' "

At least there's an engagement ring. Moyer's friend Cathy Waterman, a California jewelry designer popular among celebrities, created Paquin's ring, which includes what Moyer described as a dark-colored "rustic diamond."

For now, Moyer, who plays vampire Bill Compton, and Paquin, who plays Bill's telepathic girlfriend Sookie Stackhouse, would rather think about Halloween details than wedding details.

"Funny enough, a friend of ours wants to go as me. He’s about that big [waist high]," he said. "And we were talking about taking my daughter [Lila, born in 2002] as Sookie, but then we thought that would be really bad. Ha."